By Eivind Torgersen

In the shadow of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, hundreds of thousands died of the plague in Istanbul. The epidemic has been completely overlooked in history. Until now.

In 1812, Istanbul and the broader Ottoman Empire were struck by a devastating plague epidemic that continued until 1817, claiming the lives of roughly one third of the population. However, contemporary sources offer surprisingly sparse information about the estimated 300,000 deaths.

Despite the thousands of daily deaths, the epidemic struggled to emerge from the overshadowing presence of Napoleon and his ongoing campaign into Russia.

Napoleon dominated like Trump

“It was difficult to make oneself heard. Napoleon dominated the communications and media of the time in the same way Donald Trump does today,” Einar Wigen, professor of Turkish studies at the University of Oslo, says.

For instance, the Swedish ambassador in Istanbul writes in his report that nothing had happened since his previous letter, even though people were dying like flies around him.

“If you were a Swedish ambassador, your attention would have been firmly fixed on the alliance against Napoleon. Even amidst a severe plague outbreak, it was reasonable for such events to be overshadowed by other pressing concerns,” Wigen explains.

No visible measures

What is perhaps more surprising is the lack of measures from the authorities to limit the scope of the epidemic.

“They did nothing. As far as we know, there were no governmental measures,” Wigen explains.

This inaction may have stemmed from inconsistent and limited knowledge about the plague at that time. However, Wigen also believes it may have been influenced by the internal power dynamics within the Ottoman Empire.

“It's difficult to impose public health measures on people who barely know what they will eat tomorrow,” Wigen says.

This situation draws a parallel to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. It is unsurprising that resistance to lockdown measures was more pronounced among individuals who could not seamlessly transition to remote work.

“When living hand to mouth, disease prevention seems like a luxury one cannot afford, or perhaps an unnecessary state intervention,” Wigen states.

The powerful Janissaries

But there were also other important factors that may have made it difficult for the Ottoman authorities to implement measures. Wigen points primarily to the Janissaries.

These were soldiers in an elite army which, when established in the 1300s, had no loyalty to anyone other than the Sultan. However, over time, these positions began to be inherited, and by 1812, the Janissaries were so powerful that they could depose the Sultan if they were not satisfied with him.

“The Janissaries would likely have opposed the implementation of strict rules about movement. They were a power factor that hindered such interventions,” Wigen says.

Turning a page in history

It would not last long. In 1826, all the Janissaries were killed and replaced by a conscripted army. The Ottoman Empire was in a period of transition that pointed forward to modernisation, often dated to 1839 and the so-called Tanzimat declaration.

Nevertheless, Wigen observes early signs of modernisation emerging in the aftermath of the 1812 epidemic.

“The declaration in 1839 is very significant, but much happens before its arrival. Following the plague outbreak, there was a notable increase in writings about the plague. Suddenly, politics and governance are mentioned in medical dissertations,” Wigen says.

Following the dissolution of the Janissaries, authorities founded a military medical school and began conducting more comprehensive and systematic population counts than had been seen for a considerable time.

“They realise that they must do something to retain the human resources they have. Otherwise, they are likely to lose the wars they are continually involved in,” Wigen states.

This shift occurred roughly from 1812 and into the 1820s and 1830s, but before Wigen and his colleagues dug into the sources, much of this was overlooked by historians. Wigen believes this knowledge puts the entire modernisation project of the Ottoman Empire in a different light.

“It’s tempting to say that this plague outbreak kicked off the whole process, but I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. However, I do believe there’s enough here to rethink some of what has been written about Ottoman history previously,” he says.

The plague arrived with Greek sailors

The Ottoman Empire was not unfamiliar with plague epidemics. They typically appeared in each generation in the centuries before 1812. However, it is not well documented.

“The Ottoman archive is incredibly rich, but there is little documentation concerning the plague. It is almost as if the state does not view disease as an object of governance, something they can do something about,” Wigen says.

But this changes with the epidemic from 1812 to 1817.

And the sources that exist agree on one thing at least: it was Greek sailors who brought the plague to Istanbul.

“Two sources claim it was Greek sailors, and so far, we have no sources that suggest otherwise. Greek ships were central to the trade networks of the time, so it’s very plausible,” Wigen says.

This research sheds entirely new light on a transitional period in Ottoman history.

“The outbreak in 1812 shows that the Ottoman Empire did very little to limit the spread of infection. At the same time, the epidemic led the state to begin regarding the plague as something that could be managed. The measures for disease prevention were a gateway to modernise the Ottoman Empire.”