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Ragusa in the Middle?: Exploring 18th Century Diplomatic Mediations between Morocco and the Ottoman Empire
Abstract
This paper explores the diplomatic connections between the Moroccan Alawi state and the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century through the mediation of dragoman-turned-consular agents in Ragusa (Dubrovnik). As an Ottoman vassal state with consuls across the Mediterranean, Ragusa and Ragusan agents offer a unique backdrop to highlight the complex exchanges that existed between Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. During the last half of the eighteenth century this included negotiations both for peace and competing claims for sovereignty throughout the Mediterranean. Using this robust activity as a backdrop, I will demonstrate how Ragusa consolidated and established its role as a mediator between the Ottoman Empire and Morocco through a specific class of dragomans-turned consuls. Particularly during the second half of the eighteenth century, this class of Ragusan intermediaries were sent on missions first to Morocco and the Ottoman North African provinces before being appointed to their positions as dragomans and, if successful, consuls in Istanbul. Thus, figures such as Duro Curi? gained first hand experience and training in North Africa and then spent extended periods of their careers becoming integrated into the diplomatic milieu in Istanbul. As a result of this early career training in North Africa, the dragomans’ diplomatic and political networks extended across a North African-Ottoman axis. Maintaining these connections allowed the dragomans to operate effectively as mediators of the oftentimes complex and tense relationship between Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. Examining such cases, allows us to re-center discussions of early modern Mediterranean diplomacy around this often overlooked east-west axis and use the experiences of dragomans-turned-consuls as a way to better understand the machinations of diplomatic activity in Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. This paper engages with correspondences and reports in Arabic, Italian, and Ottoman Turkish, to demonstrate how the various diplomatic impulses and modes of conflict mediation that these intermediaries were able to employ became well integrated into the foreign policies and diplomatic bureaucracies of both Morocco and the Ottoman Empire throughout the eighteenth century.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Islamic World
Maghreb
Mediterranean Countries
Morocco
Ottoman Empire
Sub Area
None