Governing a minority

During the modern age the Ottoman Empire, despite being a Muslim state, saw within it the presence of two other monotheistic religions: Judaism and Christianity. The presence of Jews and Christians within the empire became an example of multiculturalism, which characterized the Ottoman Empire, and of self-government with the formation of the millet system. This work analyzes the role of religious minorities, specifically Jews and Orthodox Christians, present within the Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 18th centuries. The institution of the millets desired by the sultans became not only an example of religious freedom, as conversion was not imposed on Christians and Jews, but a way of maintaining stable power and sultan authority throughout the empire.