The Politics of Households in Ottoman Egypt The Rise of the Qazdaglis

In a lucidly argued revisionist interpretation of society in Ottoman Egypt in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Jane Hathaway challenges the traditional view that Egypt's military elite constituted a revival of the institutions of the Mamluk sultanate. The author contends that the basic framework within which Egypt's elite operated was the household, a conglomerate of patron-client ties that took various forms and included many different recruits. In this respect, she argues, Egypt's elite represented a provincial variation on an empire-wide, household-based political culture. The study focuses on the Qazdagli household. Originally a largely Anatolian contingent within Egypt's Janissary regiment, the Qazdaglis dominated Egypt by the late eighteenth century. Using Turkish and Arabic archival and narrative sources, Jane Hathaway sheds light on the manner in which the Qazdaglis exploited the Janissary rank hierarchy, while forming strategic alliances through marriage, commercial partnership, and the patronage of palace eunuchs.

Summary

In this 1996 study of military society in Ottoman Egypt, Jane Hathaway contends that the basic framework within which this elite operated was the household, a conglomerate of patron-client ties. This pioneering study will have a major impact on the understanding of Egyptian history, and will be essential reading for scholars in the field, and for pre-modern historians generally.

Product details

• Authors: Hathaway Jane, Jane Hathaway
• Assisted by: David Morgan (Editor)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Content: Book
• Product form: Hardback
• Publication date: 01.11.2010
• Subject: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories
• EAN: 9780521571104
• ISBN: 978-0-521-57110-4
• Pages: 218
• Dimensions (packing): 15.7 x 23.5 x 1.8 cm
• Weight (packing): 511 g
• Series: Cambridge Studies in Islamic C; Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
• Subjects: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, HISTORY / Asia / General, Egypt, HISTORY / Africa / North, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, 18th century, c 1700 to c 1799, Asian History, African History, Modern Period, C 1500 Onwards