Indiana University Bloomington
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U320  State and Society in the Ottoman Empire:  A Structural Approach to Ottoman History
Gustav Bayerle
Ottoman history can be conventionally presented as a story; a narrative structured chronologically; or in an anthropomorphic frame as the rise, expansion, culmination, and decline of the Ottoman Empire. Instead of the traditional approach this proseminar will offer a survey of the major Ottoman institutions in the Sixteenth Century and their interactions with each other 
 
In the survey special attention will be given to the evolution of sultanic authority; the Topkapi Palace as his residence and seat of government; the Grand Vezir and his Imperial Council; the Harem; the armed forces; legal theory and practice; and the elaborate administrative system. The second half of the proseminar will focus on aspects of everyday life in the Empire: Islamic institutions; the coexistence of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism; slavery; the guilds controlling both preindustrial production and distribution; and the timar system that encompassed the rural
regions.
 
EXAMS: In place of exams students are expected to compose six short (four to eight pages) position papers during the course and to participate in their discussion in class. Graduate students should expand one of these papers to a term paper (twenty to thirty pages). A basic knowledge of computing skill is also expected from the participants including the ability to upload their papers to the Oncourse site.
 
RECOMMENDED READINGS: 
 
Gustav Bayerle. Pashas, Begs, and Effendis: A Historical Dictionary  of Titles and Terms on the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul: Isis, 1997. 
Colin Imber. The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1600: The Structure of Power. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2002 
Xeroxed Reader on State and Society in the Ottoman Empire (for sale in Goodbody Hall, 157).

Day and Time:  Thursday, 2:30-5:00.