Challenging the Caliphate - Wahhabism and Mahdism in the Late Ottoman Empire

How did steam transportation and print culture reshape the Ottoman Empire's centre-periphery relations in the nineteenth century? Challenging the Caliphate offers a fresh perspective on modernization in the Muslim world, exploring how these developments in infrastructure, technology, and communications impacted ideas of the Caliphate, Wahhabism, and Mahdism. Through rich archival research and microhistorical examples, Ömer Koçyi¿it demonstrates how new technologies influenced political authority, religious movements, and the spread of ideas. Koçyi¿it further explores how the Ottoman Empire dealt with the rise of the Wahhabi movement in the Najd and the Mahdi movement in Sudan. This study situates the Ottoman experience within global transformations, offering a deeper understanding of state, resistance, and connectivity while highlighting how emerging technologies shaped the modern Muslim world.

List of contents

Introduction; Part I. The Caliphate and its Dissenters: 1. The Caliphate: the ottoman state as the guardian of Islam; 2. Wahhabism and Mahdism: two rebellious movements; 3. Wahhabism as a local matter in the age of caravans and manuscripts; Part II. Ottoman Ideological Reactions to Wahhabism and Mahdism in the Age of Steam and Print: 4. The ideological reactions of the centre to Wahhabism; 5. The ottoman mindset versus Sudanese Mahdism; Part III. Ottoman Political Measures Targeting Two Rebellious Movements: 6. Maintaining public order: the surveillance of mobility; 7. Censoring the 'Pernicious Publications' of Wahhabism and Mahdism; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

About the author

Ömer Koçyiğit is an assistant professor in the Institute of Middle East and Islamic Countries Studies at Marmara University, and a guest researcher at Leiden University. Previous publications include Kabudlu Mustafa Vasfi Efendi: Tevârîh (2016).

Product details

• Authors: Omer (Marmara University) Kocyigit, Ömer Koçyiğit
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 31.12.2025
• EAN: 9781009663496
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0966349-6
• No. of pages: 292
• Series: The Global Middle East
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, Ottoman Empire, TRANSPORTATION / General, HISTORY / Middle East / General, 20th Century, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950, Middle Eastern history, Relating to Islamic / Muslim people and groups, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes