ABSTRACT
A common assumption in the studies on Ottoman diplomacy holds that Ottomans avoided learning foreign languages and conducted diplomacy mainly in Istanbul, home to many European embassies. While Istanbul was a key diplomatic centre, it was not the only site where Ottomans interacted with foreign diplomats. As the Ottoman presence abroad grew in the eighteenth century, so did their need for individuals proficient in European languages and in Ottoman Turkish. This chapter examines how Ottoman bureaucrats, dragomans (interpreters) and Phanariots (elite Greek Ottoman families from Istanbul's Phanar district) acquired the linguistic skills and eloquence necessary for diplomatic service. The example of Ottoman-Prussian relations clarifies how these groups and their language abilities were employed to represent the empire both abroad and domestically.
