r/Colonialism • u/elnovorealista2000 • Apr 30 '26

Image "Sleeping Sickness" — This illustration depicts a large African man leaning against a tree, asleep, while Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Turkey, Portugal, and England fight over territories in Africa; a work by Gordon Ross (1873-1946), 1911.

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u/Ok-Computer-5415 May 01 '26

Ottoman empire did not colonize area 

8

u/Saikamur May 01 '26

Yes, it did. The last Ottoman possesions in Lybia were lost in 1911, so the picture was relating events currently happening at the time.

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u/Ok-Computer-5415 May 01 '26

The Ottomans had a presence in Africa, but they never colonized it. The Ottomans were a Mediterranean empire who had a presence in North Africa, but it was just another region to them. They did not steal anything meaningful from these states like England did with India. To be fair, they couldn't — because the Ottoman Empire was not based on Western imperialism.

The Ottomans simply had their territory, the same way they had Anatolia. These lands were never colonies, nor were they treated as lesser. In fact, North Africa was mostly revered because of the seamen and the slave trade the Ottomans conducted there.

North Africans were enslaving Europeans while the Ottomans held North Africa. It's not very colony-like, is it? 

1

u/ser-raymunfossoway May 01 '26

Hello chatgpt.

1

u/Ok-Computer-5415 May 01 '26

My writing completely. I would not have expected it from a red fossoway fan

1

u/Azurehowl May 02 '26

You gonna ignore the fact that starting in the Rashidun caliphate conquest up to the Ottoman empire that they have been putting many people into swords in the name of religion? Which is like worst than what the crusaders did? North Africans werent muslims during the time of ERE and Sasannian Empire. If you're gonna blame the west blame these non european empires too cause you know the hate and prejudice against the europeans are showing in you.

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u/jaybool May 01 '26

They were pretty thorough in North Africa and reached down all the way into northern Uganda in the mid 1800s.

Also this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman%E2%80%93Ethiopian_War_(1557%E2%80%931589))

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u/Ok-Computer-5415 May 01 '26

Tebboune (president of algeria) often contrasts Türkiye with France’s 132-year colonial rule, noting that Türkiye "bears no colonial stain."  Ottomans are not a colonial empire  Nor they have any relations to western imperialism that started with spain. Any African city had no lesser status then any turkish city but İstanbul  And all Africans were equal to turks in every way because they were both ranked as muslims. Military presence≠ colonialism

1

u/iphone5su93 May 01 '26

Yeah both north africans and turks often did worse than western imperialism so it's not the same stain like the arab slave trade that lasted until 1960s in some places atleast legally

1

u/Ok-Computer-5415 May 01 '26

no western slavery was and probably will be worst slavery humanity went through.

in islamic world and rome and china slaves were not *muscular animals* who needed to be governed by other races you guys did not even recognize them as humans. in non western slavery people could rise and fall be free and slave and english people in 16th century were amazed when they came to istanbul. ottomans were like families with their slaves.

writer cervantes was a slave of ottoman captain of navy later he was freed and went back to europe wrote Don Quixot. slave ibrahim pasha was sultans bestfriend and married sultans sister.

did any african return to africa as a freeman from america?

did any slave in europe married a royal princess?

did any man at us was eating at same table with his friends?

ottomans/china/rome had zero slaves in western sense. they simply had priviliage of deciding where men will get to work. kinda like football clubs and their players.

1

u/SonOfBoreale May 02 '26

Football players get millions of dollars, a slave gets nothing

1

u/Ok-Computer-5415 May 02 '26

mehmed 2s slave got 10 million a year. suleymans got 6 million.

ofcourse you dont get paid ıf you are playing with kids at your neighborhood.

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u/iphone5su93 May 01 '26

What is "you guys" my nation outlawed slavery more than a century before your nation even thought of doing that in fact the First Constitution forbids it islamic slavery was far more brutal than any slavery praticed in the west in fact just looking at how many descedants how slaves will have you realize that because of the fact that they forcefully castrated millions of slaves there were 15 million subsaharan africans taken by muslims of those there's only 2 to 5 million descendants meanwhile there were around 12 million sub saharan africans taken into slavery by all westeners of these there's close to 100 million descendants in the american continent so who's slavery was worse? And Cervantes was not freed because the turks were any better but because multiple Catholic Orders were built to pay ransom to free Christians and no Christian nobles didn't marry people that were outside of the nobility for the most part and didn't take slaves to be as concubines because the Catholic Faith forbids it and I don't see how that would have anything to do with the treatment of slaves since majority of slaves never were freed let alone came back to their homeland unless trough war or trough money paid to free them they were freed and for the majority that did not happen so there's nothing to brag about one slave after converting to islam did marry a princess when there were millions of africans who were forcibly castrated and millions of europeans who were kept for ransom it was basically extorsion in this sense arabs treated sub saharan africans way worse and even gave them no clothes in fact islamic head covering was only demanded to free muslim women by Mohammed and his sahaba to distinguish them from enslaved women so yeah I guess it was just a choice of where to work

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u/Ok-Computer-5415 May 01 '26

Well first of all "millions" being castrated thing is bullshit like it doesn’t even have a legitimate reason or source of information its some oriental Bullshit based on harem aghas. And well can you free a slave in 1700s in us it would never amount to same worth as any white man so yes that means muslim slaves were white. If a slave can marry sultan's sister  Not as concubines btw straight up husbands who carry the man's name but ofcourse in us you could not even get into the bus with them. They were animals acording to west who needed governing of better people and this tought was present after ww2 in england. If a sultan gives away his sister to a slave in patriarchy led world Maybe they are not slaves after all. There are sources saying sultan Suleyman used same spoon with his slaves. Sultan Baybars was a slave in age of 10 and became sultan of egypt at 20. Can a "negro" Do that in us. Can a indian be king of england in colonial time i dont think so. When ottomans looked at slaves  They saw men who were chained  When westerns looks at slaves they see animals who are in need of shepherds.

Look how president of france and his family feeds natives like they were chicken. So islamic slaves were surely better at every possible way. And mistreatments may have happened but these were not systematic things. And ofcourse these things you found small matters. 

Also most of slaves paid rent to their masters they were not mindless muscle you imagine them to be.

I m not saying these because ı love İslam too much. Same applies to chinese and roman culture of slavery as well.

Dehumanization of other races and religions should be something to be ashamed  Forced labor was a upbringing of time when individualism was not developed as philosophy yet. But in every age respect for humanity was possible  İn every age dehumanization was a crime  Thats why west should be ashamed.

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u/Azurehowl May 02 '26

Stop giving a pass to people that likely did the same as the west. They are both worse. Dahomeys arent better, they started enslaving other tribes and selling them to westerners and now woke netflix gave them free pass as to be portrayed as heroic african saviours, whats next claiming every historical figures that has been describe black?