Aegean in a state of flux: A study on the moreot migrants in the nineteenth century

In 1821, a series of events that would ultimately lead to the creation of a Greek nation state out of the Ottoman Empire were initiated in the Morea (Peloponnese). Over the course of a decade-long war, thousands of Muslims migrated from the Morea to Western Anatolia. This movement was a unique one in the sense that it started as an internal relocation within the Ottoman domains and evolved into an international one with the emancipation of Greece as a sovereign state in 1830. The experience of the Moreots provides an early example of modern mass movement of a people in the Eurasian space and the changing dynamics of migration in relation to nationalism, communal identifications, and modern institutionalization. The long nineteenth century, especially the second half, witnessed significant changes in the lives of the Moreots in Anatolia. They came to be able to negotiate for an active role in the peripheral politics with the central government thanks to their quick adaptability and making use of their previous networks and skills. While their migration heralded a great rupture in the Aegean, the Moreots also signified links and continuities between the two lands, the Morea and Anatolia. In this thesis, these links are traced, and the agency of the Moreots is emphasized as they evolve from migrants to citizens