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“Civilization,” Ottoman Intellectuals, and Western Ideas: Polarization Within the Bourgeoisie

Fatma Müge Göçek

in Rise of the Bourgeoisie, Demise of Empire: Ottoman Westernization and Social Change

This chapter focuses on the effects of Western ideas on the Ottoman social structure and the new visions it produced. New concepts of civilized society produced new organizational groups that ... More

This chapter focuses on the effects of Western ideas on the Ottoman social structure and the new visions it produced. New concepts of civilized society produced new organizational groups that emphasized the efficiency and allegiance to the Ottoman state instead of loyalty to the sultan and his household. These concepts was disparately interpreted and created a gap between Ottoman social groups. As a consequence of their differential location in the Ottoman social structure, the most significant divide emerged along religious lines as the Muslims and minorities developed separate visions. The establishment of newspapers in the 19th century illustrates the pattern of the circulation of Western ideas in the Ottoman society that polarized the Ottoman bourgeoisie along religious lines into bureaucrats and merchants.Less

The Sadir al-Fuqaha' wa-l-Fuqara' Endowment (Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi) in Alexandria during the Eighteenth Century1

Nasir Ibrahim

in Held in Trust: Waqf in the Islamic World

Examining a foundation created by Salah al-Din (Saladin) in Alexandria, this chapter shows how the Ottoman state continuously sought to interfere in the endowment's affairs and fought the ... More

Examining a foundation created by Salah al-Din (Saladin) in Alexandria, this chapter shows how the Ottoman state continuously sought to interfere in the endowment's affairs and fought the beneficiaries for a larger share of endowment revenues. One aim of this study is to understand various dimensions of the state's social policy toward provincial populations during the eighteenth century by examining this endowment, one of the largest providers of official pensions and salaries to ulama, jurists, and orphans in Alexandria. Far from being fixed, this policy was influenced and altered by material circumstances and the various problems facing the Ottoman state during the eighteenth century. This chapter is also concerned with analyzing the reactions of the shaykhs and ulama (representatives of a dynamic social group with considerable social and cultural weight) to the policies and directives issued by the state.Less

“Zeal and Noise”: Jewish Imperial Allegiance and the Greco-Ottoman War of 1897

Julia Phillips Cohen

in The Divergence of Judaism and Islam: Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

This chapter elaborates upon Judeo-Muslim interdependence and a sense of common destiny. During the late nineteenth century, Jews constituted the single largest ethno-religious group in Salonica and ... More

This chapter elaborates upon Judeo-Muslim interdependence and a sense of common destiny. During the late nineteenth century, Jews constituted the single largest ethno-religious group in Salonica and a smaller but active minority in Izmir. The chapter discusses Ottoman patriotism and loyalty, explaining the motives behind Jewish support for Ottoman Muslims in the context of the empire's war with Greece in 1897, and suggests that many Jews, as an expression of their commitment to the empire, went so far as to identify with Islam itself during this period. This pattern of Jewish allegiance to multilingual and multireligious empires can be found elsewhere and is perhaps most notable in the Hapsburg context. Under the late Ottoman state as well, Jews sometimes even surpassed Muslims in their exuberance for imperial causes.Less

Introduction: The Hamidiye Light Cavalry in the Ottoman Tribal Zone

in The Margins of Empire: Kurdish Militias in the Ottoman Tribal Zone

This introductory chapter begins by assessing the Ottoman state's decision to transform Kurdish tribes from a local power that was a challenge to state authority into an arm of state authority itself ... More

This introductory chapter begins by assessing the Ottoman state's decision to transform Kurdish tribes from a local power that was a challenge to state authority into an arm of state authority itself in order to manage the other “threats.” It describes the Hamidiye Light Cavalry Regiments, an irregular militia composed of select Kurdish tribes, created in 1890 by Sultan Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909) and his trusted confidantes. The chapter also discusses methodology, historiography, and sources used in the present study, followed by an overview of the subsequent chapters.Less

Introduction

Jesse Ferris

in Nasser's Gamble: How Intervention in Yemen Caused the Six-Day War and the Decline of Egyptian Power

This introductory chapter argues that the most significant aspect of Egypt's hegemonic aspirations was that they were disguised by, and at times confused with, the promotion of revolutionary ideals. ... More

This introductory chapter argues that the most significant aspect of Egypt's hegemonic aspirations was that they were disguised by, and at times confused with, the promotion of revolutionary ideals. This was especially true with regards to pan-Arabism. The Arab yearning for unity at midcentury provided fertile ground for the promotion of Egyptian-led solidarity among the weak and divided offspring of the defunct Ottoman mother-state. The sincere espousal of transnational ideals by the Free Officers camouflaged the less appealing pursuit of Egyptian state interests, which typically involved a naked struggle for power, and cloaked the subversive attempt to speak to the people over the heads of their leaders in a mantle of legitimacy.Less

From the Law of Ransom to the Law of Release

Will Smiley

in From Slaves to Prisoners of War: The Ottoman Empire, Russia, and International Law

This chapter charts the “Law of Release,” a new system of rules that replaced the Law of Ransom. These rules were based on treaties signed from 1739 onward, but also on a variety of lesser agreements ... More

This chapter charts the “Law of Release,” a new system of rules that replaced the Law of Ransom. These rules were based on treaties signed from 1739 onward, but also on a variety of lesser agreements and unwritten understandings and the Islamic legal tradition. They were renewed frequently, and structured captivity as late as the 1850s. This chapter will explore the basic structures of the Law of Release—how captives were found, released, and sent home, and how slaveowners were convinced, coerced, or compensated to cooperate. I argue that while release was initially limited to Istanbul, and to the most visible captives, it extended both into elite households, and outward along the Ottoman corridors of power. This process tested the limits of the Ottoman state, forcing the state to cooperate with Russian officials for the benefit of both. They did so in the face of resistance from captors.Less

Europeanization, Islamization, and the New Imperialism of the Ottoman State

Mustafa Aksakal

in Paradoxes of Peace in Nineteenth Century Europe

This chapter discusses the nineteenth-century Europeanization of the Ottoman state. At the end of this process the Ottoman state was vastly more centralized. Like its Habsburg and Romanov neighbours, ... More

This chapter discusses the nineteenth-century Europeanization of the Ottoman state. At the end of this process the Ottoman state was vastly more centralized. Like its Habsburg and Romanov neighbours, it employed religion and projected its image in a new, distinctly Islamicized fashion. By 1914, the state also had adopted an imperialistic outlook and treatment towards subject populations whose political loyalties it suspected. The Ottoman statesmen of the tanzimat reforms had sought to become part of the European Concert for much of the nineteenth century. The new generation of Young Turk military officers that launched a coup in 1908 and took over the helm of state in 1913, in contrast, abandoned those diplomatic efforts and believed the empire could be saved only through military power.Less

Conclusion: Unmaking North and South

John M. Willis

in Unmaking North and South: Cartographies of the Yemeni Past

This chapter summarises the book’s main themes and presents some final thoughts. This book has attempted to look at the highly contested nature of spatial history by writing the histories of the ... More

This chapter summarises the book’s main themes and presents some final thoughts. This book has attempted to look at the highly contested nature of spatial history by writing the histories of the Yemeni North and South into those of Britain’s Indian empire, the post-Tanzimat Ottoman state, and the inter-war movement for Islamic unity. Of particular importance has been the explicit recognition of the contingency of space as an effect of complexes of knowledge and power on both sides of the North–South border. Each chapter illustrated the process of making and unmaking of particular spaces, and each chapter ended with the collapse of a particular mode of ordering or disciplining spaces and those who inhabited them.Less