From Grandeur to Collapse:
Ottoman State and Society in the ‘Post-Classical’ Age
(ca. 1600-1922)
HISTORY 307/MIDEAST 32o/ISLAM 320
Winter 2019
H. Erdem ÇIPA
Office: Thayer 3012
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 10 - 11 am & by appointment
E-mail: ecipa@umich.edu
Course Description & Objective
Commencing with an overview of the Ottoman ‘Classical Age” (1300-1600), this course
will trace the history of the Ottoman Empire from its grandeur under Süleyman the
Magnificent to its collapse in the first quarter of the 20th century, touching upon different
themes such as:
•
crisis and the notion of decline in the sixteenth century;
•
Ottomans’ struggle to maintain “superpower” status up to the end of the 18th
century;
•
changes in land tenure and military institutions;
•
the Ottoman economy &/vs. “world economy”;
•
social fabric, family life, gender relations;
•
social unrest & religious movements;
•
“constitutional” struggles;
•
decentralization and the Porte’s response;
•
Ottoman response to the new world order (Tanzimat);
•
reform and disintegration;
•
the transformation towards nation-states and national cultures
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Course Requirements & Grading Policies
1) Attendance [10%] & Participation [10%]: Attendance is mandatory. If you miss
a class, you are required to prepare a two-page make-up assignment within one week,
summarizing one of the readings assigned for that week. The failure to do so will result
in a 2% decrease of your final grade for each class missed. You may make up for
unexcused absences only twice throughout the semester; each absence thereafter will
result in an automatic deduction of 2% from your final grade.
2) Reading Analyses/Writing Assignments (3-4 pages each) [20%]: There will
be (most probably) two reading analyses/writing assignments throughout the semester.
They are expected to be typed and proofread.
3) Exam I [30%]: The first exam will be an in-class exam (most probably) on
Wednesday, February 20, 2019. It will consist of a series of brief identifications and
one essay question.
4) Exam II [30%]: The second exam will be an in-class exam on Monday, April 22,
2019. It will be based on the material covered after the first exam and will (most likely)
consist of two long essay questions.
Required Readings: Articles/Texts posted on Canvas
Laptop Policy: During lectures, cell phone use and texting are prohibited. Moreover,
laptops, iPads, e-readers, and all other electronic devices must remain closed and notes
taken longhand. Lectures may not be recorded.
Academic Integrity: This course follows the academic integrity guidelines set forth by
the College of LSA [https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/academics/academic-integrity.html]. You
should familiarize yourselves with this document, which explains the standards of
academic integrity and clarifies the prohibited forms of academic misconduct, such as
plagiarism, cheating on an exam, or helping someone else to do so. Students enrolled in
this course should utilize the Chicago Manual of Style Online for all issues of source
citation, along with any specific guidelines provided in the course assignments.
Clarifying the disciplinary standards of research ethics and source citation is part of the
educational mission of this course, and you should consult me regarding any questions.
The penalties for deliberate cases of plagiarism and/or other forms of academic
misconduct range from a zero on the assignment to failure in the course. Those cases I
judge to be particularly serious, or those in which the student contests the charge of
academic misconduct, will be handled by the office of the Assistant Dean for
Undergraduate Education. All cases of deliberate academic misconduct that result in
formal sanctions of any kind will be reported to the dean’s office, as required by LSA
policy, which also ensures due process rights of appeal for students.
Students with Special Needs: Students who have special needs in learning, and
therefore require special accommodations, should contact the lead instructor
immediately. When appropriate, accommodations will be made through the Office of
Services for Students with Disabilities in the Division of Student Affairs (G-664 Haven
Hall, 734-763-3000).
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COURSE OUTLINE
WEEK I: INTRODUCTION
WEEK II: REVIEW, OVERVIEW, PREVIEW
Readings:
• D. Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, ch. 1: “Why Study Ottoman
History?,” 1-11.
• A. Hourani, “Ottoman Background of the Modern Middle East,” 61-78.
• C. Kafadar, “The Ottomans and Europe, 1400-1600,” 589-635.
WEEK III: GRANDEUR AND CRISIS IN THE 16th CENTURY: THE
BEGINNING OF DECLINE?
Readings:
• M.A. Cook (ed.), A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730, 103-132.
• S. Faroqhi, “Political Tensions in the Anatolian Countryside Around 1600,” 117130.
• B. Lewis. “Ottoman Observers of Ottoman Decline,” 199-213.
Source of the week:
• Mustafa Ali, Counsel for Sultans, tr. A. Tietze, 66-86. [discourse on signs,
reasons, and remedies of decline according to influential late sixteenth-century
author.]
WEEK IV: STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN SUPERPOWER STATUS: THE
EMPIRE AND THE WORLD (TO 1774)
Readings:
• D. Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, ch. 3: “The Ottoman Empire,
1683-1798,” 37-51.
• A. Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, 225-230.
• R. Murphey, Ottoman Warfare, 1500-1700, ch. 6, 105-131.
WEEK V: CHANGES IN LAND TENURE AND MILITARY INSTITUTIONS
Readings:
• H. Inalcik, “Military and Fiscal Transformation in the Ottoman Empire, 16001700,” 283-303.
• B. McGowan, Economic Life in Ottoman Europe, 45-79.
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WEEK VI: THE OTTOMAN ECONOMY AND WORLD ECONOMY
Readings:
• H. Inalcik, “The Ottoman Economic Mind,” 207-218.
• G. Baer, “The Administrative, Economic and Social Functions of Turkish Guilds,”
28-50.
• D. Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, ch. 7: “The Ottoman Economy:
Transportation, Trade, Agriculture, and Manufacturing,” 110-137.
Source of the week:
• Evliya Chelebi, Travels, v. I, 151-161. [procession of various guilds of Istanbul
described by entertaining mid-seventeenth-century Ottoman traveler; selections
from the “fast food and soft drink” industries.]
WEEK VII: REVIEW & EXAM I
WEEK VIII: THE SOCIAL FABRIC: FAMILY LIFE, GENDER, ETHNIC
STRUCTURE
Readings:
• A. Marcus, The Middle East on the Eve of Modernity: Aleppo in the Eighteenth
Century, 155-218; 314-328.
• B. Lewis and B. Braude (eds.), Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire, v. I,
1-34.
• A. Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, pp. 230-242.
Sources of the Week:
• Lady Montagu, Complete Letters, 325-337; 347-352; 379-387. [observations of
the wife of the British ambassador (ca. 1718); rare insight into domestic lives.]
WEEK IX: SOCIAL UNREST, RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS, AND
“CONSTITUTIONAL” STRUGGLES IN THE ANCIEN REGIME
Readings:
• U. Heyd, “Kanun and Sharia,” 1-18.
• G. Sholem, “Shabbetai Zevi…” in Kabbalah, 244-269.
• M. Zilfi, “The Kadizadelis: Discordant Revivalism in Seventeenth-Century
Istanbul,” 251-269.
Source of the week:
• Katip Chelebi, The Balance of Truth, trans. G. Lewis, 38-46; 50-64; 128-134.
WEEK X: DECENTRALIZATION AND THE PORTE’S RESPONSE
Readings:
• H. Inalcik, “Centralization and Decentralization in Ottoman Administration,” 2752.
• S. Shaw, Between Old and New, 3-17; 112-149.
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WEEK XI: INDEPENDENT ORIENTATIONS
Readings:
• P.M. Holt, Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, chs. 11 and 13: 149-163; 176-192.
• I. Ortayli, “The Problem of Nationalities in the Ottoman Empire Following the
Second Siege of Vienna,” 223-236.
• R. Clogg, A Short History of Modern Greece, 16-69.
WEEK XII: THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND THE OTTOMAN RESPONSE:
TANZIMAT = RESTRUCTURING
Readings:
• D. Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, ch. 4: “The Nineteenth Century,”
54-73.
• B. Lewis, The Emergence of Modern Turkey, 74-159.
WEEK XIII: THE SPIRAL OF PRESSURE, REFORM, AND
DISINTEGRATION
Readings:
• A. Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples, 279-298.
• C. and B. Jelavich, The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 170-206.
WEEK XIV: THE TRANSFORMATION OF AN IMPERIAL TRADITION:
TOWARDS NATION-STATES AND NATIONAL CULTURES
Readings:
• D. Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, ch. 9: “Inter-communal
Cooperation and Conflict,” 172-191 and ch. 10: “Legacies of the Ottoman Empire,”
192-197.
• C. and B. Jelavich, The Establishment of the Balkan National States, 266-283.
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