The Circle of Justice

The Circle of Justice is a state theory which has a major role in the formation of Ottoman social and political order, and it is also a key concept to understand the relations between the ruler and the ruled during the classical period. Although it was inherited from the Pre-Ottoman Turkish states, actually this theory goes back to Ancient East. The Circle of Justice makes the ruler and the ruled mutually dependant on each other with functional solidarity with the mediatory of the institutions like army and treasury. The Ottoman Empire employed this theory as an essential guide in their state practice. Also, it found an important place in the Ottoman political advice literature and turned out to be a common concept used by different genres. While in flourishing times it was used to maintain the ongoing system, in the later periods it became a tool to criticize the corruption and lack of order. Through the prism of the Circle of Justice, the study of the relations between the sultanate and the re'y can sweep aside the modern wrong image which portrays this relation as of autocratic rulers and suppressed subjects, and supply with a clear and unbiased vision for further research.