Slavery in the Ottoman Empire and its Demise 1800-1909 [Hardcover]

This study bridges the gap that exists between studies dedicated to the history of slavery in the Western and Islamic worlds. It sets itself the goal of understanding how slavery persisted and then met its end in the Ottoman Empire. It concentrates on the period between 1800-1909 and examines the policies of the Ottoman state regarding slavery both before and after the reform period known as the Tanzimat. It also looks at the British involvement in the issue.Acknowledgements - List of Abbreviations - Introduction - Employment of Slaves in the Classical Ottoman Empire - Traditional Ottoman Policies towards Slavery before the Tanzimat - Means of Enslavement and Slave Acquisition in the Late Ottoman Empire: Continuation of Ottoman Slavery after 1839 - British Policy and Ottoman Slavery - Ottoman Policy during the Tanzimat Period, 1846-1876 - Ottoman Policy during the Reign of Abdulhamid II and the Advent of the Young Turks, 1876-1909 - The Emancipation and Care of Slaves in the Late Ottoman Empire -Conclusion - Notes - Bibliography - Index

'A masterful survey based on Ottoman and European sources, this book is a major contribution to the comparative study of slavery. Erdem explores the distinguishing feature of the Ottoman institution of slavery, most interestingly from the perspective of the slaves themselves. One of the book's chief contribution lies in its treatment of the community of freed slaves in Istanbul. Organized in lodges, presided over by a matriarch who also served as spiritual head of cult whose practices, disparaged by the Muslim orthodoxy, might well be traced back to the Yoruba in West Africa. By this discovery, Erdem links one of the sub-cultures of Ottoman slavery to the broader study of African slavery.' - Dr Eugene Rogan, St Antony's College, Oxford

Hamit Erdem