On the front and at home: women in the modern Ottoman epic

Changes in gender roles are related to larger developments in the spheres of social modernization and discipline. As Ottoman society evolved into a nation through the nineteenth century, women's roles in contemporary epic literature were reassigned to domestic life, showing them protecting the hinterland and nurturing younger generations in order to satisfy the state's growing need for manpower. Gradually, Ottoman women lost whatever autonomy they may have had over their bodies, and their status vis-à-vis the state was redefined. This article examines the female characters in modern Ottoman epic literature so as to explore the reflections in this literature of the social and political transformations that occurred during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It aims to reveal the ways in which heroic female figures created before or at the beginning of the autocratic reign of Abdülhamid II (r. 1876–1909) changed into domestic characters as the social skeleton of the regime became apparent.     

Political Marriage: The Sons-in-Law of the Ottoman Dynasty in the Late Ottoman State

Under the influence of popular history, recent historiography on the Ottomans has focused mainly on such subjects as the influence of women on politics and indirectly on issues of the harem. However, such a focus indicates limited information and an insufficient number of studies on the sons-in-law in the dynasty of the late Ottoman state. The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical framework concerning sons-in-law in the dynasty of the late Ottoman state period by collating the related but limited references in the historical sources. In this context, such issues as the policy of marriage in the Ottoman dynasty, the status of the dynasty sons-in-law, and the privileges they had are studied in terms of the late period of the Ottomans. Thus, the study's major purpose is to discuss the late Ottoman history in the light of such an important but ignored subject.     

The Ottoman Ceremony of the Royal Purse

Churchill's Secret War: Diplomatic Decrypts, the Foreign Office and Turkey by Robin Denniston. Stroud: Sutton Publishing; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. Pp.xv + 208, bibliography, index, illustrations. £25.00 (hardback).

The Kurdish Question and Turkey: An Example of a Trans‐state Ethnic Conflict by Kemal Kiri?ci and Gareth Winrow. London and Portland: Frank Cass, 1997. Pp.xvi + 237, bibliography, index. £32.50 (hardback); £17.50 (paperback).

The Army and the Creation of the Pahlavi State in Iran, 1910–1926 by Stephanie Cronin. London: Tauris Academic Studies, 1997. Pp.vii + 296, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. £39.50.

Religious Radicalism in the Greater Middle East edited by Bruce Maddy‐Weitzman and Efraim Inbar. No.4 in the Cass Series on Political Violence. London and Portland: Frank Cass, 1997. Pp viii + 264, index. £29.50 (hardback); £12.99 (paperback).

Indigo in the Arab World by Jenny Balfour‐Paul. London: Curzon Press, 1997. Pp.xx + 283, illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. £45.00.

Languages of Dress in the Middle East edited by Nancy Lindisfarne‐Tapper and Bruce Ingham. London: Curzon Press, 1997. Pp.196. £12.99.     

Some studies in Russian on the Ottoman empire

Turcologica 1986, a Festschrift presented to A.N. Kononov on his eightieth birthday (Leningrad: Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1986; 303 pp.).

I. Ye, and Yu A. Pyetrosyan, on the periodization of the ‘era of reforms’ in the Ottoman Empire (pp.219–24).

Yuri A. Pyetrosyan, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Soviet (now Russian) Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, also contributes a brief, but useful paper on the Turkish emigrant press in the early twentieth century (pp.225–9).

Kh. M. Ibragimbyeyli and N.S. Rashba, entitled Osmanskaya Impyeriya v pyervoy chyetvyerti XVII vyeka: sbornik dokumyentov i matyerialov, The Ottoman Empire in the First Quarter of the 17th Century: A Collection of Documents and Materials (Moscow: Nauka Press, 1984; 214 pp.).

A.A. Vitol's Osmanskaya Impyeriya (nachalo XVIII v.), The Ottoman Empire at the Beginning of the 18th Century (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1987; 136 pp.).

V.P. Grachyev's Balkanskiye vladyenya Osmanskoy Impyerii na rubyedzhye XVIII‐XIX vv. (vnutryennyeye polodzhyeniye, pryedposilki natsional'no‐osvobodityel'‐nikh dvidzhyeniy), The Balkan Domains of the Ottoman Empire at the Meeting Point of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Internal Situation, the Preconditions of National Liberation Movements (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Slavonic and Balkan Studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1990; 200 pp.).

M.T. Boddzholyan has written on Ryeformi 20–30‐kh gg. XIX vyeka v Osmanskoy Impyerii, The Reforms of the 1820s and 1830s in the Ottoman Empire (Erevan: Academy of Sciences of Soviet Armenia Press, 1984; 156 pp.).

Osmanskaya Impyeriya: systyema gosudarstvyennogo, upravlyeniya, sotsial'niye i etnoryeligiozniye problyemi. Sbornik statyey, The Ottoman Empire: System of Government, Administration, Social and Ethno‐Religious Problems. A Collection of Articles (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1986; 253 pp.).

Osmanskaya Impyeriya: gosudarstvyennaya vlast’ i sotsial'no‐politichyeskaya struktura, The Ottoman Empire: State Power and Socio‐Political Structure (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1990; 338 pp.).     

Slovak Perceptions of the Ottoman Legacy in Eastern Europe

In recent years there has been much debate about whether the activities of missionaries were an act of religious altruism or a medium of cultural expansion and a preparation for political involvement. The American expedition occurred during the early years of modern Western – as yet mainly British, French and Russian – penetration of the Ottoman realms. The immediate effect was to draw the East into the rapidly expanding capitalist world economy while containing the ambitions of rival powers in order to prepare for the Sublime Porte's ultimate dismemberment. This phase of missionary activity represented something extraordinary, because the Americans were attempting to impose their kind of Christianity, namely, Protestantism, on communities which had been Christian well before the Christian American identity came into being. This article examines the formation of the American Protestant missionaries' activities in Anatolia; missionaries' evaluations of events within the Empire, and their relations with the Armenians will be the focus of the analysis. In other words, attention will be drawn to how the missionary enterprise fostered Armenian nationalism by introducing Western political ideals and promoting Armenian cultural identity through education and the press discussed. Rather than examining the Armenian Question, this paper will trace the genesis of Armenian nationalism through the Boards' Protestant Anatolia vision.     

Bulgarian studies on the Ottoman Empire and Turkey

Chez les voisins de l'Afghanistan: l'Asie Centrale Soviétique (Moscow: Progress Press, 1983; 174 pp.)

’Islamskiy faktor’ v myedzhdunarodnikh otnoshyeniyakh v Azii, ‘The Islamic Factor’ in International Relations in Asia (Moscow: Nauka, 1987; 192 pp.)

Islam v SSSR: osobyennosti protsyessa syekularizatsii v ryespublikakh Sovyetskogo Vostoka, Islam in the Soviet Union: Characteristics of the Secularisation Process in the Republics of the Soviet East (Moscow: Misl’ Press, 1983; 175 pp.)

Oktay Efyendiyev's Azyerbaydzhankoye gosudarstvo Syefyevidov v XVI vyekye, The Azerbayjanian Government of the Safavids in the 16 Century (Baku: Elm Press for the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbayjanian Soviet Republic, 1981; 308 pp.)

Kavkaz i Sryednyaya Aziya vo vnyeshnyey politiki Rossii: vtoraya polovina XVIII – 80ye godi XIX v., The Caucasus and Central Asia in the Foreign Policies of Russia: From the 18th Century to the 1880s (Moscow: Moscow University Press, 1984; 328 pp.)

Zapiski o Bukharskom Khanstvye, Notes on the Khanate of Bukhara (Moscow: Nauka Press for the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, 1983; 150 pp.).

M. Annanyepyesov's Ukryeplyeniye Russko‐Turkmyenskikh vzaimootnoshyeniy v XVIII‐XIX vv., The Consolidation of Russo‐Turkmenian Mutual Relations in the 18 and 19 Centuries (Ashkhabad: Ilim Press for the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmenian Soviet Republic, 1981; 267 pp.).

G. Kh. Saparova's Revolyutsionniy komityet Turkmyenskoy SSR kak Pyerviy visshiy organ gosudarstvyennoy vlasti ryespubliki, The Revolutionary Committee of Soviet Turkmenistan as the First Supreme Body of Political Power of the Republic (Askhabad: Ilim Press for the Institute of History in the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmenian Soviet Republic, 1981; 132 pp.).

I.V. Pogoryel'skiy's Istoriya Khivinskoy ryevolyutsii i Khoryezmskoy Narodnoy Ryespubliki 1917–1924 gg., History of the Revolution in Khiva and the Popular Soviet Republic of Khorezm, 1917–1924 (Leningrad: Leningrad University Press, 1984; 228 pp.).

Kh. Sh. Inoyatov's Narodi Sryednyey Azii v bor'bye protiv intyervyentov i vnutryennyey konterryevolyutsii, The Peoples of Central Asia in the War with the Interventionists and with Domestic Counter‐Revolution (Moscow: Misl’ Press, 1984; 464 pp.).

Basmachyestvo: vozniknovyevniye, sushchnost’, krakh, The Basmachi Movement: Rise, Nature and Downfall (Moscow: Nauka Press, 1981; 246 pp.)

Basmachyestvo: pravda istorii i vimisyel’ fal'sifikatorov, The Basmachi Movement: Historical Truth and Fabrications of the Falsifiers (Moscow: Misl’ Press, 1986; 256 pp.).

M. Syeytakova, entitled Obraz Russkogo chyelovyeka v Turkmyenskoy Sovyetskoy prozye, The Image of the Russian Person in Turkmenian Soviet Prose (Ashkhabad: Ilim Press for the Academy of Sciences of the Turkmenian Soviet Republic, 1981; 57 pp.)

A.K. Rzayev, entitled Azyerbaydzhanskiye vostokovyedi XIX vyeka: ochyerki, Azerbayjanian Orientalists of the 19 Century: Essays (Baku: Elm Press for the Institute of Oriental Studies in the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbayjanian Soviet Republic, 1986; 141 pp.)

Tatarskaya lityeratura i publitsistika nachala XX vyeka, Tatar Literature and Journalism of the Early 20 Century (2nd edition, Kazan: Tatar Book Press, 1983; 352 pp.).

Azat Akhmadullin's Gorizonti Tatarskoy drami: lityeraturno‐kritichyeskiye stat'i, The Horizons of the Tatar Drama: Papers of Literary Criticism (Kazan: Tatar Book Press, 1983; 216 pp.)

R. U. Amirkhanov's Tatarskaya dyemokratichyeskaya pyechat’ (1905–1907 gg.) The Tatar Democratic Press, 1905–1907 (Moscow: Nauka Press, 1988; 190 pp.).     

The political aspirations of Indian Muslims and the Ottoman nexus

This article introduces the story of Yusuf al-Marzuk (1895–1957), a Kuwaiti merchant who created a thriving network in the Arabian/Persian Gulf and India. This network was part of the vast, undocumented activities of Kuwaiti merchants. They were uncovered by rare British reports. Yusuf's economic power enabled him to participate in the struggle of Kuwaiti elites to achieve political power vis-à-vis the Kuwaiti rulers, the Sabah family. This article demonstrates the importance of the trading networks with respect to the economic and political developments that shaped the region before the relatively well researched oil period.     

Demographic engineering in the late Ottoman empire and the Armenians

An examination of the diverse Hebrew newspapers published in Palestine in the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 teaches us a great deal about the complexity of the term Ottomanism, which was interpreted differently by the Empire and the minorities remaining within its shrinking borders. Whereas the Empire officially perceived Ottomanism as a new form of hybrid identity which would substitute existing national identities, the yishuv's various sectors envisioned a decentralized empire under the house of Osman. In this sense, the Revolution encouraged the emergence of a shared national vision among many circles in the yishuv, although each group still strove to shape the character of the Zionist community in Palestine according to its own agenda.     

Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Neighbourhoods Visited by Courage,Sleeplessness and Dead Bodies

The ‘Ottoman Neighbourhood’ is the basic social unit for the study of the Ottomans and the social lives they led, and many of these studies have been based on such classic resources as religious archives (?er’i siciller). This work investigates the social life of the Ottomans from a perspective that is ignored in the classic resources, as it uncovers the Ottoman individual's courage, willingness to forgo sleep, and approach to unsolved murders. The individuals who lived within the communal organizations as prescribed by Ottoman law behaved in ways that would seem quite strange today. This paper analyses the response of both public authorities and neighbourhood residents to the kinds of crimes that required meticulous investigation in order to solve them, and the meting out of punishments for these crimes.     

The Question of Ottoman Ignorance before the Morea Rebellion of 1770: A Challenge to Widely Accepted Belief in the Light of New Ottoman Documents

Most early Ottoman and European sources take it for granted that the Ottoman Empire was either indifferent to or unaware of the Russian intrigues going on in the Morea and therefore did not take any measures against Russia prior to the insurrection of 1770. Recent writings on this uprising do not really add anything to the discussion, simply accepting the Ottoman ignorance suggested by early Ottoman and European scholars. In the light of newly discovered archival sources this article submits that blaming the entire bureaucracy for a total ignorance of Russian intrigues or denying any possibility that the Russians might appear in the Mediterranean Sea is simply without foundation. Our archival documents contradict any allegation claiming that all Ottoman statesmen who were in charge of the empire at the time were ignorant. Instead, these sources indicate that some of the Ottoman statesmen took necessary precautionary measures (both in the Morea and many other regions under Ottoman domination) long before the coming of the Russians, which can be seen as proof of their awareness.