In the face of epidemics, people in the Ottoman Empire first resisted with prayer and patience. They took refuge in places with clean air, tried to purify the air with vinegar and rosewater, and had their blood let to protect themselves. After the 16th century the idea of contagion gained ground, and in the 19th century quarantine became an official measure of the state. In this article we look at the ways the people and the state responded to epidemics, from plague to cholera.
Quick Summary
- According to the hadiths, one should not enter a place where plague had broken out, nor flee from the place where one was.
- From the second half of the 16th century, the view that plague was contagious gained weight.
- Ebüssuûd Efendi issued a fatwa that going to a place with clean air during an epidemic was permissible.
- People tried to purify the air with vinegar, rosewater and sandalwood.
- The first quarantine was applied in Istanbul during the cholera epidemic of 1831.
- The Quarantine Council was founded in 1838; by 1896 there were 125 quarantine stations.
Contents
- Short answer
- Faith and patience
- Was it permissible to flee the plague?
- 6 ways people responded
- How often did epidemics strike?
- The move to quarantine
- The cholera era and the quarantine network
- Frequently asked questions
What Was Done During Epidemics in the Ottoman Empire? A Short Answer
In the Ottoman world the most severe disease was plague. The sources often call it “tâun”. People’s response to an epidemic did not consist of a single method. Religious counsel, the medical knowledge of the time and everyday experience worked together.
For a long time the disease was thought to arise from corrupted air. Cleaning the air was therefore regarded as the way to protect oneself. Going to places with clean air was also a product of this idea. Over time the idea of contagion came to the fore. In the 19th century, the state responded to epidemics by adopting quarantine, as in Europe.
Faith and Patience: “Do Not Enter It, Do Not Leave It”
The first framework that shaped people’s attitude was religion. The Prophet Muhammad had said that one should not go to a place where plague had broken out. He had also advised that if the disease appeared where one was, one should not flee from there. This hadith is read as an early expression of the idea we now call quarantine.
The attitude of Caliph Umar was also often cited as an example. On his way to Syria, the caliph turned back when he learned that there was plague in the region. He was asked, “Are you fleeing from the decree of God?” Umar replied that he was fleeing from God’s decree to God’s decree.
The hadiths also stated that a patient believer who died of plague would receive the reward of a martyr. This belief gave people spiritual support in the face of heavy losses. Epidemics were therefore not only a matter of health but also a matter of faith.
Was It Permissible to Flee the Plague?
From the 15th century onwards, Ottoman authors wrote treatises on plague. These works did not forbid leaving the place where an epidemic had appeared. However, whether plague was contagious was debated at length. Whether leaving a city was religiously permissible was also part of this debate.
From the second half of the 16th century, the view that the disease was contagious gained weight. The plague treatise of Taşköprizâde Ahmed Efendi states this view openly. Ebüssuûd Efendi, the şeyhülislam of the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, also issued a fatwa on the subject. In his view, fleeing the tâun was permissible with the intention of taking refuge from God’s wrath in His grace. For the place of fatwas in the state, see our article on the şeyhülislam.
Other fatwas by Ebüssuûd show that responsibility was also taken seriously. A person who brought a small child into the city while the epidemic raged, causing its death, had to pay blood money. Imams and muezzins who fled the plague and abandoned their duties were punished and dismissed.
6 Ways People Responded to Epidemics in the Ottoman Empire
Before modern medicine, similar methods against plague were used in Europe and in the Islamic world. The main ways people responded to an epidemic were as follows:
1. Prayer and patience
Plague prayers were people’s most common recourse. The disease was seen as a test. Patience in the place where one lived was recommended.
2. Going to places with clean air
The cause of the disease was attributed to corrupted air. Living on high ground was therefore recommended. Houses open to clean winds were also considered safer. Those who could afford it went to places with clean air, with the permission granted by the fatwa.
3. Purifying the air
Vinegar, sandalwood and rosewater were used to clean the air inside and outside the house. This practice was a natural result of the belief that the epidemic came from the air.
4. Bloodletting
The most common way to protect one’s health was bloodletting. The medicine of the time believed that the body’s balance could be preserved in this way.
5. Medicines and theriac
The treatises described remedies such as ointments, syrups and plasters. They also explained how food and drink should be prepared during an epidemic. Theriac, made from a large number of ingredients, was considered a cure for every ill and was widely used.
6. Amulets and talismans
Besides medicine, people often turned to astrology and magic. Plague prayers, amulets and talismans appear frequently in the works of the period.
How Often Did Epidemics Strike?
Plague appeared in history in three great waves. The second wave, the “Black Death”, reached the Islamic world in 1347 with the caravans of the Silk Road. This wave continued at intervals until the middle of the 19th century. In the 15th and early 16th centuries the disease usually arrived through trade, from ports such as Venice and Dubrovnik.
Ottoman lands lay at the crossroads of routes linking the Balkans, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula and the Eastern Mediterranean. This position enriched trade but also made it easier for epidemics to spread. For the importance of trade routes in this period, see our article on the Silk and Spice Roads.
In the 16th century, plague struck severely in 1511–1513, 1520–1529, 1533–1549 and 1552–1566. From the last quarter of the century an epidemic broke out somewhere almost every year. The disease, which recurred frequently in the 17th century as well, eased in the 18th century. The most important plague years of the 19th century were 1812–1819 and 1835–1838.
Because there are no reliable statistics, it is hard to know the death rate precisely. Even so, it has been established that in severe epidemic years at least a third of the population died. It is also recorded that from the 17th century onwards the death rate in Islamic countries was lower than in Europe.
The Move to Quarantine
The word quarantine comes from the Italian “quarantena”, meaning “forty”. The Ottomans mostly called this practice “usûl-i tahaffuz”, the method of protection. The quarantine station itself was called a “tahaffuzhâne”. The first known quarantine applied to travelers was seen in Venice and Dubrovnik in 1377.
Ottoman merchants first encountered quarantine on the other side of the border. When trade grew after the Treaty of Passarowitz, Austria took very strict measures. Travelers and goods coming from Ottoman lands could not cross the border without passing through quarantine.
The first application in the Ottoman state took place under Mahmud II, during the great cholera epidemic of 1831. Ships arriving in Istanbul were ordered to wait five days in the Bosphorus. A treatise on quarantine by the chief physician Mustafa Behcet Efendi was distributed free of charge. Hamdan Efendi of Algiers also wrote a work explaining that quarantine was not forbidden by religion. Plague patients were isolated in the Maltepe Hospital and at the Maiden’s Tower.
In 1835 quarantine tents were set up at Çanakkale, and ships bound for Istanbul were held there for a time. The matter was then examined against the books of Islamic law at a council attended by the ulema. Şeyhülislam Mekkîzâde Âsım Efendi issued a fatwa that quarantine was permissible. The founding of the Quarantine Council was announced in April 1838.
The new order also changed daily life. Mass deaths in Istanbul were to be reported to the council, and the dead were not to be buried without its permission. Doctor Minas, brought from Austria, set about cleaning the streets and marketplaces. Slaughterhouses and cemeteries also began to be moved outside the city. For the general framework of these reforms, see our article on Ottoman sultans and reform movements.
The Cholera Era and the Quarantine Network
In the 19th century cholera took the place of plague among the great epidemics. Spreading from India across the world, this disease caused mass deaths in Ottoman lands in 1817, 1829, 1852, 1863, 1881 and 1899. Shortly after the quarantine organization was founded, plague declined sharply in Anatolia, Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Quarantine stations were set up in many places besides Istanbul, such as Bursa, Trabzon, Mytilene, Serres and Çanakkale. The health situation of their place of origin also began to be written on the travel permits given to travelers. In 1896, excluding the Hijaz, 511 people worked at 125 quarantine stations.
Cholera also accelerated international cooperation against epidemics. At the international sanitary conference held in Istanbul in 1866, it was decided that a health commission would be sent to the Hijaz every year during the pilgrimage season. The Ottoman government then set up quarantine stations on the Red Sea coast, at places such as Jeddah and Yanbu.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did people flee the cities during epidemics in the Ottoman Empire?
Those who could afford it could flee. Ebüssuûd Efendi had issued a fatwa that fleeing the plague was permissible with the intention of taking refuge from God’s wrath in His grace. However, imams and muezzins who abandoned their duties and fled were punished.
When was the first quarantine against epidemics applied in the Ottoman Empire?
The first application took place in Istanbul during the cholera epidemic of 1831. More systematic quarantine began at Çanakkale in 1835. The Quarantine Council was founded in 1838.
Are veba and tâun the same disease?
In Ottoman sources plague, veba, is mostly referred to as tâun. According to some scholars, every tâun is a veba, but not every veba is a tâun.
Conclusion
In the face of epidemics, people in the Ottoman Empire combined faith and experience. Prayer and patience, going to places with clean air, purifying the air and bloodletting remained the main responses for centuries. The growing strength of the idea of contagion and the support of the ulema paved the way for quarantine to become a state institution in the 19th century.
Sources
- TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, entry “Tâun”
- TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, entry “Karantina”
- Taşköprizâde Ahmed Efendi, Risâletü’ş-şifâ li-edvâi’l-vebâ.
- Gülden Sarıyıldız, Hicaz Karantina Teşkilatı (1865-1914).
