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The Arabs of the Ottoman Empire, 1516-1918: A Social and Cultural History Bruce Masters, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013, 261 Pages.
The book The Arabs of the Ottoman Empire, 1516-1918: A Social and Cul- tural History examines the social and cultural history of the Arab subjects of the Ottoman Empire. In doing this, the book spotlights two main class- es-the ulama, Sunni Muslim religious scholars, and the a'yan, urban nota- bles-though without ignoring others. Bruce Masters, the author of the book, provides a very large bibliography and literature review. In this regard, it will undoubtedly take its place on bookshelves as a useful reference for the history of the Arabs under the Ottoman Empire.
In the first chapter, Masters talks about the establishment of Ottoman rule over the Arab peoples in 1516 under Selim I and the strengthening of same under Süleyman. This territorial expansion was important for the Ottomans as well as the Arabs since there was a geopolitical shift from Europe to its "historic heartland." This shift also changed the empire's demographics by in- creasing the Muslim population. Afterwards, Islam became the ideology and source of legitimacy of the Ottoman Empire as the sultan assumed the role of Caliph. The chapter then covers the political developments of the eighteenth century that lead to the transfer of power from the central government to local actors and the gradual retreat of the sultan's power. The brilliant survival of the Ottomans in the Arab lands until Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1798 is also explained. This invasion certainly did not erase all of the empire's power over Egypt-the heart of the Arab world, rather taxes continued to be paid to Istanbul, which continued to send its judges. This was because the Egyptian elites, like other Arab ones, recognized that Ottoman's political system was better for them, and the institutions of the empire were working well enough.
The second chapter examines the institutions of the Ottoman Empire in detail: the sultanate, the provincial administration covering the governors and judges, and the provincial military. At the same time, it deals with how the Arabs adapted these institutions. This is not entirely unexpected, as Islam provided a common political rhetoric both for the Ottoman rulers and their Arab subjects,...