Grand Dragoman

History

The success of the post led to the creation of a similar office, that of Dragoman of the Fleet, in 1701. In practice, the latter often served as a stepping-stone to the office of Grand Dragoman. There were also junior dragomans for specific jurisdictions, for example for the Ottoman army, or for the Morea Eyalet, but these positions were never formalized in the same manner. From 1711, many former Grand Dragomans or Dragomans of the Fleet were appointed to the positions of princes of the Danubian Principalities. These four offices formed the foundation of Phanariote prominence in the Ottoman Empire. The knowledge of foreign languages also made the Phanariote dragomans crucial intermediaries for the transmission of European concepts and technologies to the Ottoman Empire during the latter's attempts at modernization. Thus the Grand Dragoman Constantine Ypsilantis translated French military manuals for the reformed Nizam-i Djedid Army, while Iakovos Argyropoulos translated into the Ottoman Turkish language from French the first modern Ottoman geographical work, as well as a biographical history of Catherine the Great.