By the end of the 18th century, the most important problem of the Russian’s Empire foreign policy was the “Eastern question”. The interest of Russian society in the Ottoman Empire’s traditions, customs, religion, military affairs and economy was linked to the necessity of finding ways for cooperation between both states in military, diplomatic and economic spheres. In this situation, literary works served as a source of useful information apart from the reports of diplomatic embassies about an exotic country. Among them was the travel notes, ‘Unlucky adventures of Vasili Baranikov, tradesman from Nizhny Novgorod in three continents: America, Asia and Europe from 1780 to 1787,’ that was published in the last third of the 18th century (1787). On the eve of the Ottoman-Russian War of 1787-1791, the Nizhny Novgorod merchant Vasily Baranshikov worked in St. Petersburg, then travels as a sailor to Copenhagen, where local scammers fraudulently deliver him to the ship of slavers. For about two months, Baranschikov serves as a recruit on the island of St. Thomas, then as a laborer on the island of Puerto Rico. In October 1782, he finally got his freedom and went to Europe as a sailor on a Venetian merchant ship. However, near the coast of Africa, Basil was captured by Turkish pirates, circumcised to Islam, and sold as a slave to Palestine. A year later, Baranschikov fled to Venice, and from there fate throws him to Istanbul, where he spent about 10 months in the janissary service.

Vasily Baranschikov described the Ottoman Empire as follows: the geography and architecture of Istanbul, the system of civil, spiritual and military ranks, the way of life, military service and everyday life of the Janissaries, the judicial system, the Sultan’s harem, and religious rites. The author managed to convert to Islam, married and lived almost a year as an ordinary janissary having, of course, sufficiently mastered the language – all this together makes his work truly unique and informative from the point of view of the researcher, despite a significant share of artistic fiction.

The present article is devoted to the image of Istanbul and representation of Ottoman society through the eyes of a Nizhny Novgorod citizen in a work of art that was written during the escalation of the Russian-Turkish conflict, and therefore intentionally lacks obvious expressions of the author’s admiration for Istanbul (excluding descriptions of the city’s geographical location and luxury architecture). In the article are discussed the issues of state administration and religion of the Ottoman Empire and ways of their comparison with the Russian reality. The author analyzed the daily life and service of the Janissaries, as well as the author’s representation of the transformation of the janissary corps in the 18th century: from a formidable isolated force and participants in Palace coups by the end of the 18th century, the Janissaries turn into family merchants and artisans, thereby destroying the border between the military and trade and craft layers of the population. The author did not ignore the Ottoman judicial system based on the Muslim tradition. It is noted that criminal offenses are not treated as accurately here as in Russia, but self-destructive punishments against dishonest merchants and impaling Greeks accused of treason or murder are widespread. Throughout the text, the author highlights the brutality of the Ottoman system of punishments. This is why Russian traditions are regularly contrasted with the Ottoman ones, and such attempts to define social, cultural, and religious boundaries are usually found throughout the story – in homesickness and remorse over the ‘forced’ betrayal of the Orthodox faith. In particular, attention is paid to the peculiarities of Ottoman family life. The author’s surprise was caused by complete obedience to his father – in-law and wife since such a way of life was alien to the young Nizhny Novgorod merchant, who, by the way, was waiting to return to his wife and two children in Nizhny Novgorod. Even more astonishing were polygamy in the Ottoman Empire and the Sultan’s harem: describing the Islamic picture of Paradise, he draws an interesting analogy with the Sultan’s earthly life, noting that Paradise was embodied in the Sultan’s harems and luxurious life. The author is particularly interested in social mobility when converting to Islam against the background of relatively peaceful coexistence of representatives of many nations and religions. In particular, the article highlights the activities of the Enderun court school, which prepared gifted children for the highest military and civil posts of the Ottoman Empire. The author notes the strict discipline and humility of students who received a comprehensive education at school (military Affairs, languages, music training, art), while working in the Palace services. Thus, the Russian author notes and describes to his compatriots a new format of education for the Russian Empire, which was characterized by increased attention to the talents of the pupil. This system implied complete obedience to the official-fully developed, humble and loyal to the Sultan. The Ottoman Empire inherited the Roman tradition of granting citizenship to foreigners, allowing the most capable people to fill leadership positions regardless of ethnicity or social origin. It was this principle that became the main concept of the Enderun School and the foundation of a competent administrative system and, as a result – the centuries old power of the Ottoman Empire.

The article raises the problem of authorship and authenticity of a work of art and the degree of its value as a historical source. The opinions of scientists may be various about the personality and authorship of Vasily Baranshchikov, but for a historian-researcher who studies the history of Eastern societies and the Ottoman Empire in particular, ‘Unlucky adventures’ is a unique source on the history of Ottoman society in the last third of the 18th century. So, in our opinion, the main feature of the work is its autobiographical character, and although the goals of its writing largely determined the style of presentation and assessment of what is happening, the source of the author, who lived in Istanbul for about 10 months, was mostly his own experience and observations. The information about a particular state accumulated by a person of a different mentality and religion always allows you to look at the described state from a new angle. When analyzing the travelogue, it is important to take into account that the author was not an outside observer of the daily life of Ottoman society, but, in fact, a part of it: he spends almost a year in Istanbul; converts to Islam, serves as a janissary, marries – that is, leads an absolutely ordinary life of a local resident. As a result, we see the view of a foreigner, but well acquainted with the Ottoman reality. The focus is on the peculiarities of Istanbul Russian man in the East in the period of aggravation of relations between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the specifics of self-identification and perception of the “other” by our compatriot.