The Ottoman City between East and West
Aleppo, Izmir, and Istanbul

A pioneering challenge to the orientalist perception of the Islamic city.

Edhem Eldem (Author), Daniel Goffman (Author), Bruce Masters (Author)

9780521673549, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 June 2005

264 pages, 6 b/w illus. 3 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.412 kg

"The book overall is a major contribution to Middle Eastern studies. It is a pioneering effort in urban comparative studies that sheds much light on the physical transformation of the Ottoman city across the centuries." Abdul-Karim Rafeq

Studies of early-modern Islamic cities have stressed the atypical or the idiosyncratic. This bias derives largely from orientalist presumptions that they were in some way substandard or deviant. The first purpose of this volume is to normalize Ottoman cities, to demonstrate how, on the one hand, they resembled cities generally and how, on the other, their specific histories individualized them. The second purpose is to challenge the previous literature and to negotiate an agenda for future study. By considering the narrative histories of Aleppo, Izmir and Istanbul, the book offers a departure from the piecemeal methods of previous studies, emphasizing their importance during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and highlighting their essentially Ottoman character. While the essays provide an overall view, each can be approached separately. Their exploration of the sources and the agendas of those who have conditioned scholarly understanding of these cities will make them essential student reading.

Introduction: was there an Ottoman city? 1. Aleppo: the Ottoman Empire's caravan city Bruce Masters
2. Izmir: from village to colonial port city Daniel Goffman
3. Istanbul: from imperial to peripheralized capital Edhem Eldem
Conclusion: contexts and characteristics
Works consulted
Index.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], Asian history [HBJF]