THE 1707 RAID OF KECSKEMÉT BY SERBS AND ITS DIPLOMATIC CONSEQUENCES IN HABSBURG–OTTOMAN RELATIONS
THE 1707 RAID OF KECSKEMÉT BY SERBS AND ITS DIPLOMATIC CONSEQUENCES IN HABSBURG–OTTOMAN RELATIONS
Author(s): Hajnalka TóthSubject(s): Diplomatic history, Political history, Government/Political systems, International relations/trade, 18th Century, The Ottoman Empire
Published by: Editura Mega Print SRL
Keywords: Habsburg–Ottoman borderland; Habsburg–Ottoman diplomacy; Kecskemét; Kuruc; Elçi Ibarhim Pasha of Belgrade; Dietrich Heinrich Baron de Nehem; Osman Agha of Timişoara;
Summary/Abstract: At the beginning of 1707, about sixty Turkish and Greek merchants arrived in Szeged from Timişoara and Belgrade to then sell their goods on Hungarian territory. In Szeged they paid the usual customs duty and then received permission from the Habsburg imperial general to proceed. The merchants then went to Kecskemét, which was then in the hands of Hungarians (Kuruc insurgents), where they were arrested and forced to sell their goods at a fixed price, and were not allowed to leave the city. While the Elçi Ibarhim Pasha of Timişoara sent his interpreter, Osman Agha, to the kuruc generals, the imperial commander of Slavonski Brod stormed the town of Kecskemét with Serbian hussars and hajduks, and the merchants were also killed in the attack. The present study examines, using primarily Hungarian and German language sources, the raid on Kecskemét and its causes, as well as the Habsburg–Ottoman diplomatic wrangling that unfolded afterward, lasting for years. The case provides a detailed insight into the management of a border conflict between the two empires, the different ways in which the administrators of the two sides worked, and the less rule-bound ‘negotiating techniques’ of the Ottomans as well.
Journal: Analele Banatului S.N. Arheologie-Istorie
- Issue Year: XXXI/2023
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 261-271
- Page Count: 11
- Language: English