Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Acknowledgments to the first edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Acknowledgments to the second edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Publisher's Preface
- Introduction to Islamic Societies
- Part I The Beginnings of Islamic Civilizations
- Part II From Islamic Community to Islamic Society
- Part III The Global Expansion of Islam from the Seventh to the Nineteenth Centuries
- Chapter 25 Introduction: Islamic Institutions
- The Western Islamic Societies
- Islam in Asia
- Chapter 30 Introduction: Empires and Societies
- Chapter 31 The Turkish Migrations and the Ottoman Empire
- Chapter 32 The Postclassical Ottoman Empire: Decentralization, Commercialization, and Incorporation
- Chapter 33 The Arab Provinces Under Ottoman Rule
- Chapter 34 The Safavid Empire
- Chapter 35 The Indian Subcontinent: The Delhi Sultanates and the Mughal Empire
- Chapter 36 Islamic Empires Compared
- Chapter 37 Inner Asia From the Mongol Conquests to the Nineteenth Century
- Chapter 38 Islamic Societies in Southeast Asia
- Islam in Africa
- Conclusion
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Annotated Bibliography from A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd Edition
- Index
Chapter 32 - The Postclassical Ottoman Empire: Decentralization, Commercialization, and Incorporation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Acknowledgments to the first edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Acknowledgments to the second edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Publisher's Preface
- Introduction to Islamic Societies
- Part I The Beginnings of Islamic Civilizations
- Part II From Islamic Community to Islamic Society
- Part III The Global Expansion of Islam from the Seventh to the Nineteenth Centuries
- Chapter 25 Introduction: Islamic Institutions
- The Western Islamic Societies
- Islam in Asia
- Chapter 30 Introduction: Empires and Societies
- Chapter 31 The Turkish Migrations and the Ottoman Empire
- Chapter 32 The Postclassical Ottoman Empire: Decentralization, Commercialization, and Incorporation
- Chapter 33 The Arab Provinces Under Ottoman Rule
- Chapter 34 The Safavid Empire
- Chapter 35 The Indian Subcontinent: The Delhi Sultanates and the Mughal Empire
- Chapter 36 Islamic Empires Compared
- Chapter 37 Inner Asia From the Mongol Conquests to the Nineteenth Century
- Chapter 38 Islamic Societies in Southeast Asia
- Islam in Africa
- Conclusion
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Annotated Bibliography from A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd Edition
- Index
Summary
In the late sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, foreign wars interacted with domestic political and economic problems to bring about profound changes in the Ottoman system. The pressures of war, internal social and demographic crises, and the commercialization and monetization of the economy led to new political institutions.
After centuries of conquests, the Ottomans reached a stalemate with the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and the Habsburgs in the Mediterranean. The Austrian war of 1593–1606 showed that further Ottoman expansion was blocked. As the Ottomans reached further into central and northern Europe, logistical difficulties hampered their campaigns. A new premium was being placed on infantry armed with gunpowder weapons, muskets, and cannons, fighting from entrenched positions. As firearms and organized infantry became ever more important, the Ottoman cavalry (sipahis) could no longer resist German riflemen. Western economies could better afford the costs of war. Moreover, from the 1680s to the 1730s, the Ottomans became dependent on Albanian, Bosnian, Kurdish, Cossack, Tatar, Georgian, and Circassian auxiliaries who were not as well disciplined, trained, and armed as the traditional Ottoman forces.
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- Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth CenturyA Global History, pp. 468 - 481Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012