Believing in the State: Petitions and State-Society Relations in Late Ottoman Architectural Activities

Petitions (arzuhals) occupy a prominent place in nineteenth-century Ottoman archival records. While traditionally used to resolve disputes, submit requests, or appeal decisions, petitioning underwent a notable transformation during this period. As the Ottoman central government expanded its reach into the social sphere, new institutional mechanisms and discourses of legitimacy emerged to support and justify this deepened intervention. Petitioners actively engaged with these evolving structures, appropriating newly established institutions and narratives to pursue their own interests. In doing so, they reshaped the practice of petitioning itself. This study examines the modern state-building process of the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire, which, while rooted in earlier periods, calls for a reconsideration of the traditional divide between "state" and "society." It argues that this transformation was not a one-sided imposition by the state, but a dynamic process in which newly formed institutions and discourses were appropriated, reproduced, and reshaped by social actors with diverse interests. Petitioning is analyzed here as one of the tools through which state and society co-constructed governance in this period. The increasing formalization and systematic recording of petitions in the Ottoman archives are seen as parallel to the consolidation of modern bureaucratic authority and the growing engagement of society with state institutions. Focusing on petitions related to architectural and construction activities—a key domain in the production of social space—this study explores how petitioners positioned themselves within the evolving frameworks of modern governance. In doing so, it sheds light on the socio-political dimensions of construction and spatial regulation in the late Ottoman Empire, and the active role of individuals in shaping the state-building process. Petitioning is thus examined as a key mechanism through which the Ottoman state’s expansion in the nineteenth century was negotiated and mediated. The increasingly systematic recording of petitions in state archives during this period reflects both the consolidation of modern bureaucratic authority and the growing engagement of society with these evolving institutions. This study focuses on petitions related to construction activities—an area deeply entangled with the production of social space and imbued with socio-economic and political significance. It explores how petitioners navigated and participated in the state-building process, and how their petitions served as instruments of inclusion within the institutional and discursive frameworks of the modernizing Ottoman state. As such, the study offers an analysis not only of how petitioning practices evolved during the transformation of the nineteenth-century Ottoman state, but also of the agency exercised by social actors within this transformation. Ultimately, it aims to illuminate the historical and socio-political dimensions of construction activity in the late Ottoman Empire.

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