Subjects Of The Sultan

The cultural heritage of the Ottoman Empire has traditionally been presented to us through its monuments and high arts. Our understanding of its culture has thus come from a world created by and for sultans, viziers and the elite of the Empire. But what of the world of the craftsmen and tradesmen who produced the monuments and artefacts? Or the townspeople who prayed in the mosques, drank water from the sebils or passed by the mausolea in the ordinary course of their lives? How did they live and die? To date no book has adequately explored the day-to-day life of the common people during the centuries of Ottoman rule.

In this new edition Faroqhi explores the urban world of the Ottoman lands from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, describing the social significance of the popular arts and crafts of the period and examining the interaction among the diverse populations and classes of the Empire, with their varying religions and ethnic backgrounds. Even the banalities associated with the everyday are brought to life: bathing, the market, loving and grieving are all explored for the first time with scholarly rigour and fascination for a disappeared world. Delving into personal letters, court documents, wills, correspondence with Sufi masters and the travel records of seafarers and traders, Faroqhi has identified a broad range of areas where individuals were able to create o flourishing and vibrant urban civilization, even while politically the Empire was beginning its relentless decline.

By presenting a new vision of Ottoman cultural history, Sunjects of the sultan fills a huge gap and will fascinate not only historians of the Middle East but also social historians, students and discerning readers interested in history.