Economies of banditry in the late Ottoman Empire / Tolga U. Esmer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Esmer, Tolga Uğur, author.

Series:

Past & present book series

The past & present book series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kara Feyzi, -1822.

Kara Feyzi.

Organized crime--Balkan Peninsula--History--18th century.

Organized crime.

Outlaws--Balkan Peninsula--History--18th century.

Outlaws.

Turkey--History--Selim III, 1789-1807.

Turkey.

Organized crime--History.

Outlaws--History.

Balkan Peninsula.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : maps (some color).

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2026]

Summary:

Throughout the reign of Sultan Selim III (1789-1807), Ottoman officials complained about the destruction of a notorious criminal named Kara Feyzi and thousands of his followers: they pillaged, slaughtered, and burned down communities throughout the Balkans. But these public complaints often concealed the officials' own ties with these so-called bandits and were used as opportunities to slander their political peers who whistle-blew their collusion. 'Economies of Banditry in the Late Ottoman Empire' draws on the 'Kara Feyzi file', which comprises of extensive Ottoman archival as well as Muslim and Christian narrative sources. Tolga Esmer explores how Kara Feyzi and his irregular warrior and Janissary commander accomplices forged a transregional racketeering confederation that expanded their once, state-sanctioned terror against the empire's Serbian community to the general Christian as well as Muslim population across the Balkan peninsula.

Contents:

Cover

Economies of Banditry in the Late Ottoman Empire

Copyright

Acknowledgements

Contents

List of Maps

Introduction

Bandits, Bureaucrats, and Partners of Empire in the Age of Revolutions Revisited

Reading Emotional Regimes, Economies of Violence, and Moral Geographies in the Ottoman Bandit Files

The Chapters

1 : The Legacy of Eighteenth-Century Wars and the Moral Geography of Rumeli Bandit Insurgency

The Rise of the Irregular

Moral Geographies in Late Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Rumeli

Conclusion.

2 : Men of Imperial (Dis)Order: Recruitment, Representation, and the Performance of Patronage among Warrior Populations in Late Ottoman Society

Rethinking Patronage and Collective Action in the Late Eighteenth Century

Performing Patronage and Loyalty Beyond the Imperial and Provincial Notables' Palaces

Kara Feyzî's Network: Recruitment and '(Ir)Regular' Sociability

Kara Feyzî and His Close Companions: The Trickster Ethos and Intimacy in the Killing Fields

3 : Notes on a Scandal: Transregional Networks of Violence, Gossip, and Imperial Decision-Making in the Late Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Empire

Gossip, Violence, and Imperial Sovereignty in the Late Ottoman Empire

A Bandit Co-optation Gone Awry and Its Repercussions in Intra-Imperial Politics

Seyyid 'Alî Paşa's Rebuttal and Competing Visions of the Use of Legitimate Force in Ottoman Society

How Inclusive Gossip Networks Police Different Nodes of Imperial Violence

Gossip and Imperial Decision-Making

4 : Economies of Banditry, Corruption, and Imperial Rackets in Late Ottoman History

Preying and Protecting: Bandit Rackets as Imperial Rackets

The Big Business of Banditry in Late Ottoman History

Bandit and State Struggles over Symbols of Display, Power, and Moral Authority

Conclusion

5 : Emotional Regimes and Imperial Hierarchies of Credibility in the Ottoman Archives

A Background to a War of Emotives: Hakkı Paşa's Appointment as Governor of Rumeli and Gürcü 'Osmân Paşa's Rebellion in Response

What Can and Cannot Be Said: Etiquette and Emotions in the Ottoman Archives.

Friction in the Emotional Regime and Imperial Governance

6: Conclusion: Rumeli Bandit Insurgencies Across the Empire in the Age of Revolution

Another Successful Ottoman Bandit Co-optation?

The First Serbian Uprising (1804-13) Scaled Up

The 'Kırca'alî' 'Age of Revolution', from Serbia to Istanbul

Epilogue

Bibliography

Archival Collection Sources

Bulgaria

Turkey

Reference and Primary Sources

Secondary Sources

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (Oxford Academic, viewed on July 29, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version: Esmer, Tolga Uğur. Economies of banditry in the late Ottoman Empire.

ISBN:

9780191946868

0191946869

OCLC:

1570483076

Publisher Number:

CIPO000344442

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license