TAR234

School of Humanities \ History

3

6

Compulsory

Turkish

-

History department; all departments

This course provides a general perspective on Ottoman history and institutions from the early 1600s to the end of World War I. Although a general chronology is followed in the course, at some points the different dynamics of the Ottoman world and the fundamental problems in Ottoman historiography will be emphasized. Current secondary sources will be accompanied by published and unpublished primary sources. When selecting these sources, the human diversity of the Ottoman world and its interconnectedness with the outside world were taken into consideration. The course will also be supported by visual and audio sources.

Gábor Ágoston & Bruce Masters (eds.), Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire, New York: Facts on File, 2009. Suraiya Faroqhi (ed.), History of Turkey, vol. 3. 1603-1839: The Late Ottoman Empire, Istanbul: Kitap Publishing House, 2011. Reşat Kasaba (ed.), History of Turkey, vol. 4. 1839-2010, Istanbul: Kitap, 2016. Halil İnalcık, Devlet-i 'Aliyye: Researches on the Ottoman Empire, volumes III, IV. Istanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Culture Publications: 2015, 2016.

This course aims to introduce students to the developments and important debates that took place in the relevant centuries of Ottoman history, as well as to enable them to acquire the ability to analyze relatively lesser-known primary sources with an analytical and comparative perspective.

1. Students who successfully complete this course will have a basic background in the major events, issues, and specific debates in historiography in Ottoman history from the 17th century to the end of World War I.
2. They will also have acquired the skills to conduct independent research on the primary sources of this period, including primary sources that represent the point of contact of the Ottoman world with European civilization(s) with which it began to increasingly engage, and to participate in discussions on these sources as moderators and discussants.

Week 1: Introduction to the Course
Week 2: The Issue of Periodization of Ottoman History
Week 3: The Collapse Paradigm
Week 4: Internal Dynamics of the 17th Century Ottoman World
Week 5: External Dynamics of the 17th Century Ottoman World
Week 6: The 18th Century and the Issue of Europeanization
Week 7: The Age of Notables: Decentralization and Centralism, Midterm Exam
Week 8: The Age of Revolutions and Reforms: 1789-1839
Week 9: The Age of Reforms: 1839-1876
Week 10: Balkan Nationalisms
Week 11: The Period of Abdulhamid II
Week 12: The Second Constitutional Era

• Midterm Exam 20 %
• Final 40 %
• Participation 10 %
• Presentation 20 %
• Homework 10 %