The Syrian Orthodox Christians In The Late Ottoman And Post Ottoman Periods

Despite the protection afforded to the smaller minorities of the Ottoman Empire through the millet system (Chapter One), Syrian Orthodoxy witnessed weakness and depletion throughout the nineteenth century, caused by significant conversion to Western Christianity, particularly in Syria and in Iraq. In the meantime a separate Western Christian intrusion was unfolding among the Syrian Orthodox communities in India. The resulting problems prompted a first journey by a Syrian Orthodox patriarch to that part of the world. Patriarch Peter's journey in 1874-1877 was a landmark event that first entailed a journey to England and audience with Queen Victoria. The hitherto little known involvement of the Anglican Church in this intrusion is uncovered in Chapter Three. The events following the 1895 violence in southeastern Anatolia became precursors to the genocidal Safyo of 1915, which resulted in the annihilation of nearly half the Syrian Orthodox in Anatolia and brought Syrian Orthodoxy to the verge of extinction (Chapter Four). The apathy of the victors of World War I towards the beleaguered survivors at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-20 contrasted with the accommodation the exiled survivors found in the Arab lands to the south, where historical affinity was rekindled (Chapter Five). From the safety of this new environment, Syrian Orthodoxy, aided by the critical core of enlightened individuals, rose again drawing on venerable Syriac cultural tradition and an associated patriarchal standing that was characteristically free from social elitism and tribal sectarianism. Utilizing the quest for learning that was the mantra in the new nation states, the new leadership, despite meager resources, launched Syrian Orthodoxy on a course of revival and renaissance not witnessed since the days of Bar Hebraeus in the late thirteenth century (Chapter Six). In addition to conventional primary and secondary sources, this thesis relies substantially on hitherto untapped Syrian Orthodox archival material, which has shed new light on many important events. In particular, the analysis of nearly 5700 letters from ordinary people to the patriarch of the day (Chapter Two) has provided a subaltern view of society, as opposed to the elitist view which conventional history often offers.