Ottoman Studies

The Ottoman Empire was one of the major empires of modern times, covering an area extending from the borderlands of Hungary to the North African coastal areas. This book provides a richly detailed account of its social and economic history, from its origins around 1300 to the eve of its destruction during World War I.

This study analyses the dynamics between the non-Muslim merchant elites of Ankara and Izmir (mostly Greeks and Armenians) and their European competitors in the eighteenth century. In particular, it investigates two major developments: the Dutch attempts to penetrate the mohair trade in Ankara and the local resistance they faced, and the Ottoman non-Muslim merchant's infiltration of the Dutch Levant trade and the Dutch reaction to this form of Ottoman 'expansion'.

This volume examines the monetary history of a large empire located at the crossroads of intercontinental trade from the fourteenth century until the end of World War I. It covers all regions of the empire from the Balkans through Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and the Gulf to the Maghrib. The implications of monetary developments for social and political history are also discussed throughout the volume. This is an important and pathbreaking book by one of the most distinguished economic historians in the field.

This work deals with French trade in Istanbul in the eighteenth century, using French and Ottoman sources, and integrating the political and social dimensions of the question. It also sheds light on the financial dimension of trade, particularly that of bills of exchange and monetary trade, linking Istanbul to other Ottoman cities and to European financial centers. Finally, it tackles the issue of western economic penetration, arguing that, despite some signs of domination, French control over the market was efficiently opposed by local actors, that economic integration with the West was often realized on equal terms, and that much of the domination witnessed toward the end of the century was, in fact, the result of French diplomatic leverage and of the gradual estrangement of non-Muslim traders from the Ottoman commonwealth"."

The Ottoman Empire is approahced through analysis of its political economy based on world systems theory. Relations with Europe constituted one of the key factors that shaped the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Yet a comprehensive account of the nature, development, and consequences of these realtions has, until now, never been developed. This book moves beyond the narrow framework of Euro-Ottoman relations, and places Europe at the center of the expanding world economy as it examines the impact of this global system on the Ottoman Empire. Its main contention is that the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was the culmination of a long term process whereby the Ottoman territories became integral parts of the European-centered world economy, and Ottoman state a subordinate member of the interstate system. In addition to the broad processes eminating from outside, the author focuses on the transformation of the political, economic, and social structures in the Ottoman Empire. The changes in processes of production, networks of trade, and relations among various social groups are described on the basis of archival material on western Anatolia. Considering world affairs and Ottoman developments simultaneously makes this work unique in its field. This approach captures the transformation of the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century in all its complexity. In addition to providing original information about western Anatolia, the books also offers a general model for combining the macro concerns of historical sociology with detailed research in social history.

The first comprehensive history of the Turkish economy The population and economy of the area within the present-day borders of Turkey has consistently been among the largest in the developing world, yet there has been no authoritative economic history of Turkey until now. In Uneven Centuries, Şevket Pamuk examines the economic growth and human development of Turkey over the past two hundred years. Taking a comparative global perspective, Pamuk investigates Turkey's economic history through four periods: the open economy during the nineteenth-century Ottoman era, the transition from empire to nation-state that spanned the two world wars and the Great Depression, the continued protectionism and import-substituting industrialization after World War II, and the neoliberal policies and the opening of the economy after 1980. Making use of indices of GDP per capita, trade, wages, health, and education, Pamuk argues that Turkey's long-term economic trends cannot be explained only by immediate causes such as economic policies, rates of investment, productivity growth, and structural change. Uneven Centuries offers a deeper analysis of the essential forces underlying Turkey's development--its institutions and their evolution--to make better sense of the country's unique history and to provide important insights into the patterns of growth in developing countries during the past two centuries.

The Ottoman Empire stood at a crossroads of intercontinental trade, stretching from the Balkans and the Black Sea region through the present day Middle East and most of the North African coast for six centuries up to World War I. The articles in this volume by a leading economic historian examine its economic institutions, the long term performance of the Ottoman economy and explore the reasons for the longevity of this large empire. Until recently, historiography had depicted an empire in decline after the 16th century. These articles argue, however, that the Ottoman state and society showed considerable ability to reorganize and adapt to changing circumstances through selective institutional change, well before the reforms of the nineteenth century. They also make the case that, until the 19th century, standards of living in many parts of the empire were not very different from those prevailing in most parts of continental Europe.

Four specialists trace the evolution of manufacturing in the Ottoman Empire from traditional practices through the transformations and adaptations in response to the Industrial Revolution, to the state-led industrialization policy of modern Turkey early in the 20th century, which became a model for many developing countries. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The manufacture and trade in crafted goods and the men and women who were involved in this industry - including metalworkers, ceramicists, silk weavers, fez-makers, blacksmiths and even barbers - lay at the social as well as the economic heart of the Ottoman empire. This comprehensive history by leading Ottoman historian Suraiya Faroqhi presents the definitive view of the subject, from the production and distribution of different craft objects to their use and enjoyment within the community.Succinct yet comprehensive, "Artisans of Empire" analyses the production and trade of crafts from the beginning of the 16th century to the early 20th century, focusing on its history, politics and culture. Production methods, the organisation of trade guilds, religious differences, the contribution of women and the structure of the Ottoman economy all come under scrutiny in this wide-ranging history that combines keen analysis with descriptions of the beautiful and sometimes unknown works of Ottoman artisans. Faroqhi sheds new light on all aspects of artisan life, setting the concerns of individual craftsmen within the context of the broader cultural themes that connect them to the wider world. Combining social, cultural, economic, religious and historiographical insights, this will be the authoritative work on Ottoman artisans and guilds for many years to come.

This study investigates the growth of the industrial workforce in the Ottoman empire and Turkey in the period from 1840 to 1940, when the Industrial Revolution began to have a serious impact on the Middle East. Special attention is devoted to the role of ethnicity and gender; to the transition from traditional guilds to modern trade unions; work stoppages and strikes; and the role of the state.

By the early twentieth century, consumers around the world had developed a taste for Ottoman-grown tobacco. Employing tens of thousands of workers, the Ottoman tobacco industry flourished in the decades between the 1870s to the First Balkan War--and it became the locus of many of the most active labor struggles across the empire. Can Nacar delves into the lives of these workers and their fight for better working conditions. Full of insight into the changing relations of power between capital and labor in the Ottoman Empire and the role played by state actors in these relations, this book also draws on a rich array of primary sources to foreground the voices of tobacco workers themselves.  

By using untapped Latin and Turkish sources, and focusing on the trading partnership between the Genoese and the Turks, Kate Fleet demonstrates how this interaction contributed to the economic development of the early Ottoman state and to Ottoman territorial expansion. Where previous literature has emphasized the military prowess of the early Ottomans and their role as "the infidel," this book considers their economic aspirations and their integration into the economy of the Mediterranean basin. This readable, authoritative study illuminates an obscure period in early Ottoman history.

Mediterranean Encounters traces the layered history of Galata--a Mediterranean and Black Sea port--to the Ottoman conquest, and its transformation into a hub of European trade and diplomacy as well as a pluralist society of the early modern period. Framing the history of Ottoman-European encounters within the institution of ahdnames (commercial and diplomatic treaties), this thoughtful book offers a critical perspective on the existing scholarship. For too long, the Ottoman empire has been defined as an absolutist military power driven by religious conviction, culturally and politically apart from the rest of Europe, and devoid of a commercial policy. By taking a close look at Galata, Fariba Zarinebaf provides a different approach based on a history of commerce, coexistence, competition, and collaboration through the lens of Ottoman legal records, diplomatic correspondence, and petitions. She shows that this port was just as cosmopolitan and pluralist as any large European port and argues that the Ottoman world was not peripheral to European modernity but very much part of it.

The financial collapse of the Ottoman government in 1875 was a pivotal event in the history of the Middle East. Based on extensive use of both financial and diplomatic sources, this book is an economic history of Ottoman finances in the context of the larger political and diplomatic history of the Empire. It covers the reasons for the bankruptcy, examining the lack of financial controls and the consequent accumulation of debt.

ith an exceptional longevity of almost 150 years, the Ottoman Bank is one of the most fascinating banking institutions of the modern era. Foreign yet at the same time Ottoman, private yet holding the privileges and duties of a state bank, its complex history is intimately linked to that of the Ottoman Empire, but also to that of the Turkish Republic after the collapse of the empire. Taking the bank's monetary role and functions as its guideline, but without discarding its complex and often ambiguous relation to the political, social and economic context of the time, this book traces the history of the institution from its foundation in 1856 to the transformations it underwent during the first decade of the Republic.

Türkiye'de sosyal ve beşeri bilimler, 1960'lı ve 70'li yıllarda Aydınlanmacı bir "modernite" paradigması ışığında gelişmişti. Bu evrede "sosyal"in ayrı bir ağırlığı vardı ve "sınıf" kavramı Türkiye ve dünya çözümlemelerinde yoğun bir biçimde kullanılıyordu. Batı'da kapitalizm altın çağını yaşamış, refah devletini belirli bir noktaya taşımıştı. Her türlü sınıf çelişkisine rağmen, emekçi kesim bu refahtan görece payına düşeni almıştı. Ancak, 70'li yılların ilk yarısında Bretton Woods'un çöküşü, petrol krizi ve stagflasyon sonucu "refah devleti" tökezledi. "Sosyal devlet"in yük giderek altından kalkılamayacak bir düzeye ulaşmış, sürdürülebilirliğini yitirmişti. Hayek'in, Friedman'ın, neo-liberal anlayışın yıldızı bu tarihlerde parladı. Reagan, Thatcher bu tarihlerde iktidar oldular. Dünya ekonomik düzeninde bu denli köklü dönüşümlerin yaşandığı bir evrede sosyal ve beşeri bilimlerin bundan etkilenmemesi olanaksızdı. Böylece "modernite"den "post-modernite"ye geçildi. Tüm dünyada olduğu gibi Türkiye'de de bunun etkileri görüldü. 24 Ocak ve 12 Eylül ertesi "post-modernite" ile birlikte "sosyal"den "kültürel"e kayılıyordu. Artık bilim çevrelerinde "sınıf" kavramı dışlanıyor, yerini "kültür kodları", etnik ve dinsel ayrışmalar alıyordu. Bu sürecin olumsuz etkileri özellikle çalışanların üzerinde görüldü. Etnik ve dinsel çatışmalar su yüzüne çıkar(ılır)ken örgütlü sendikal yaşam büyük darbe yedi. Türkiye'de İşçi Sınıfı 1908-1946 ile emeğiyle geçinen bir "sınıf"ın doğuş öyküsünü gündeme getirerek Aydınlanma'ya olan inancımızı bir kez daha vurgulamış oluyoruz.

This book uncovers the rich, fascinating and complex world of Ottoman manufacturing and manufacturers in the age of the European industrial revolution. Using a wealth of sources from Ottoman, European and American archives, Professor Donald Quataert explores the technological methods of producing cotton cloth, wool cloth, yarn and silk, how these changed throughout the nineteenth century, the organisation of home and workshop production and trends in the domestic and international markets. By focusing on textile manufacturing in homes and small workshops, the author reveals a dynamism that refutes traditional notions of a declining economy in the face of European expansion. He shows how manufacturers adopted a variety of strategies, such as reduced wages and low technology inputs, to confront European competitors, protect their livelihoods and retain domestic and international customers.

This collection of essays represents a departure from the traditional perspective, recently questioned by many scholars, from which Ottoman history is usually written. Central to the establishment of Western domination over the 'East' is the writing of its history in terms of Western hegemony, above all in the case of the Ottoman Empire, which has been characterised as static, irrational and authoritarian in contrast with the dynamic, rational, democratic West. This book contrasts sharply with conventional studies of the Ottoman Empire, based on this European world-view, that focus on political military, and cultural institutions. Following a series of general theoretical discussions about Ottoman social structure, the contributors turn to case studies directed either to theoretical problems or to 'facts' which suggest new avenues of conceptualisation.

This book traces the evolution of Ottoman agriculture from commercialization of the rural peasant households into global networks of production and trade. It re-evaluates the significance attached to large-scale agricultural units as catalysts of this transformation, and assesses structures of authority and control invested in large landlords, local notables, and the rural producers. The essays in this volume offer different perspectives on the transformation of an important agrarian society in the Middle East.