The Dragoman of the Sublime Porte (Ottoman Turkish: tercümân-ı bâb-ı âlî; Greek: [μέγας] διερμηνέας της Υψηλής Πύλης), Dragoman of the Imperial Council (tercümân-ı dîvân-ı hümâyûn), or simply Grand or Chief Dragoman (tercümân başı), was the senior interpreter of the Ottoman government and de facto deputy foreign minister. From the position's inception in 1661 until the outbreak of the Greek Revolution in 1821, the office was occupied by Phanariotes, and was one of the main pillars of Phanariote power in the Ottoman Empire.

History

In the Ottoman Empire, the existence of official interpreters or dragomans (from the Italian rendering drog[o]man of Arabic tardjumān, Ottoman tercümân) is attested from the early 16th century. They were part of the staff of the reis ül-küttab ('head secretary'), who was responsible for foreign affairs within the Imperial Council. As few Ottoman Turks ever learned European languages, from early times the majority of these men were of Christian origin—in the main Austrians, Hungarians, Poles, and Greeks.^[1]

In 1661, the Grand Vizier Ahmed Köprülü appointed the Greek Panagiotis Nikousios as Chief Dragoman to the Imperial Council. He was in turn succeeded in 1673 by another Greek, Alexander Mavrocordatos.^[1][2] These men began a tradition where almost all subsequent Grand Dragomans of the Porte were of Greek origin, or Hellenized Balkan Christians, and members of a small circle of Phanariote families, such as the Mavrocordatos, Ghica, Caradja or Callimachi clans.^[1][2] Many of the Phanariotes had previously served in the staffs of the European embassies in Constantinople.^[3] Nikousios, for instance, had previously (and for a time concurrently) served as translator for the Austrian embassy.^[4]

All dragomans had to be proficient in the 'three languages' (elsine-i selase) of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish that were commonly used in the empire, as well as a number of foreign languages (usually French and Italian),^[5] but the responsibilities of Dragoman of the Porte went beyond that of a mere interpreter, and were rather those of a minister in charge of the day-to-day conduct of foreign affairs.^[6] As such the post was the highest public office available to non-Muslims in the Ottoman Empire.^[7]

Nikousios and his successors managed to attach to their office a number of great privileges, such as tax exemption for themselves, their sons, and 20 members of their retinue; exemption from all customs fees for items destined for their personal use; immunity from all courts except from that of the Grand Vizier; permission to dress in the same kaftans as the Ottoman officials, and use ermine fur; or the permission to ride a horse. These made the position highly coveted, and the object of the Phanariotes' aspirations and rivalries.^[8] The salary of the Dragoman of the Porte amounted to 47,000 kuruş annually.^[9]

The success of the post led to the creation of a similar post, that of Dragoman of the Fleet, in 1701.^[6][9][10] The latter often served as a stepping-stone to the office of Grand Dragoman.^[9] There were also junior dragomans, for example for the Ottoman army, or for the Morea Eyalet, but these positions were never formalized in the same manner.^[5] From 1711, many former Grand Dragomans or Dragomans of the Fleet were appointed to the positions of princes (voivodes or hospodars) of the tributary Danubian Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. These four offices formed the foundation of Phanariote prominence in the Ottoman Empire.^[11][12]

The Phanariotes maintained this privileged position until the outbreak of the Greek Revolution in 1821: the then Dragoman of the Porte, Constantine Mourouzis [el] was beheaded, and his successor, Stavraki Aristarchi [tr], was dismissed and exiled in 1822.^[1][13] The position of Grand Dragoman was then replaced by a guild-like Translation Bureau, staffed initially by converts like Ishak Efendi, but quickly exclusively by Muslim Turks fluent in foreign languages.^[1][14]

List of Dragomans of the Porte

Name	Portrait	Tenure	Notes
Panagiotis Nikousios		1661–1673[15]
Alexander Mavrocordatos		1673–1709[15]
Nicholas Mavrocordatos		1689–1709[15]	Son of Alexander. Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1711–1715) and Prince of Wallachia (1715–1716, 1719–1730)[15]
John Mavrocordatos		1709–1717[15]	Son of Alexander. Subsequently Caimacam of Moldavia (1711) and Prince of Wallachia (1716–1719)[15]
Grigore (II) Ghica		1717–1727[15]	Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1726–1733, 1735–1739, 1739–1741, 1747–1748) and of Wallachia (1733–1735, 1748–1752)[15]
Alexander Ghica		1727–1740[16]	1st term[16]
John Theodore Callimachi		1741–1750[16]	1st term[16]
Matei Ghica		1751–1752[15]	Son of Grigore. Subsequently Prince of Wallachia (1752–1753) and of Moldavia (1753–1756)[15]
John Theodore Callimachi		1752–1758[16]	2nd term. Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1758–1761)[16]
Grigore (III) Ghica		1758–1764[16]	Son of Alexander. Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1764–1767, 1774–1782) and of Wallachia (1768–1769)[16]
George Caradja [el]		1764–1765[16]
Skarlatos Caradja		1765–1768[16]	Son of George. 1st term.[16]
Nicholas Soutzos [el]		1768–1769[16]
Mihai Racoviță		1769–1770	Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1703–1705, 1707–1709, 1716–1726) and of Wallachia (1730–1731, 1741–1744)
Skarlatos Caradja		1770–1774[16]	2nd term[16]
Alexander Ypsilantis		1774[16]	Subsequently Prince of Wallachia (1774–1782, 1796–1797) and of Moldavia (1786–1788)[16]
Constantine Mourouzis		1774–1777[16]	Previously Dragoman of the Fleet (1764–1765).[16] Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1777–1782)
Nicholas Caradja		1777–1782[16]	Son of Skarlatos. Subsequently Prince of Wallachia (1782–1783)[16]
Michael (I) Drakos Soutzos		1782–1783[16]	Subsequently Prince of Wallachia (1783–1786, 1791–1793, 1801–1802) and of Moldavia (1793–1795)[16]
Alexander Mavrocordatos Firaris		1782–1783[16]	Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1785–1786)[16]
Alexandru Callimachi		1785–1788[16]	1st term.[16]
Manuel Caradja		1788–1790[16]
Alexander Mourouzis		1790–1792[16]	Son of Constantine. Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1792, 1802–1806, 1806–1807) and of Wallachia (1793–1796, 1799–1801).[16]
George Mourouzis		1792–1794[16]	Son of Constantine. 1st term.[16]
Alexandru Callimachi		1794–1795[16]	2nd term. Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1795–1799)[16]
George Mourouzis		1795–1796[16]	2nd term.[16]
Constantine Ypsilantis		1796–1799[16]	Son of Alexander. Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1799–1801) and of Wallachia (1802–1806).[16]
Alexandros Soutzos		1799–1801[16]	Son of Nicholas. Previously Dragoman of the Fleet (1797–1799). Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1801–1802) and of Wallachia (1819–1821).[16]
Scarlat Callimachi		1801–1806[16]	Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1806, 1812–1819).[16]
Alexandros M. Soutzos [el]		1802–1807[17]
Alexander Hangerli		1806–1807[16]	Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1807).[16]
John Caradja		1807–1808[16]	1st term.[16]
John N. Caradja [el]		1808[16]	Previously Dragoman of the Fleet (1799–1800).[16]
Demetrios Mourouzis [el]		1808–1812[17]	Elder brother of Panagiotis. In 1812 he took part in the negotiations which ended the war with Russia. The Ottomans became dissatisfied with the peace settlement after Napoleon began his invasion of Russia in June, and Mourouzis fell under suspicion of having furthered the Russian interest. He was summarily executed at the Topkapi Palace.[18]
Panagiotis Mourouzis		1809–1812[16]	Younger brother of Demetrios. Previously Dragoman of the Fleet (1803–1806).[16]
John Caradja		1812[16]	2nd term. Subsequently Prince of Wallachia (1812–1819).[16]
Iakovos Argyropoulos [el]		1812–1817[17]	Previously Dragoman of the Fleet (1809)[17]
Michael Soutzos		1817–1819[17]	Subsequently Prince of Moldavia (1819–1821)[17]
Constantine Mourouzis [el]		1821[17]
Stavraki Aristarchi [tr]		1821–1822[17]