lowry review

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Review Author(s): James E. Baldwin Review by: James E. Baldwin Source: The Arab Studies Journal, Vol. 12/13, No. 2/1 (Fall 2004/Spring 2005), pp. 215-218Published by: Arab Studies InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27933921Accessed: 01-08-2015 08:55 UTC

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BOOK REVIEW BOOK REVIEW BOOK REVIEW BOOK REVIEW BOOK REVIEW

The Nature of the Early Ottoman State Heath W. Lowry

Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003 (197 pages, appendices, bibliography, index) $20.95 (paper)

Reviewed by James ? Baldwin_

In this contribution to the debate on the emergence of the Ottoman state, Heath

Lowry attacks Paul Wittek's sixty-year-old "gazi thesis," which holds that the early Ottomans were a community bonded by commitment to gaza, the

expansion of Islam by force. This revision has been made before, but not, as Lowry does it, through a re-examination of the evidence presented by Wittek himself. After a survey of the historiography to date, Lowry concludes that historians have projected later realities of the Ottoman state onto their analysis of the fourteenth century. Lowry then spends two chapters demolishing each of Wittek's two sources, the ?skendern?me of Ahmedi and the 1337 dedicatory inscription on the ?ehadet Mosque in Bursa. He follows this with a discussion of the meaning of the terms gaza and gazi, before pre senting his own account of the early Ottoman state, which focuses on its syncretism and inclusiveness. His thesis is fleshed out with what is perhaps the most interesting part of the book, a case study of fifteenth century Christian peasant life on the island of Limnos, followed by an examination of the incorporation into the Ottoman elite of the "Byzanto-Balkan aristocracy," based largely on Balkan and Greek chronicles.

Lowry's main criticism of the existing historiography is that it has not advanced

beyond the poles established by Wittek and M. Fuat K?pr?l? during the 1920s and 1930s. In consequence, the early Ottoman state is explained as a product of either

Turkish tribal tradition or gazi ideology, or, following Halil ?nalcik, a combination of the two. While he is right to point out the dichotomous nature of scholarship on this

subject as a whole, he gives Cemal Kafadar less than his due when he dismisses his Between Two Worlds (University of California Press, 1995) as a repetition of Inalcik. Kafadar attempted to change the terms of the debate by questioning the essentialist

understanding of Islam and gaza implicit in most scholarship, and Lowry does not address this aspect of his book. Indeed, his failure to engage seriously with Kafadar is his most conspicuous omission.

Lowry moves on to attack the flimsy evidence for Wittek's thesis. He notes Wittek's selective use of Ahmedi's Iskendern?me, which was limited to thirteen of

James E. Baldwin ?y a Ph.D. student in the joint program of History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University.


216 Arab Studies Journal Fall 2004 I Spring 2005

the 334 couplets devoted to the early Ottomans. Lowry argues that Wittek was wrong to see this as a "versified chronicle" intended to portray reality. Ahmedi was writing a

nasihatname, or a prototype of the "Mirror for Princes" genre, intended to advise and influence a ruler, in this case initially Sultan Bayezid, and following his death, Prince

Suleyman. Thus the emphasis on the gaza of the early rulers is a topos, highlighting the ideal character of an Islamic state, and specifically urging Ahmedi's patrons to focus their energies on westward expansion rather than warring with other Muslim

principalities. As for the Bursa inscription, whereas Wittek argued that the titles it bestowed on Orhan were unique, Lowry claims he misquoted it, replacing "al-amir al-kabir al-mu 'azzam al-mujahid," a typical period Seljuk title, with "sultan" which would have been exceptional. The book's reproduction of the inscription is not of good enough quality to verify Lowry's reading easily, though it is apparent that Wittek's was wrong. Lowry then points to numerous inscriptions in Anatolia, Ottoman and

other, which show that the Bursa inscription's use of gazi and other formulations was not at all unusual.

Lowry's treatment of the word gaza aims to show that in fourteenth century Ana tolia it carried the meaning of akin, a raid aimed at capturing booty and slaves, devoid of religious significance. He cites a couplet in which Ahmedi says gaza was called akin by the Turks, and an edict of Bayezid II which stresses the material rewards for those who joined him in carrying out gaza and cihad. This is perhaps the book's least

satisfying section. It is interesting that Christians joined the Ottomans in carrying out

akin, but Lowry's suggestion, that Bayezid's use of the words gaza and cihad side

by side shows his intention to appeal to both Christians and Muslims, seems no more

likely than that it was simply a typical use of parallel synonyms. The book suffers from a simplistic understanding of what gaza would mean in religious circles, as shown by the repeated argument that the Ottomans could not have been conducting religious gaza, as they did not give conquered Christians the choice of conversion or the sword. It is not clear why forcible conversion would be a necessary component of gaza or cihad. Even if we allowed this for orthodox gaza, Lowry completely ignores Kafadar's discussion of the heterodoxy of frontier Islam, which suggests that a contemporary Anatolian understanding of gaza could have embraced syncretism and pluralism, regardless of classical fikh.

Lowry's account of the early Ottomans focuses on the heterogeneity of the ruling elite, which included numerous Christians holding timars and in other powerful posi tions, and the accommodating attitude taken toward conquered populations. He points to

early leaders such as Evrenos and K?se Mihal who were either Christian or of Christian

origin, and claims that their importance has been underestimated. The Islamization of the elite was gradual, reflecting the growing preponderance of the Ottoman family over their fellow warriors, the conversion of Christian leaders, and intermarriage.

The populations taken under Ottoman rule were not subjugated by force of arms, but won over with fairer taxation and justice systems, and a more mobile social struc ture than that offered by their Byzantine predecessors. This is not an entirely novel

explanation, and owes much to ?nalcik's article on "Ottoman Methods of Conquest," published in Studia Islamica in 1954. The difference is that while ?nalcik portrays


217

these policies as a conscious strategy, Lowry sees them as pragmatic decisions made

by a warrior elite whose military success overtook their administrative capabilities, leaving them in need of manpower and goodwill.

As further evidence, Lowry uses a number of non-Turkish chronicles and travel lers' accounts. It is not clear how some of his observations fit into his general picture.

He makes much of the openness of charitable hospices in Bursa, which accepted the

poor of all faiths. In contrasting this with later Ottoman practice, he accepts a highly confessionalized image of later Ottoman society which is now challenged by many scholars. From Ibn Battuta's description of functioning courts, mosques and medreses, and from the Persian language and classical Islamic terminology of the 1324 Mekece

vakfiye document, Lowry concludes that Bursa had many of the trappings of a classical Islamic state within five years of its conquest, and that its rulers were surrounded by those well acquainted with the Islamic intellectual tradition. He does not fully inte

grate this with his picture of an elite society not especially concerned with religion, in which religious terminology such as gaza was used with an entirely secular meaning. These observations could also have been used to challenge Kafadar's picture of the

heterodoxy and syncretism of Anatolian Islam. The chapter on Limnos, based on extensive research using the island's tahrir deft

ers (tax registers), provides empirical evidence for Lowry's suggestions. It is apparent that the Christian peasant population was armed and largely responsible for the island's defense?in 1490 the Ottoman military presence was a 21 -man Janissary garrison. This shows that the conception of Ottoman society as sharply di vided into a ruling Muslim askeri (military) class and a tax-paying peasant re 'aya class is not applicable as late as the sixteenth century. Supporting Lowry's focus on istim?let (accommodation) is the Ottomans' adaptation of their tax system to local farming practices, at the request of the local peasantry. Lowry's examination of later sixteenth-century defters shows that these practices were changing, however. By the 1520s local Christians were no longer performing a military role, and there were an increased number of Ottoman officials. Tax policies were increasingly centralized, and the defters cease to show a dynamic engagement with the local population, instead becoming formulaic.

While the Christian converts recruited into the Ottoman elite through the devsirme are well known, in his penultimate chapter Lowry provides evidence of the incorpo ration of the existing Byzantine and Balkan elites. Often continuity was such that a

former fief-holder stayed in control of his ancestral lands, now considered a timar.

While former scholars have not differentiated between devsirme recruits who were

formally slaves and Byzantine nobility who chose to join the Ottomans in order to

preserve their status, Lowry points out that the difference is crucial as the latter run

entirely contrary to the logic of the devsirme, which was to produce provincial rulers and soldiers with no familial or regional loyalties. Lowry also provides evidence of devsirme recruits passing on positions, or at least status, to their children. His principal contention is the existence of continuity between the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. He maintains that the "fault-line" in 1453 is largely retrospective.

Lowry's book is a useful contribution to the field, although ironically, despite Lowry's own contentions, it is still structured around Wittek's thesis. His picture of


218 4 Arab Studies Journal Fall 2004 I Spring 2005

Ottoman syncretism and accommodationism is convincing, albeit not as original as he suggests. In addition to the author's debt to ?nalcik, his stress on the syncretic and inclusive nature of early Ottoman society and his references to ideas of "Islamochris tian" synthesis reminded this reader of Kafadar's book. Although they expressed things differently, largely due to their divergent understandings of the word gaza there are broad similarities in their conceptions (which makes Lowry's neglect of Kafadar all the stranger). Nevertheless, Lowry's comprehensive analysis of extant sources as close to contemporary as possible represents a different approach from Kafadar's insight ful readings of the later chronicles. Lowry's book includes several key documents, in

facsimile, transcription, and translation. Unfortunately the facsimiles are small and some not of the highest quality. As noted above, the Bursa inscription is difficult to read?the tombstone of Evrenos is harder still, and the Mekece vakfiye almost impos sible. Improvements on this front would no doubt have precluded the publication of an affordable paperback edition.

There is an unresolved tension in Lowry's thesis between the syncretism he posits, and the evidence he finds of high Islamic culture in early Ottoman Anatolia. However, given the fluidity and complexity of the period and the lack of contemporary sources, a completely coherent narrative is perhaps a tall order. Overall, this book provides a cogent presentation of the anti-Wittek position, backed up by significant original research.


Article Contentsp. [215]p. 216p. 217p. 218

Issue Table of ContentsThe Arab Studies Journal, Vol. 12/13, No. 2/1 (Fall 2004/Spring 2005) pp. 1-249Front MatterFrom the Editors [pp. 4-6]The "Body" in Scholarship on the Middle East: Histories, Constructions, PerceptionsThe Deaf in Ottoman Syria, 16th - 18th Centuries [pp. 10-25]Blinding Ignorance: Medical Science, Diseased Eyes, and Religious Practice in Egypt [pp. 26-45]Attempts at Liberation: Materializing the Body and Building Community Among Palestinian Political Captives [pp. 46-79]"I am a Whore but I will be a Good Mother": On the Production and Consumption of the Female Body in Modern Egypt [pp. 80-122]Dancing the Hootchy Kootchy: The Bellydancer as the Embodiment of Socio-Cultural Tensions [pp. 124-139]Biology and "Created Nature": Gender and the Body in Popular Islamic Literature from Modern Turkey and the West [pp. 140-158]The Politics of Bellydancing in Cairo [pp. 159-181]

Essay: On Imitation and the Art of Kidnapping: Yigal Nizri's "Tiger" [pp. 188-193]Book ReviewsReview: untitled [pp. 194-196]Review: untitled [pp. 197-200]Review: untitled [pp. 201-204]Review: untitled [pp. 205-207]Review: untitled [pp. 208-210]Review: untitled [pp. 211-214]Review: untitled [pp. 215-218]Review: untitled [pp. 219-222]Review: untitled [pp. 223-225]

Review EssaysToward a New Approach in Ottoman Historiography [pp. 226-231]Beyond the Saudi "Enigma" [pp. 232-237]Imagining Lebanese Nationalism [pp. 238-243]

Film Review: Unruly Subjects [pp. 244-249]Back Matter

lowry review

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