Reading a bureaucratic career backwards : how did Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha become the Inspector-General of Rumelia?

Date
2017
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Source Title
Middle Eastern Studies
Print ISSN
0026-3206
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Routledge
Volume
53
Issue
3
Pages
386 - 405
Language
English
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Abstract

When Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha (1855–1918) was appointed as the Inspector General for the Rumelian Provinces (Vilâyât-ı Selâse Umûm Müfettişi) in November 1902, his eligibility for such a position was questioned by some of his contemporaries. This article aims to reconstruct and understand the path that led this statesman, from the very beginning of his career, towards the inspectorate during the time of Sultan Abdulhamid II (r. 1876–1909). Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha began his bureaucratic life in Midilli (Lesbos Island) in 1874, and he was very fortunate to encounter Namık Kemal and become his protégé. Apart from his early career, he mainly served in the southern Anatolian and Syrian regions of the empire, and later in Yemen. However, these regions were afflicted with similar problems, a fact that helped Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha evolve into a ‘crisis management expert’. The experiences he gained at each post opened the door for the next one, thus transforming him into a prominent statesman of the Hamidian administration and ultimately enabling him to reach the inspectorate of Rumelia.

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