Subjects of the Sultan: Culture and Daily Life in the Ottoman Empire, (2nd edition) by Suraiya Faroqhi. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2005. 368 pages, illustrations, maps, bibliography, index. US$24.50 (Paper) ISBN 1-85043-760-2

Abstract

it true that Ottoman territories were entirely sealed from the outside world. In fact, Faroqhi argues that Ottoman border regions were porous and that diplomats, pilgrims, and merchants from different nations were allowed into Ottoman territories with relative ease. By the late eighteenth century, several commercial and industrial centers in the Empire, such as Izmir and Aleppo, had been incorporated into the European world economy, although before 1800 this incorporation was still at its initial stages. On a different level, the book also makes clear that it is difficult to speak in terms of unequivocal "rules" about Ottoman administrative choices or to reduce imperial policies into a set of strictly observed traditions, especially in regards to how the border regions of the Empire were governed. Faroqhi convincingly demonstrates that the decision whether to attach a border region directly to the imperial center or to allow it to be governed by local dynasties was based on a number of variables, including the precise location of the region, its proximity to the major rivals of the Empire, its commercial significance and tax base, and its religious and political importance for the center. Thus, Dubrovnik, for example, was governed quite differently from the Hijaz or the Caucasus. Faroqhi goes as far as to argue, pace Inalcik, that one may hardly speak of a model of the way in which different regions were progressively incorporated into the Empire. Some borderland regions had indeed come under the direct rule of the center after being governed indirectly by local notables. Others (Kurdistan, for example), were never integrated completely. And there exist regions (Greater Syria, Egypt, North Africa), which after experiencing a process of imperial centralization, reverted to indirect rule by local elites. It is precisely this complexity in the administrative structure and governmental policies of the Empire that makes it difficult to make general assertions about how the Ottomans ruled, how they treated their subjects, or how they perceived domestic and foreign "other(s)." Faroqhi frequently makes perceptive and important observations on foreign prisoners, slaves, and pilgrims in Ottoman territories (and, to a more limited degree, on Ottomans in foreign lands). Overall, this is a very useful and highly illuminating book for readers at all levels of familiarity with Ottoman history. The author's impressive knowledge about very different phases and aspects of Ottoman civilization is evident throughout. Moreover, her interpretations are careful and measured. Certain topics (for example Ottoman-Iranian relations) receive relatively less attention in the discussion, but this is not due to the author's oversight but the general lack of primary and secondary sources about them. Bogac Ergene University of Vermont