Salonica City Of Ghosts Analysis

Throughout the history, Ottoman Empire was one of the most powerful empires of the world. Founded by Osman 1 in 1299, this empire ruled large territory of Europe and Asia starting from Baghdad to Algiers at its prime. Since the empire controlled both Europe and Asia, it has ruled various ethinicities and cultures. Thus, various people who had different religions and lifestyles lived together. Between many of the cities of the Ottoman there was one city which had various religions. The city was the intersection point of different cultures due to its geographical location. Because of the ethinical diversity, Salonica has many stories and characteristic inside the city itself. And through his book “Salonica, City of Ghosts”, Mark Mazower shows …show more content…
There were clear differences in the lives of Muslim and non-Muslims at Salonica. Non-Muslims were the inferior level people, but not every non-Muslims were treated poorly. “When well-off Muslim families employed Jewish and Christian servants and milk-nurses, the children of the families intermingled and the boys often became “milk-brothers,” a relationship which could endure for many years”(65). This phrase clearly showed that non-Muslims were the lower grades but they were treated as friends and grew up together. Of course, there were also the cases which non-Muslims were treated badly by the Muslims. “The Janissaries who beat a Christian arms merchant to death in the market shouting, “Why are you and unbeliever? So much sorrow you are!”; the Jewish householders who mocked Christian worshippers during holy festivals; the stuffed effigies of Judas burned with much glee by the Orthodox during Easter”(65). Non-Muslims got both negative and positive treats from the Muslims and this was still amazing considering the fact that Ottoman Empire was Muslim country. Most of the countries at that time, treated very badly to the people who had different religions. Discriminations always happened and some of the countries destroyed all of the different religious …show more content…
Furthermore, non-Muslims shared religious places and tools with each other and shared even with the Muslims. “Christian women used both the Jewish cemetery and Muslim mausoleums when collecting earth from freshly dug graves to use against evil spirits”(80). One can find out that Christians also admited the god of Judaism and Islam. Since they were all monotheism they admited each other’s religion and its culture. Because they shared the culture and laws of their religions, it was not uncommon to see people from different religions following the law of Islam and using the Islamic court even though they had problem with the people who believed the same religion. This showed that non-Muslims admits the efficiency and the power of the Islamic