Guns for the Sultan
Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire

The book affords insight into the early success and subsequent failure of an Islamic empire against European adversaries.

Gábor Ágoston (Author)

9780521603911, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 December 2008

300 pages, 20 b/w illus. 5 maps 31 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

"Guns for the Sultan is an important contribution to Ottoman military and economic history.... Agostan's work is a first-rate example of the possibilities and advantages or archival research as well as the wealth of important information buried in the files of the Ottoman Prime Minister's Archives." - Amy Singer, Tel Aviv University, Journal of the American Oriental Society

Gabor Agoston's book contributes to an emerging strand of military history, that examines organised violence as a challenge to early modern states, their societies and economies. His is the first to examine the weapons technology and armaments industries of the Ottoman Empire, the only Islamic empire that threatened Europe on its own territory in the age of the Gunpowder Revolution. Based on extensive research in the Turkish archives, the book affords much insight regarding the early success and subsequent failure of an Islamic empire against European adversaries. It demonstrates Ottoman flexibility and the existence of an early modern arms market and information exchange across the cultural divide, as well as Ottoman self-sufficiency in weapons and arms production well into the eighteenth century. Challenging the sweeping statements of Eurocentric and Orientalist scholarship, the book disputes the notion of Islamic conservatism, the Ottomans' supposed technological inferiority and the alleged insufficiencies in production capacity. This is a provocative, intelligent and penetrating analysis, which successfully contends traditional perceptions of Ottoman and Islamic history.

1. Introduction: firearms and armaments industries
2. Gunpowder technology and the Ottomans
3. Cannons and muskets
4. Saltpeter industries
5. Gunpowder industries
6. Munitions and ordnance industries
7. Conclusions: guns and empire
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF], History [HB]