The Ottoman Empire’s “Millet System,” for example, was a system of “multi-cultural” imperial administration, in which religious and ethnic minority groups across the empire were granted autonomy and even special privileges – to such a degree that official recognition as a minority group became something of a prized status for which various groups would actively lobby the Sultan.1 The Ottoman elite would then tap these loyal minorities for administrative and military talent. This helped keep their expansive empire relatively stable for centuries.