The Firman of 1830 refers to the Imperial ''

Firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...

'' or ''Ferman'' ( Decree) issued by Sultan Mahmud II in 1830. It declared the official liberation of Christian slaves of the Ottoman Empire. In practice it concerned the liberation of the Greek war captives wich had been enslaved during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

(1821–1829). It was one of the reforms representing the process of official abolition of slavery in the Ottoman Empire, including the Firman of 1830, the Disestablishment of the Istanbul Slave Market (1847), the Suppression of the slave trade in the Persian Gulf (1847), the Prohbition of the Circassian and Georgian slave trade (1854–1855), the Prohibition of the Black Slave Trade (1857), and the

Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1880 The Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1880 also known as Anglo-Ottoman Convention for the suppression of the African traffic and Anglo–Ottoman Convention for the Suppression of the Slave Trade, was a treaty between the United Kingdom of Great Britain ...

Background and the Firman

The Firman was issued in a time period when the Ottoman Empire was subjected to a growing diplomatic pressure from the West to suppress slave trade and slavery in the Ottoman Empire. Responding to the influence and pressure of European countries in the 19th century, the Empire began taking steps to curtail the slave trade, which had been legally valid under Ottoman law since the beginning of the empire. One of the important campaigns against Ottoman slavery and slave trade was conducted in the Caucasus by the Russian authorities. In 1830, a ''

firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...

'' of Sultan Mahmud II declared "white slaves" of the Empire to be manumitted. Technically, the decree applied to people who had been Christian at the time of their capture and enslavement, and in practice, it was enforced for the Greeks who had been enslaved during the recent

(1821–1829).Schiffer, R. (2023). Oriental Panorama: British Travellers in 19th Century Turkey. Tyskland: Brill. 186-187 The Ottoman Empire practiced the Islamic Law, which allowed Muslims to enslave war captives. During the Greek War of Independence, many Greek men, women and children had been captured and sold as slaves in Ottoman slave markets. One such incident was the Chios massacre of 1822. This had caused great indignation in Europe on behalf of the Christian Greeks.

Aftermath

The Firman of 1830 was in practice used to liberate Greek war captives, whose fate had disturbed the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Western powers. In 1846-1847, the open slave market in Constantinople was closed. The sale of slaves in the Ottoman capital was then moved indoors and no longer visible for foreign wittnesses. The interest in the West against the enslavement of "white slaves" in the Ottoman Empire continued. The attention grew around the issue of the

Circassian slave trade The Black Sea slave trade trafficked people across the Black Sea from Europe and Caucasus to slavery in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Black Sea slave trade was a center of the slave trade between Europe and the rest of the world fro ...

. The Firman of 1830 was eventually followed by the

Firman of 1854 The Firman of 1854, sometimes called the Prohibition of the Circassian and Georgian Slave Trade, refers to the Imperial ''Firman'' or ''Ferman'' (Decree) issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I in October 1854, prohibiting the slave trade in Circassian an ...

References

* {{Anti-slavery treaties 1830 in Europe Anti-slavery treaties Abolitionism in Europe 1830 in the Ottoman Empire 1830 in law Ottoman slave trade Slave trade legislation 19th century in slavery Slavery in the Ottoman Empire Decrees Abolitionism in Africa Abolitionism in Asia Abolitionism in the Ottoman Empire

Background and the Firman

Aftermath

See also

References