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Caracal and Ramnicu Valcea. Pop. (1900) 4398. The town is of little commercial importance, but the vineyards on the neighbouring hills produce some of the best Walachian wines. Dragashani stands on the site of the See also:

ROMAN

Roman Rusidava. In 1821 the See also:

TURKS

Turks routed the troops of See also:

Ypsilanti near the town. DRAGOMAN (from theArabic ...al—c terjuman, an interpreter or translator; the same See also:

root occurs in the See also:

HEBREW

Hebrew word See also:

TARGUM

targum signifying See also:

TRANSLATION

translation, the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of the Chaldaean translation of the See also:

Bible), a comprehensive designation applied to all who See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act as intermediaries between Europeans and Orientals, from thehotel tout or travellers' See also:

GUIDE (in Mid. Eng. gyde, from the Fr. guide; the earlier French form was guie, English " guy," the d was due to the Italian form guida; the ultimate origin is probably Teutonic, the word being connected with the base seen in O. Eng. witan, to know)

guide, hired at a few shillings a See also:

day, to the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief dragoman of a See also:

FOREIGN

foreign See also:

EMBASSY

embassy whose functions include the carrying on of the most important See also:

POLITICAL

political negotiations with the See also:

OTTOMAN

Ottoman See also:

government, or the dragoman of the imperial See also:

DIVAN (Arabic divan)

divan (the See also:

GRAND

grand See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master of the ceremonies). The See also:

ORIGINAL

original employment of dragomans by the See also:

TURKISH

Turkish government arose from its religious scruples to use any See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save those of peoples which had adopted Islamism. The political relations between the See also:

PORTE, THE SUBLIME (Arab. babi-'ali, the high gate, through the French translation la sublime porte)

Porte and the See also:

EUROPEAN

European states, more frequent in proportion as the Ottoman See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power declined, compelled the See also:

SULTAN (an Arabic word meaning " victorious " or " a ruler," sultat, dominion)

sultan's ministers to make use of interpreters, who rapidly acquired considerable See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence. It soon became necessary to create the important See also:

POST

post of chief dragoman at the Porte, and there was no choice save to appoint a See also:

Greek, as no other See also:

RACE

race in See also:

TURKEY

Turkey combined the requisite knowledge of See also:

LANGUAGES

languages with the tact and adroitness essential for conducting See also:

DIPLOMATIC

diplomatic negotiations. The first chief dragoman of the Porte was Panayot Nikousia, who held his See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office from 1665 to 1673. His successor, See also:

Alexander See also:

MAVROCORDATO, MAVROCORDAT

Mavrocordato, surnamed Exaporritos, was charged by the Turkish government with the delicate and arduous negotiation of the treaty of Carlowitz, and by his dexterity succeeded, in spite of his questionable fidelity to the interests of his employers, in gaining their entire confidence, and in becoming the factotum of Ottoman policy.

From that See also:

time until 1821 the Greeks monopolized the management of Turkey's foreign relations, and soon established the See also:

REGULAR

regular See also:

SYSTEM

system whereby the chief dragoman passed on as a See also:

MATTER

matter of course to the dignity of See also:

HOSPODAR

hospodar of one of the Danubian principalities. In the same way, the foreign representatives accredited to the Porte found it necessary, in the See also:

ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence of duly qualified countrymen of their own, to engage the services of natives, Greek, Armenian, or Levantine, more or less thoroughly acquainted with the language, See also:

LAWS

laws and See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country. Their duties were by no means confined to those of a See also:

mere translator, and they became the confidential and in-dispensable go-betweens of the foreign See also:

MISSIONS (Lat. missio, a sending)

missions and the Porte. Though such dragomans enjoyed by treaty the See also:

PROTECTION

protection of the country employing them, they were by See also:

LOCAL

local interests and See also:

FAMILY

family ties very intimately connected with the Turks, and the disadvantages of the system soon became apparent. Accordingly as See also:

early as 1669 the See also:

French government decided on the See also:

FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of a school for French dragomans at See also:

Constantinople, for which in later years was substituted the Ecole See also:

des langues orientales in See also:

Paris; most of the See also:

GREAT

great See also:

POWERS, HIRAM (1805-1873)

powers eventually took some similar step, See also:

England also adopting in 1877 a system, since modified, for the selection and tuition of a See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps of See also:

BRITISH

British-See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born dragomans. The duties of an embassy dragoman are extensive and not easily defined. They have been described as partaking at once of those of a diplomatist, a See also:

MAGISTRATE (Lat. magistratus, from magister, master, properly a public office, hence the person holding such an office)

magistrate, a legal adviser and an See also:

ADMINISTRATOR

administrator. The functions of the first dragoman are mainly political; he accompanies the See also:

AMBASSADOR (also EMBASSADOR, the form sometimes still used in America; from the Fr. ambassadeur, with which compare Ital. ambasciatore and Span. embajador, all variants of the Med. Lat. ambassiator, ambassiator, ambasator, &c., derived from Med. Lat. amba

ambassador or See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister at his audiences of the sultan and usually of the ministers, and it is he who is charged with the bulk of diplomatic negotiations at the See also:

PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace or the Porte. The subordinate dragomans transact the less important business, comprising routine matters such as See also:

REQUESTS, COURT OF

requests for the recognition of consuls, the See also:

settlement of claims or furthering of other demands of their nationals, and in See also:

general all the various matters in which the interests of foreign subjects may be concerned. An important See also:

PART

part of the dragoman's duties is to attend during any legal proceedings to which a subject of his See also:

NATIONALITY

nationality is a party, as failing his attendance and his concurrence in the See also:

JUDGMENT

judgment delivered such proceedings are null and void. Moreover, the dragoman is frequently enabled, through the See also:

close relations which he necessarily maintains with different classes of Turkish officials, to furnish valuable and confidential See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information not otherwise obtainable. The high estimation in which the dragomans are held by most foreign powers is shown by the fact that they are usually and in the regular course promoted to the most important diplomatic posts.

This is the See also:

case in the See also:

RUSSIAN

Russian and See also:

AUSTRIAN

Austrian services (where more than one ambassador began his career as a junior dragoman) and generally in the See also:

German service; the French chief dragoman usually attains the See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank of minister plenipotentiary. The value of a tactful and efficient intermediary can hardly be over-estimated, and in the See also:

East a See also:

PERSONAL

personal interview of a few minutes often results in the conclusion of some important matter which would otherwise require the See also:

EXCHANGE

exchange of a See also:

long and laborious See also:

correspondence. The more important consulates in the provinces of Turkey are also provided with one or more dragomans, whose duties, mutatis mutandis, are of a similar though less important nature. In the same way See also:

banks, railway companies and See also:

FINANCIAL

financial institutions employ dragomans for facilitating their business relations with Turkish officials.

End of Article: DRAGASHANI (Rumanian Draga. ani)

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