JLF 2022: Historian Marc David Baer Condemns Countries Moving Away From Multiculturalism

On the third day of the 15th Jaipur Literature Festival, historian Marc David Baer shared his views on the Ottoman Empire, and talked of what he thinks about western historians’ take on the Ottomans.

Marc David Baer speaks at a session during the Jaipur Literature Festival 2022 on Saturday, March 12 | Photo: Getty

Jaipur: On the third day of the 15th Jaipur Literature Festival, historian and writer Marc David Baer talked about his book The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs. 

Sharing his views on the Ottoman Empire, he talked of what he thinks about western historians’ take on the Ottomans. The historian also condemned countries moving away from multiculturalism.

Speaking to ABP Live on the sidelines of the event, Baer shared what fascinates him about the Ottoman Empire and how he thinks history has talked about it. 

“What’s fascinating is how similar they (the Ottomans) are to us actually, how much they inspire and engage with European as well as Asian history. I find that interesting how they bring East and West together,” Baer said. 

He said his book is based on Ottoman language chronicles, and also Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Greek, and other sources. Stating that the only thing a historian can do is to read the historical sources, and see how those people imagined the world in their time, Baer said the problem is that so many historians, both in the East and the West, have written "false views" about the Ottomans, not based on their chronicles, but on black and white depictions of Muslims, "whether they are praising them or criticising them". 

Asked if he thinks the western historians have been unjustified about the Ottomans, he said: “Yes, but also so have the Turkish historians, because the Turkish Republic since 1923 is a secular republic that turned its back on the Ottoman Empire.”

Baer added that Turkish historians have orientalised the Ottomans just as the West has. 

Sharing his views with ABP Live about multiculturalism and pluralism in the Ottoman Empire that he mentions in his book, the historian said: “Unfortunately, today, a lot of politicians around the world are using culture wars to pit people together, and they are presenting a false vision of their own country, in which their country was homogenous. It only had one group or one religion, and they are saying negative things about the past and multiculturalism. And I think that is very unfortunate.”

Baer said his duty as a historian is to depict the past, including the good aspects as well as the negative aspects. He also said that one of the positive aspects is how people were able to get along, despite them being of different ethnicities or religions, in some of these multicultural empires like the Ottomans. 

He also talked about mega series, cinema and graphic novels coming up with plots revolving around historical events. As a historian, Baer said, he likes the fact that there are historical dramas about the past, and about the Ottomans. He said the dramas have amazing costume designs, and they get a lot of things right, which can help imagine the past. 

Baer added that the problem is that they depict things in black and white way. Speaking about hit Turkish drama ‘Dirilis: Ertugrul’, he said it depicts a world of Muslims versus Christians. He noted that it is very simplistic. “But in fact, we know that in that time, Muslims and Christians were often allies, and fighting on the same side. What mattered wasn’t religion, but who was loyal to who,” Baer added.

Watch the full interview here:

Baer’s book unravels Western notions of sexuality, orientalism, genocide and history through the chronicles of a formidable world empire, according to a statement issued by the 15th Jaipur Literature Festival. He opened his session on Sunday with the argument that Ottomans were not popular until very recently. “Thirty years ago… it wasn't very popular in Turkey; it was always popular among some Islamists and some on the far-right but you didn't have Ottoman restaurants and you didn’t have these amazing television series…,” the statement quoted Baer as saying.

Baer’s book challenges traditional notions of the vast Ottoman Empire, illuminating a cultural domain that was not the antithesis to the Christian-European West but its equal.