A History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1923

FAIN: FT-60018-12

Douglas Howard
Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4301)

This proposal seeks support to write one chapter of a book manuscript. The book explores the paradox of Ottoman history: a prosperous and powerful early modern empire but marked with pervasive cultural melancholy. The book integrates insights from environmental history, migration history, and the history of emotions, subjects not treated in prior surveys of the Ottoman Empire, with a reinterpretation of Ottoman political and economic history. It gives a prominent role to Sufi Islam as the most prevalent expression of an Ottoman worldview. The crucial fifth chapter will describe the ways Ottoman culture adapted to new forms of individual identity, competition from the European fiscal model of the joint stock company, and the rise of Russia. The book builds a much needed new synthesis of Ottoman history, addressing debates in Middle Eastern and Balkan studies and contributing to a better public understanding of the history of Islamic societies.

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