Between two worlds : the construction of the Ottoman state

Cemal Kafadar offers a much more subtle and complex interpretation of the early Ottoman period than that provided by other historians. His careful analysis of medieval as well as modern historiography from the perspective of a cultural historian demonstrates how ethnic, tribal, linguistic, religious, and political affiliations were all at play in the struggle for power in Anatolia and the Balkans during the late Middle Ages.

This highly original look at the rise of the Ottoman empire--the longest-lived political entity in human history--shows the transformation of a tiny frontier enterprise into a centralized imperial state that saw itself as both leader of the world's Muslims and heir to the Eastern Roman Empire.

Author Notes

Cemal Kafadar is Associate Professor of History at Harvard University.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Kafader (Harvard Univ.) contributes a distinguished addition to Ottoman studies with this thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of the pioneer phase of Ottoman state building between the late 13th century and 1453. Chapter 1 surveys 20th-century writing on this period, centering around the impact of the writings of Mehmet Fuat K"opr"ul"u and his "exclusive" theories of Turkish "tribalism" on the uc, the frontier world of Anatolian marcher-lordships, and those of Paul Wittek and his "inclusive" gaza thesis. Together, their influence contributed decisively to shaping the historiographical tradition. The second chapter is a masterful analysis of the sources--none of them strictly contemporary--that provided the raw materials for that tradition, while the third contains Kafadar's own subtle explication of the period. It is a measure of the breadth and seriousness of his approach that his reflections on history, nationalism, and historic folk memory acquire an immediate relevance in the present context of the enormities occurring in those Balkan lands that were once among the Ottomans' oldest territorial acquisitions. Upper-division undergraduates and above. G. R. G. Hambly; University of Texas at Dallas

Mevcut:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Özet

Özet

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Choice Review