The Ottoman Empire: Tolerant In The 16th-17th Century

If you know much about the Ottoman Empire, you know that they are usually considered a tolerant society. But what was it exactly that made them such a tolerant society? You can’t specify one or two things that they did, because they did a lot that could be considered tolerance, especially in the 16th-17th Century era. From the beginning of its society, the Ottoman Empire was always tolerant. They may not have been doing it in the most “civil” way, but they were at least giving people a chance to follow their own culture. One example would be the fact that many Jews who had been kicked out of Spain, “flocked” to the Ottoman lands, and they were not forced to convert to Islam, but them and any other non-Muslims were forced to pay a Jitza, or a tax for religious tolerance.
This eliminated the millet system from the Ottoman Empire. The Millet system created religiously based communities that operated autonomously, so people were organized into societies, on often received privileges, based on the church they followed. This clause terminated the privileges of these communities and constructed a society where all followed the same law. As millets were generally autonomous, there were many differences in law and punishment from millet to millet which went against the idea of equality of everyone. The first declaration of the Tanzimat Period, the Hatt-ı Sharif, fixed this so that everyone was to be treated equally and with respect, including such clauses as No one will be permitted to assail the honor of any one, whosoever he may be and These imperial concessions extend to all our subjects, whatever religion or sect they may belong to; and they will enjoy them without any