Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition
9780226388069
9780226098012
Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition
This skillfully written text presents the full sweep of Ottoman history from its beginnings on the Byzantine frontier in about 1300, through its development as an empire, to its late eighteenth-century confrontation with a rapidly modernizing Europe. Itzkowitz delineates the fundamental institutions of the Ottoman state, the major divisions within the society, and the basic ideas on government and social structure. Throughout, Itzkowitz emphasizes the Ottomans’ own conception of their historical experience, and in so doing penetrates the surface view provided by the insights of Western observers of the Ottoman world to the core of Ottoman existence.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. From Emirate to Empire
Turkish Migration
Seljuks
Seljuks of Rum
The Emirate of Osman
Orhon
Ottoman Methods of Conquest
Bajazet the Thunderbolt
Bajazet’s Legacy
Recovery and Renewed Conquest
Mohammad the Conqueror
Istanbul
Bajazet II
Selim the Grim
Suleiman the Magnificent
2. Ottoman Society and Institutions
Steppe, Ghazi, and Class
Askeris and Reaya
Timars and Timar-holders
Provincial Structure
Provincial Administration
The Ghulam System
The Grand Vizier and the Divan
The Bureaucracy
Justice
The True Ottomans
Social Mobility
3. The Post-Suleimanic Age
The Muscovy Menace
Conflict in North Africa
Conflict in the East
Conflict in the West
Back to the East
Ottoman Succession
Sultanate of the Women
The Kuprili Era
Second Siege of Vienna
Aftermath of 1683
4. Ottoman Consciousness
The Circle of Equity
Disruption in the Timar System
Expansion of the Janissary Corps
Sekbans and Celalis
Causes
The Kuprili Era in Perspective
The Historian Naima
The Medical Analogy
Eighteenth-Century Success
Ottoman Knowledge of Europe
Success Breeds Failure
The Ottoman-Russian War
Selim III
Bibliography
Chronology
Glossary
Index
1. From Emirate to Empire
Turkish Migration
Seljuks
Seljuks of Rum
The Emirate of Osman
Orhon
Ottoman Methods of Conquest
Bajazet the Thunderbolt
Bajazet’s Legacy
Recovery and Renewed Conquest
Mohammad the Conqueror
Istanbul
Bajazet II
Selim the Grim
Suleiman the Magnificent
2. Ottoman Society and Institutions
Steppe, Ghazi, and Class
Askeris and Reaya
Timars and Timar-holders
Provincial Structure
Provincial Administration
The Ghulam System
The Grand Vizier and the Divan
The Bureaucracy
Justice
The True Ottomans
Social Mobility
3. The Post-Suleimanic Age
The Muscovy Menace
Conflict in North Africa
Conflict in the East
Conflict in the West
Back to the East
Ottoman Succession
Sultanate of the Women
The Kuprili Era
Second Siege of Vienna
Aftermath of 1683
4. Ottoman Consciousness
The Circle of Equity
Disruption in the Timar System
Expansion of the Janissary Corps
Sekbans and Celalis
Causes
The Kuprili Era in Perspective
The Historian Naima
The Medical Analogy
Eighteenth-Century Success
Ottoman Knowledge of Europe
Success Breeds Failure
The Ottoman-Russian War
Selim III
Bibliography
Chronology
Glossary
Index