Halil Inalcik

The Ottoman empire : the classical age, 1300-1600

Covering the greatest three centuries of Turkish history, this book tells the story of the Ottoman Empires growth into a vast Middle Eastern Power. Born as a military frontier principality at the turn of the Fourteenth century, Turkey developed into the dominant force in Anatolia and the Balkans, growing to become the most powerful Islamic state after 1517 when it incorporated the old Arab lands. This distinctively Eastern culture, with all its detail and intricacies, is explored here by a pre-eminent scholar of Turkish history. He gives a striking picture of the prominence of religion and warfare in everyday life as well as the traditions of statecraft, administration, social values, financial and land policies. The definitive account, this is an indispensable companion to anyone with an interest in Islam, Turkey and the Balkans.

Capital Formation in the Ottoman Empire

The economic system of the Ottoman Empire and its basic economic principles derived from a traditional view of state and society which had prevailed since antiquity in the empires of the Near East. This theory, since it determined the attitude and policy of the administrators, was of considerable practical importance.

Ottoman methods of conquest

It appears that in the Ottoman conquests there were two distinct stages that were applied almost systematically. The Ottomans first sought to establish some sort of suzerainty over the neighbouring states. They then sought direct control over these countries by the elimination of the native dynasties. Direct control by the Ottomans meant basically the application of the timar system which was based upon a methodical recording of the population and resources of the countries in the defters (official registers). The establishment of the timar system did not necessarily mean a revolutionary change in the former social and economic order. It was in fact a conservative reconciliation of local conditions and classes with Ottoman institu-

Bursa and the Commerce of the Levant

It is not an exaggeration to say that European historians of the Levant trade viewed it essentially from Venice or Genoa. They drew their evidence mainly from documents preserved in the archives of these cities. This evidence was bound to be often misleading, for the Venetians and Genoese showed little interest in internal developments in the Levant and viewed the measures taken by the Ottoman rulers only in terms of their effect upon the Levant trade. Thus it is not astonishing to find even in such a great scholar as W. Heyd the general judgements of decline and destruction of the Levant trade as a result of the Ottoman expansion 1). Just as the assertions of decline for a whole period and region in European economy in later middle-ages have been subjected to revision and often modified 2) under the light of the recent investigations, which have indicated that there were actually shifts of activities from one section to another rather than a general decline, so our own inquiries in the native sources concerning the commerce of the Levant are tending now to alter some of the widely held views since W. Heyd wrote his authoritative work. There are indeed local sources for the history of the Levant trade. The Turkish archives contain some important collections concerning the conditions of the Levant trade for the last decades of the 15th

A Case Study in Renaissance Diplomacy: the Agreement between Innocent VIII and Bayezid II on Djem Sultan

When modern historians refer to the Ottoman sources on Djem Sultan they usually give priority to Sadeddin (Sa’d al-Din), who submitted to Sultan Murad III in 1584 his Tadj al-Tawarikh, a history of the Ottoman Empire to the end of Selim I’s reign in 1520.1 The principal source, however on which Sadeddin drew his information, is a biography of Djem, Waki’at-i Sultan Djem,2 written by one of his intimates who accompanied him in his exile to his death. It is a simple and faithful story, and undoubtedly the most detailed and reliable account of Djem’s life. It was written in the year 920/1514 when Selim I, son of Bayezid II, had recently overcome his rival brothers. The author concealed his name.