,
Ottoman Syria, 1908 The institution of the
Hakham Bashi was established by the
Ottoman Sultan
Mehmet II, as part of his policy of governing his exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities wherever possible. Religion was considered as primordial aspect of a communities 'national' identity, so the term
Ethnarch has been applied to such religious leaders, especially the (
Greek Orthodox)
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (i.e. in the Sultan's imperial capital, renamed
Istanbul in 1930 but replaced by
Ankara as republican capital in 1923). As
Islam was the official religion of both court and state, the
Chief Mufti in Istanbul had a much higher status, even of cabinet rank. Because of the size and nature of the Ottoman state, containing a far greater part of the
diaspora than any other, the position of Hakham Bashi has been compared to that of the Jewish
Exilarch. In the Ottoman Empire, and as such, the
Hakham Bashi was the closest thing to an overall
Exilarchal authority among
Jewry everywhere in the Middle East in early modern times. They held broad powers to legislate, judge and enforce the laws among the Jews in the Ottoman Empire and often sat on the
Sultan's
divan. The office also maintained considerable influence outside the Ottoman Empire, especially after the
forced migration of numerous Jewish communities and individuals out of
Spain (after the fall of Granada in 1492) and
Italy. The Chief Rabbi of the modern, secular Republic of
Turkey is still known as
Hahambaşı. The term
Hakham Bashi was also used for the official Government-appointed Chief Rabbi of other important cities in the Ottoman Empire, such as
Damascus and
Baghdad. The position of Hakham Bashi of
Palestine terminated with the appointment of separate Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis in 1921. ==List of incumbents==