Ottoman Political Writing 1768-1808, IJMES 25, 53-69, 1993

A History of Ottoman Political Thought up to the Early Nineteenth Century, by Marinos Sariyannis, 2019

First Paragraph: The absence of a comprehensive list of Ottoman manuscripts on political thought poses a serious obstacle to using and analyzing sources in the field in a consistent fashion. Modern catalogues exist for various geographies and periods of the Islamic world, yet they lapse into silence when it comes to Ottoman political thought. Chief among the reasons for this silence are the relative paucity of Turkish-speaking scholars compared to Persian and Arabic and the scattered manner in which political texts have been categorized under different disciplines in Turkish libraries, especially in the Süleymaniye Library.

A History of Diplomacy, Spatiality, and Islamic Ideals, 2024

Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association 1.1-2: 57-69, 2014

The fifteenth century saw the Ottoman state develop from a border principality to a global great power. This change in the empire's identity is reflected in its political literature, which moved from the translation of classical works to the provision of new versions adapted to the empire's issues, and finally to the development of an original imperial literature. This paper surveys the production of political literature throughout the century and suggests how the use of inherited concepts of political relations matured and was adapted to Ottoman conditions, creating the foundation for the better-known political literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The fifteenth century saw the Ottoman state develop from a border principality to a world-class empire. The century began with the devastating attack by Timur in 1402, which broke the nascent Ottoman state into fragments, followed by two decades of struggle during which it was re-established. For the rest of the century, through a massive victory over European crusaders at Varna in 1444, the capture of the Byzantine capital and all of its territories, and the defeat of major powers on both borders, the Akkoyunlu and Venice, the Ottomans positioned themselves to incorporate the Arab lands and become one of the two Great Powers of the sixteenth century. In the process, their governmental institutions developed from those of a former nomadic state just beginning to install the organizational mechanisms of an empire to those of a cohesive imperial administration aspiring to infinite expansion and world dominion. The literature of political thought, developing in tandem, forms one barometer to the growth of a self-consciously imperial political culture. The point of such literature was to convey ethical advice to rulers and legitimize their rule, but the works themselves-their nature, frequency, and intended audience, as well as their style and message-reflect the changing character and identity of the government they addressed. This paper will examine the production of political literature-copies, translations, and original works-and will trace its development in conjunction with that of the state itself. The conclusions presented here are necessarily based on extant works, but one must assume that they are indicative of broader trends. This survey suggests how the use of inherited concepts of political relations matured and was adapted to Ottoman conditions, creating the foundation for the better-known political literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Turkish Historical Review, 2020

The International History Review

This essay proposes a revisionist historiography of Late Ottoman foreign relations and (para)diplomacy and examines previously overlooked forms, venues, geographies, and levels of Ottoman engagements with the international. The article first draws out a historical sketch of Ottoman diplomatic practices and demonstrates how the empire participated in, and influenced the ways in which the (Western, colonial) 'diplomatic system' developed throughout the long nineteenth century. It then offers a critical reading of the rich, but uneven historiography of Ottoman foreign affairs, long caught up in 'modernisationist' and 'westernisation' paradigms. We elucidate the relation of this body of scholarship to some of its precursors in older, pre-1923 strands of literature that centred on the pervasive trope of the 'Eastern question' and mystified Ottoman agency. We overturn the main teleological and Eurocentric axioms of this literature by giving voice to some of its contemporary Ottoman critics. Turning to comparative history and postcolonial critiques of IR, we juxtapose the Ottoman Empire with other often ignored 'peripheral' polities in Latin America to suggest new pathways for writing more inclusive kinds of international history that do not conform to conventional hierarchizations of the world between a European centre and its supposed global peripheries.

The International History Review, 2021

This essay proposes a revisionist historiography of Late Ottoman foreign relations and (para)diplomacy and examines previously overlooked forms, venues, geographies, and levels of Ottoman engagements with the international. The article first draws out a historical sketch of Ottoman diplomatic practices and demonstrates how the empire participated in, and influenced the ways in which the (Western, colonial) ‘diplomatic system’ developed throughout the long nineteenth century. It then offers a critical reading of the rich, but uneven historiography of Ottoman foreign affairs, long caught up in ‘modernisationist’ and ‘westernisation’ paradigms. We elucidate the relation of this body of scholarship to some of its precursors in older, pre-1923 strands of literature that centred on the pervasive trope of the ‘Eastern question’ and mystified Ottoman agency. We overturn the main teleological and Eurocentric axioms of this literature by giving voice to some of its contemporary Ottoman critics. Turning to comparative history and postcolonial critiques of IR, we juxtapose the Ottoman Empire with other often ignored ‘peripheral’ polities in Latin America to suggest new pathways for writing more inclusive kinds of international history that do not conform to conventional hierarchizations of the world between a European centre and its supposed global peripheries. Introduction to a Special Issue guest edited by Houssine Alloul & Darina Martykánová.

This course surveys the political, social, and intellectual history of the Ottoman Empire from the end of the 18th century to its demise after the First World War. It will explore the tremendous transformation that Ottoman state and society experienced during a period of astounding developments in the global context. Therefore, an important goal of the course is to investigate interactions and exchanges between the Ottomans and the world around them. Another aim will be to introduce students to the basic historiography and major historical debates regarding the late Ottoman history. The course is –roughly- composed of two parts. In the first part, students will be introduced the fundamental chronology, events, institutions, and individuals that shaped the late Ottoman Empire and arguably created the modern Middle East as we know it today. The second part will concentrate on the lives and experiences of ordinary Ottoman subjects hailing from various socio-economic and ethno-religious backgrounds, including non-Muslims, peasants, workers, soldiers, and women.

Turkish Historical Review, 2022

The nineteenth century was a period of profound transformation in Ottoman historical writing, as in other avenues of Ottoman cultural, intellectual, and sociopolitical life. Aiming to establish a general framework for nineteenth-century Ottoman historiography, the present article traces the evolution of late Ottoman historical writing and explores the ways in which Ottoman historiographical practices changed over the century. The article first focuses on the Tanzimat period and examines the process of what can be called historiographical expansion, which took place with the emergence of a new understanding of history among the Ottomans. Then, the article considers Ottoman historiography during the Hamidian era and traces how it received a relatively Islamized and nationalized content as a result of the shift in the political context. Lastly, the article concludes with an epilogue on Ottoman/Turkish historiography after the 1908 Constitutional Revolution, which led to a decisive break from traditional patterns of historical writing.

2014

There have been a number of publications and conferences recently which methodologically deal with the frontiers, encounters and interchange between different units within the Ottoman Empire throughout the long history of Ottoman times. 1 The present twovolume work is an end product of the 15 th Symposium of the Comité International d’Études Pré-Ottomanes et Ottomanes, held in London from 8 July to 12 July, 2002. It contains a selection of the presented papers: thirty three papers which seek to extend the frontiers of Ottoman studies either with new methodological approaches or by “reading” new historical sources and materials for the sake of Ottoman studies. These articles are arranged into four chapters per volume.