Cross-cultural contacts during the Tanzimat: the Ottoman Cossacks Regiment and its reception

The following article examines a slightly different kind of cross-cultural contacts during the 19th century Ottoman Balkans through authentic examples in this historical context – a very specific case study within the period of the Tanzimat reforms and Westernization of the Late Ottoman Empire. This case study is about the Ottoman Cossacks Regiment, a first of its kind, almost entirely Christian military unit, created by the Polish convert Michał Czajkowski – Sadık Pasha. This case study incorporates mainly Slavic non- Muslim subjects of the Sultan from Ottoman Rumelia as well as some European emigrants, all of them as soldiers, sergeants, and officers of the Ottoman Cossacks Regiment, their interactions and conflicts with each other, their relation and reception with the Muslim subjects and the Ottoman state, all against the fabric of the Tanzimat.