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- U320 State and Society in the Ottoman Empire: A
Structural Approach to Ottoman History
- Gustav Bayerle
- Ottoman history can
be conventionally presented as a story; a narrative structured
chronologically; or in an anthropomorphic frame as the rise, expansion,
culmination, and decline of the Ottoman Empire. Instead of the traditional
approach this proseminar will offer a survey of the major Ottoman institutions
in the Sixteenth Century and their interactions with each other
- In the survey
special attention will be given to the evolution of sultanic authority; the
Topkapi Palace as his residence and seat of government; the Grand Vezir and
his Imperial Council; the Harem; the armed forces;
legal theory and
practice; and the elaborate administrative system. The second half of the
proseminar will focus on aspects of everyday life in the Empire: Islamic
institutions; the coexistence of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism; slavery;
the guilds controlling both preindustrial production and distribution; and the
timar system that encompassed the rural
- EXAMS: In
place of exams students are expected to compose six short (four to eight
pages) position papers during the course and to participate in their
discussion in class. Graduate students should expand one of these papers to a
term paper (twenty to thirty pages). A basic knowledge of computing skill is
also expected from the participants including the ability to upload their
papers to the Oncourse site.
Pashas, Begs, and Effendis: A Historical Dictionary of Titles and Terms on
the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul: Isis, 1997.
- Colin Imber.
The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1600: The Structure of Power. New York:
Palgrave MacMillan, 2002
Xeroxed Reader on State and
Society in the Ottoman Empire (for sale in Goodbody Hall, 157).
Day and Time: Thursday, 2:30-5:00.