On the basis of new evidence from the Ottoman archives in Istanbul, Karl Barbir challenges the current interpretation of Ottoman rule in Damascus during the eighteenth century. He argues that the prevailing themes of decline and stagnation--usually applied to the entire century--in fact apply only to the latter half of the century. This discovery, he contends, affords a more balanced and realistic view of the Near East's Ottoman past than previous studies have suggested. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Second edition of an authoritative text on the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Army had a significant effect on the history of the modern world and particularly on that of the Middle East and Europe. This study, written by a Turkish and an American scholar, is a revision and corrective to western accounts because it is based on Turkish interpretations, rather than European interpretations, of events. As the world's dominant military machine from 1300 to the mid-1700's, the Ottoman Army led the way in military institutions, organizational structures, technology, and tactics. In decline thereafter, it nevertheless remained a considerable force to be counted in the balance of power through 1918. From its nomadic origins, it underwent revolutions in military affairs as well as several transformations which enabled it to compete on favorable terms with the best of armies of the day. This study tracks the growth of the Ottoman Army as a professional institution from the perspective of the Ottomans themselves, by using previously untapped Ottoman source materials. Additionally, the impact of important commanders and the role of politics, as these affected the army, are examined. The study concludes with the Ottoman legacy and its effect on the Republic and modern Turkish Army. This is a study survey that combines an introductory view of this subject with fresh and original reference-level information. Divided into distinct periods, Uyar and Erickson open with a brief overview of the establishment of the Ottoman Empire and the military systems that shaped the early military patterns. The Ottoman army emerged forcefully in 1453 during the siege of Constantinople and became a dominant social and political force for nearly two hundred years following Mehmed's capture of the city. When the army began to show signs of decay during the mid-seventeenth century, successive Sultans actively sought to transform the institution that protected their power. The reforms and transformations that began frist in 1606successfully preserved the army until the outbreak of the Ottoman-Russian War in 1876. Though the war was brief, its impact was enormous as nationalistic and republican strains placed increasing pressure on the Sultan and his army until, finally, in 1918, those strains proved too great to overcome. By 1923, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk emerged as the leader of a unified national state ruled by a new National Parliament. As Uyar and Erickson demonstrate, the old army of the Sultan had become the army of the Republic, symbolizing the transformation of a dying empire to the new Turkish state make clear that throughout much of its existence, the Ottoman Army was an effective fighting force with professional military institutions and organizational structures.

This volume brings together some thirty essays in a Festschrift in honour of Abdul-Karim Rafeq, the leading historian of Ottoman Syria, touching on themes in socio-economic history which have been Rafeq's principal academic concerns.

The Arab Lands under Ottoman Rule assesses the effects of Ottoman rule on the Arab Lands of Egypt, Greater Syria, Iraq, and Yemen between 1516 and 1800. Drawing attention to the important history of these regions, the book challenges outmoded perceptions of this period as a demoralizing prelude to the rise of Arab nationalism and Arab nation-states in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As well as exploring political events and developments, it delves into the extensive social, cultural, and economic changes that helped to shape the foundations of today's modern Middle and Near East. In doing so, it provides a detailed view of society, incorporating all socio-economic classes, as well as women, religious minorities, and slaves. This second edition has been significantly revised and updated and reflects the developments in research and scholarship since the publication of the first edition. Engaging with a wide range of primary sources and enhanced by a variety of maps and images to illustrate the text, The Arab Lands under Ottoman Rule is a unique and essential resource for students of early modern Ottoman history and the early modern Middle East.

No detailed description available for "Central Asian Pilgrims.".

This study offers a thorough treatment of Ottoman policy with respect to Christianity's holiest shrines during the first two centuries of Ottoman rule in Jerusalem. Based on official Ottoman records found in the registers of the kadi's court in Jerusalem as well as the Prime Ministry's Archives in Istanbul, it sheds new light on one of the most obscure and controversial chapters in the history of Christianity under Islam in Jerusalem.

First published in 1988, Ira Lapidus' A History of Islamic Societies has become a classic in the field, enlightening students, scholars, and others with a thirst for knowledge about one of the world's great civilizations. This book, based on fully revised and updated parts one and two of this monumental work,describes the transformations of Islamic societies from their beginning in the seventh century, through their diffusion across the globe, into the challenges of the nineteenth century. The story focuses on the organization of families and tribes, religious groups and states, showing how they were transformed by their interactions with other religious and political communities. The book concludes with the European commercial and imperial interventions that initiated a new set of transformations in the Islamic world, and the onset of the modern era. Organized in narrative sections for the history of each major region, with innovative, analytic summary introductions and conclusions, this book is a unique endeavour.

The Rise of The Indo-Afghan Empire, c. 1710-1780 deals with the magnificent world of Afghan nomads, horse-dealers and mercenaries bridging the frontiers between the old metropolitan centres of India, Iran and Central Asia. During the eighteenth century they succeeded in establishing a vigorous new system of Indo-Afghan states. In Central Asia, the Afghans created an imperial tradition on the basis of long-standing Perso-Islamic ideals. In India, along the caravan routes with Turkistan and Tibet, they carved out thriving principalities in association with military service and the breeding and trade in war-horses. By fully incorporating this Afghan ascendancy into the fabric of Islamic and world history the author challenges the widely held notion of a gloomy Afghan past.

The term 'Islamic cities' has been used to refer to cities of the Islamic world, centring on the Middle East. Academic scholarship has tended to link the cities of the Islamic world with Islam as a religion and culture, in an attempt to understand them as a whole in a unified and homogenous way. Examining studies (books, articles, maps, bibliographies) of cities which existed in the Middle East and Central Asia in the period from the rise of Islam to the beginning of the 20th century, this book seeks to examine and compare Islamic cities in their diversity of climate, landscape, population and historical background. Coordinating research undertaken since the nineteenth century, and comparing the historiography of the Maghrib, Mashriq, Turkey, Iran and Central Asia, Islamic Urbanism provides a fresh perspective on issues that have exercised academic concern in urban studies and highlights avenues for future research.