As the United States moves to take over Mindanao, both the Americans and the Moros invoke the name of the Ottoman Empire—seat of the Caliph—to support their campaigns. But in 1914, an actual Ottoman emissary arrives in Zamboanga. How will the American occupiers react to his visit?

Follow us on IG: @thecolonialdept

Follow us on TikTok: @thecolonialdept

Email us: [email protected]

References:

Dwight, H.D. (1915). Constantinople: Old and New. Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Inanc, Yusuf Selman. “Abdulhamid II: An autocrat, reformer and the last stand of the Ottoman Empire.” Middle East Eye. https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/abdulhamid-ii-last-stand-ottoman-empire

Göksoy, Ismail Hakki (2024). “The Ottomans’ Shaykh Al-Islam of Philippines, Mehmet Vecih Efendi: His Life, Duties and Activities.” In Göksoy, Kadi (eds.), Studies on the Relations Between the Ottoman Empire and Southeast Asia, YTB Publications.

Charbonneau, Oliver (2021). Civilizational Imperatives: Americans, Moros, and the Colonial World. Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Amirell, Stefan Eklöf (25 August 2022). “‘An Extremely Mild Form of Slavery … of the Worst Sort’: American Perceptions of Slavery in the Sulu Sultanate, 1899–1904,” Slavery & Abolition, 43(3), pp. 517-532.

Vatin, Nicolas (19 December 2017). “The Death of Ottoman Sultans.” Politika. https://www.politika.io/en/notice/the-death-of-ottoman-sultans