The nature of the early Ottoman state / Heath W. Lowry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lowry, Heath W., 1942-

Series:

SUNY series in the social and economic history of the Middle East

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Turkey--Civilization.

Turkey.

Civilization.

Turkey--Social conditions.

Social conditions.

Turkey--History.

History.

Physical Description:

ix, 197 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2003]

Summary:

Drawing on surviving documents from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, The Nature of the Early Ottoman State provides a revisionist approach to the study of the formative years of the Ottoman Empire. Challenging the predominant view that a desire to spread Islam accounted for Ottoman success during the fourteenth-century advance into Southeastern Europe, Lowry argues that the primary motivation was a desire for booty and slaves. The early Ottomans were a plundering confederacy, open to anyone (Muslim or Christian) who could meaningfully contribute to this goal. It was this lack of a strict religious orthodoxy, and a willingness to preserve local customs and practices, that allowed the Ottomans to gain and maintain support. Later accounts were written to buttress what had become the self-image of the dynasty following its incorporation of the heartland of the Islamic world in the sixteenth century.

Contents:

1 The Debate to Date 5

2 Wittek Revisited: His Utilization of Ahmedi's Iskendername 15

3 Wittek Revisited: His Utilization of the 1337 Bursa Inscription 33

4 What Could the Terms Gaza and Gazi Have Meant to the Early Ottomans? 45

5 Toward A New Explanation 55

6 Christian Peasant Life in the Fifteenth-Century Ottoman Empire 95

7 The Last Phase of Ottoman Syncretism

The Subsumption of Members of the Byzanto-Balkan Aristocracy into the Ottoman Ruling Elite 115.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-189) and index.

ISBN:

0791456358

0791456366

OCLC:

51040673