Agents, Ambassadors, and Imams: Ottoman-British Transimperialism in the Cape of Good Hope, 1862–1869

Abstract:This article examines Ottoman and British collaborative efforts to intervene in and transform Muslim religious and cultural affairs in the Cape of Good Hope from 1862 to 1869. It focuses on how the Ottoman sultan reinstated the Ottoman Empire's prestige globally in the decade following the Crimean War by employing religious scholars and British agents in Cape Town to expand the empire's sphere of influence in Africa through "soft power." This was part of a larger collaborative enterprise between Ottoman and British authorities, which I call Ottoman-British transimperialism. I argue that the project of Ottoman-British transimperialism in Cape Town encountered opposition when confronted by customary and charismatic forms of Islam and the divided loyalties of local Muslim communities. This crucial examination of the Cape Colony highlights how local collaboration and resistance mediated transimperial ambitions in Cape Town and redefined the social networks and local ties among Cape Muslims.