Diyanet, the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs, was conceived and operates as a successor to the religious structures of the Ottoman Empire, the ilmiye/’ilmīyah, headed by the office of the Shaykh al-Islām/şeyhülislam. This institution had a long history within the Ottoman Empire, stretching back to at least the sixteenth century, and it served an important role in supporting and shaping Ottoman political rule. In the process, the religious orientation of the ilmiye became deeply embedded in Ottoman society, coloring how Islam was understood and practiced. There is considerable continuity in this understanding of religion, despite the dislocations of the early twentieth century, which is helped by the continuity between the Ottoman ilmiye and Turkish Diyanet, and that has contributed today to the preservation of a uniquely Turkish approach to Islam.

Early Ottoman History

The Ottoman dynasty emerged in Anatolia at the beginning of the fourteenth century. The dynasty takes its name from Osman Gazi (1258–1326), a regional military leader (bey) in northwestern Anatolia who was able to attract a large number of warriors and followers to his side. He declared his independence from the reigning Seljuqs of Rum in 1299, with the territory he controlled forming the beginnings of the Ottoman Empire.

Anatolia at that time was undergoing significant political and demographic changes. The Seljuqs, who had ruled the region since defeating the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, were by this point collapsing as a dynasty. The main Seljuq empire centered in Iran had disappeared by 1200, dividing into smaller successor kingdoms. The Seljuqs of Rum split from the main dynasty in 1156. Seljuq rule in Anatolia, with Konya as its capital, was more secure initially, and they were able to fend off threats from Byzantine and Crusader armies. They were less successful confronting the Mongols under Hulegu Khan (c. 1218–65), grandson of Genghis Khan, who were sweeping across the Middle East in the thirteenth century. The Mongols defeated the Anatolian Seljuqs at Aksaray in 1256, after which the latter accepted the suzerainty of the Ilkhanid dynasty (founded by Hulegu), based in Iran and Iraq. At the same time, large numbers of refugees fleeing the Ilkhanids, who sacked Baghdad in 1258, streamed into Anatolia, a significant portion of whom were nomadic or semi-nomadic Turkic tribes and clans.