The institutionalization of mathematics in a non-western empire through textbooks: the Ottoman case

This article examines how mathematics education changed in the Ottoman Empire between the Tanzimat reforms and the Republican era (1839-1923) through an analysis of textbooks published in the same period. This research qualitatively analyses 380 Turkish mathematics textbooks (written in Arabic script) published for use in modern educational institutions (primary schools, secondary schools, high schools, engineering schools, and universities), revealing the institutional, pedagogical, and epistemological restructuring of mathematical knowledge. The textbooks examined indicate a selective and contextual adaptation process rather than a direct transfer of European-derived mathematical knowledge. Furthermore, the Ottoman experience, when compared with nineteenth-century Russia, reveals that mathematics instruction was conducted using similar tools but with different institutional organizations. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that textbooks were fundamental tools that enabled both the transformation of knowledge and the formation of a collective community of mathematicians in the development of Ottoman mathematics.