How prevalent were jewish people in the Ottoman Empire and trade with it in history?

Answer 1

NOT VERY

Answer 2

Very prevalent. The Ottomans, (and the Arab states that preceded them) never had any 'issue' with the Jewish populations of the countries that they conquered and controlled. Remember that these conquered countries were left over bits and pieces of the Roman Empire, and it was the Roman Empire which destroyed Israel in 70AD. Jews like Christians were required to pay a tax that Muslims were exempt from, but they were allowed to retain and build places of worship, trade and 'go on with their lives'. In fact the Jewish populations were regarded as far more trustworthy by the Arabs and Ottomans that the Christian populations.

No-one in the Middle East at that time had forgotten that when the First Crusade (European Christians) marched across Europe they massacred thousands of Jews, and that when they conquered Jerusalem, all of the Jews as well as all of the Moslems in the city were killed. The Jewish death toll would have been at least in the order tens of thousands in Europe and the Middle East. If the First Crusade persuaded the Moslem world that Christians were simply 'too dangereous' to live side-by-side with, it was also the start of the systemic persecution of Jews in Europe by Christians. This 'thread of history' continued from the First Crusade in the 11th century, to the reconquest of Islamic Spain in the 15th Century, whereupon shortly after expelling the Moslems, the Catholic Monarchy expelled all of the Jews - many of whom were welcomed into the Ottoman Empire.

The (very) interesting thing about your question is that it has reminded me that in fact the Arabs and Jews got on a whole lot better than the Christians and the Jews during the period from around 1100AD up until the - I guess around 1920 when the question of a Jewish State came back on the agenda.

In terms of influence, it's a little harder to pin down, but you can imagine that Jewish people have generally formed hard working communities, and specialised for a long time in financial and (interestingly) medical work. From all of this you could certainly (reasonably) conclude that during the course of the Ottoman Empire (1299 to 1922) the Jewish Community was present, active and valued.

Answer 3

The first two answerers are completely wrong.The Jews-a great number- expelled from Spain and neighbouring countries 500 hundreds yeas ago were admitted into the Ottoman Empire,they began trading.They soon became the most wealthy and ascendant subject as they once did in England.Today,it is known that many wives and mothers of Ottoman sultans were Jewish descendant,many high-ranked officials as well.At the time of declining,they were powerful enough to propose the sultan give them the land(Israel today) to establish their own state and they pay all the debts,which was very high, of the Empire.The sultan refused it,though.
According to the historians more than 700 000 Jewish people migrated to the Ottoman Empire from different countries in Europe,narly 100 000 of them went to Israel after it was set up.
A great number of them became muslim and Turk in this or that way
Google 'Donmeh' and 'Sabbatai Zevi' if you like to learn more.

Answer 4

they were treated fairly by the sultans, and they were very good in commerce (alot of jews were merchants durin this time)

Answer 5

THEY WERENT EVEN WORTH A CENT!

Answer 6

THEY HAVE BEEN TURNED TO SOLDIERS CALL JANNISARY.