1. REVIEW
What were the major political powers of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century Anatolia?
What were some of the major challenges and the opportunities for the Ottoman principality and its state formation?
TODAYS LECTURE
Modern Historians and early Ottoman History
Gaza Thesis
Case study: Conquest of Aydos Castle

4. What were some of the factors that contributed to the success of the Ottoman beylik in the fourteenth century?
A successful “international” alliance through marriage
1344 Orhan Bey marries Kantakozenos’ daughter
Building an inclusive polity and society
Example: under Orhan Bey `subaşı` of Bursa was Koskos; and that the `subaşı` of Biga was Mavrozoumis. P.53
Chance factor
1354 Gelibolu Castle falls to the Ottomans after an earthquake
Successful consilidation of power
Formation of a central army through pençik during Murad I’s reign ( )
(to increase the power of the sultan vis-à-vis the gazis)

5. Early Ottoman History and modern Historians
What lent these principalities legitimacy, drew followers to them and propelled them to conquest?
Centrality of Byzantine institutions (Gibbons)
Anatolian-Turkish characteristics (Köprülü)
Islam and the religious zeal (“gaza thesis” Wittek)
Inclusive tribalism (Lindner)
Reworking of the gaza thesis (Kafadar)
Network Analysis (Barkey)

6. The gaza thesis (most durable and accepted hypothesis)
It argues that the early Ottomans became dedicated warriors on behalf of gaza (holy war). The ideology of these gazis thus lent impetus and legitimacy to their strivings against the Byzantines. They benefited from the economic gains from the wars (booty and also the political prestige) being succesful champions of the faith. And with success, many other principalities joined them and increased their power.
Objections to the gaza thesis:
It is argued that this thesis neglects the nomadic structure of the Turcoman society, which tended to be ethnically and religiously inclusive rather than exclusive, that there were many non-Islamic, even Christian, institutions in these states.
A recent reworking of the gaza thesis (Kafadar) answering many of these objections:
The argument is based upon a less rigid definition of gazi and suggests that in such a plastic and ever-shifting world, people could fight fanatically for a cause they had recently embraced, but at the same time Christians and Muslims often married each other, converted to each other’s faiths, and borrowed from each other’s social and political structures.

9. mahbube: beautiful
be-gayet: extremely
hub-suretlü: handsome
libas: cloth
yu-mak: to wash
harir: silk
belinleyü: in terror
zahir: evident
tagyir: to change
Türk: here, muslim
ta ki: here, in order to
nice: here, how
temaşa itmek: to watch
ittifak: by coincidence
çünki: here, when
mezmun: content
mübaşeret: to set out
eyit-mek: to say
şaduman: happy
mevid: appointed time and place
nıfsu’l-leyl: middle of the night
vaid etmek: to promise
muntazır: to wait
beden: here, castle wall
berk etmek: to tie
tevekkül etmek: to put trust to God
fi’l-hal: at once
ankebut-var: like a spider
tarfetü’l-ayn: twinkling of an eye
nigar: beloved
muhkem: firm
mesalih: affairs, pl. of maslahat
beşaret: good news
ganayim: booties, pl. of ganimet

10. The expansion of the Ottoman Empire

11. DUE SEPT. 29 WEDNESDAY IN CLASS
ASSIGNMENT
DUE SEPT. 29 WEDNESDAY IN CLASS
What is the significance of Barkey’s network analysis for Ottoman History writing? What are the three major issues which generate tension in historiography today discussed by Kafadar?