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The first study exploring the lives of female slaves of the Ottoman imperial court, drawing from hitherto unexplored primary sources
The Hemshin are without doubt one of the most enigmatic peoples of Turkey and the Caucasus. As former Christians who converted to Islam centuries ago yet did not assimilate into the culture of the surrounding Muslim populations, as Turks who speak Armenian yet are often not aware of it, as Muslims who continue to celebrate feasts that are part of the calendar of the Armenian Church, and as descendants of Armenians who, for the most part, have chosen to deny their Armenian origins in favour of recently invented myths of Turkic ancestry, the Hemshin and the seemingly irreconcilable differences within their group identity have generated curiosity and often controversy. The Hemshin is the first ...
One of more poorly understood aspects of the history of the Ottoman Empire has been the flourishing of Sufi mysticism under its auspices. This study tracks the evolution of the Halveti order from its modest origins in medieval Azerbaijan to the emergence of its influential Sa'baniyye branch, whose range extended throughout the Empire at the height of its expansion. By carefully reconstructing the lives of formerly obscure figures in the history of the order, a complex picture emerges of the connections of Halveti groups with the Ottoman state and society. Even more importantly, since the Sa'baniyye branch of the order grew out of the towns and villages of the northern Anatolian mountains rather than the major urban centres, this work has the added benefit of bringing a unique perspective to how Ottoman subjects lived, worked, and worshiped outside the major urban centres of the Empire. Along the way, it sheds light on less-visible actors in society, such as women and artisans, and challenges widely-held generalizations about the activities and strategies of Ottoman mystics.
Marc David Baer proposes a novel approach to the historical record of Islamic conversions during the Ottoman age and gathers fresh insights concerning the nature of religious conversion itself. Rather than explaining Ottoman Islamization in terms of the converts' motives, Baer concentrates on the proselytizing sultan Mehmet IV (1648-87).
This is a study of the nature of Ottoman administration under Sultan Abdulhamid and the effects of this on the three provinces that were to form the modern state of Iraq. The author provides a general commentary on the late Ottoman provincial administration and a comprehensive picture of the nature of its interaction with provincial society. In drawing on sources of the Ottoman archives, bringing together and analyzing an abundance of complex documents, this book is a fascinating contribution to the field of Middle Eastern studies.
Denial of Violence seeks to decipher the roots of the denial by Turkish and Ottoman officials of acts of violence committed against Armenians. Based on a qualitative analysis of over 300 memoirs published in Turkey from 1789 to 2009, Fatma Müge Göçek analyzes denial as a multilayered process that starts with the advent of systematic modernity in the Ottoman Empire in 1789 and continues to this day in the Turkish Republic.
This brings together, in English, for the first time a number of articles in one volume that have been published in various books and journals and are reprinted with permission. Through this work, Rumi and his poetry as well as the whirling dervishes, will hopefully become more widely known in Western countries than they are at present. The whirling dervishes are famous for their ecstatic dance and but here it is hoped that their role within Sufism will become more clearly understood. The book is an attempt to suggest a renewed manner of thinking about one of the most celebrated trends in the mystical dimension of the Islam, the religion of love of Rumi and the cosmic dance of the dervishes. The theology is at the back of all the itinerary and the all five chapters represent the possibility to rethink the dynamic relation between disciples and their Founder, institution and charisma, politics and mysticism.
Bringing together the expansive scholarly expertise of former students of Professor Michael Allan Cook, this volume contains highly original articles in Islamic history, law, and thought. The contributions range from studies in the pre-Islamic calendar, to the "blood-money group" in Islamic law, to transformations in Arabic logic.
Galata Mawlawi Lodge served as a dervish lodge for 434 years. This dargah raised influential figures such as Ankaravi İsmail Dede, Shayk Galip, Fasih Dede, Esrar Dede and master neyzan Osman Dede, besides occupying a place in the hearts of several Ottoman sultans like Sultan Selim III and Sultan Mahmud II. During the last years of the lodge, it had wellknown visitors and muhibs such as Walad (Chalabi) İzbudak, Ahmed Jalal ad-Din Dede, Selman Tüzün, Cemaleddin Server Revnakoğlu, Mithat Bahari Beytur, Ahmet Bican Kasapoğlu, Necati Ergin and several other tasawwuf cognoscenti.
Fires are significant to study due to the immense change they brought to urban life which make it possible to trace the policies, approaches, and regulations of the city rulers. When it comes to fires in the 18th century Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire's responsibility to return the city to pre-fire conditions, and bring normalcy to city life played a crucial role. This study is an inquiry into the Ottomans' perception of fires and urban regulations. Analyzing official sources, such as court records and archival sources, this study aims to understand the Ottomans' role and mindset toward the city reconstruction after fires. Also, by cross-checking official with non-official sources, i.e. traveler accounts, the reports of diplomats (official, non-Ottoman records), drawings and secondary sources, this study provides a broader picture on the manner in which the Ottomans dealt with the outcome of fires in the capital.