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In the 17th century, the elite household (kap?) became the focal point of Ottoman elite politics and socialization. It was a cultural melting pot, bringing together individuals of varied backgrounds through empire-wide patronage networks. This book investigates the layers of kap? power, through the example of ?eyhülislam Feyzullah Efendielite.
In 1720, an Ottoman ambassador was sent to the court of the Child King Louis XV to observe Western civilization and report on what he saw and how it could be applied in the Ottoman Empire. Based on the accounts of this ambassador, East Encounters West studies the impact of the West on the Ottoman empire and the impact of this Ottoman embassy on the two societies. In France, the presence of the embassy yielded only a brief fashion of Turquerie, whereas in the Ottoman empire, it yielded the first official printing press, signalling an important step toward Western style. Göçek here assesses the reasons behind these differential impacts through three factors: the Western technological advance...
This catalogue decribes in a detailed and systematic way the rich and varied collection of Turkish manuscripts preserved in the John Rylands University Library in Manchester.
The social history of medicine in the Ottoman Empire and the historic Middle East is told in rich detail for the first time in English. Accessible and engaging, Ottoman Medicine sheds light on the work and power of medical practitioners in the Ottoman world. The enduring significance and fascinating history of Ottoman medicine emerge through a consideration of its medical ethics, troubled relationship with religion, standards of professionalism, bureaucratization and health systems management, and the extent of state control. Of interest to healthcare providers, healers, and patients, this book helps us better understand and appreciate the medical practices of non-Western societies.
In a lucidly argued revisionist study of Ottoman Egypt, first published in 1996, Jane Hathaway challenges the traditional view that Egypt's military elite constituted a revival of the institutions of the Mamluk sultanate. The author contends that the framework within which this elite operated was the household, a conglomerate of patron-client ties that took various forms. In this respect, she argues, Egypt's elite represented a provincial variation on an empire-wide, household-based political culture. The study focuses on the Qazdagli household. Originally, a largely Anatolian contingent within Egypt's Janissary regiment, the Qazdaglis dominated Egypt by the late eighteenth century. Using Turkish and Arabic archival sources, Jane Hathaway sheds light on the manner in which the Qazdaglis exploited the Janissary rank hierarchy, while forming strategic alliances through marriage, commercial partnerships and the patronage of palace eunuchs.
The Jurist Ebu's-su`ud (c1490-1574) occupies a key position in the history of Islamic Law. He was a scholar who, for forty years, occupied successfully the senior judicial positions in the Ottoman Empire. Confronting the problem of reconciling classical Islamic jurisprudence with the day-to-day legal needs of an empire, he earned an enduring reputation as the jurist who harmonised the Holy Law of Islam with secular practice. The book examines the substance of this reputation by showing, through Ebu's-su`ud's writings, how he adapted classical Islamic legal doctrine to contemporary needs.