Podcasts · The Ottoman Empire: How It Ruled Three Continents for 600 Years — Fexingo History

Ottoman Paper: How Print Broke Tradition

18 Sep 2026 · 8:13 · S5 E238

For centuries, the Ottoman Empire viewed the printing press with deep suspicion, largely due to religious concerns about misrepresenting the Quran and a powerful guild of scribes who stood to lose their livelihoods. This episode explores the pivotal moment in 1727 when Ibrahim Muteferrika, a Hungarian-born diplomat, finally secured permission from Sultan Ahmed III to establish the first official Ottoman printing press. We examine the political maneuvering behind this breakthrough, the specific types of books that were deemed safe to print—such as dictionaries, history, and geography—and how this technological shift quietly transformed literacy and administration across the empire. By focusing on Muteferrika’s struggle against the nakkaşlar (painters and calligraphers) guild and the eventual explosion of printed materials in the eighteenth century, we uncover how an empire known for its conservatism slowly embraced the machine that would redefine knowledge.

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