The Ottoman 'Wild West'

The Ottoman 'Wild West' by Nikolay Antov

In the late fifteenth century, the north-eastern Balkans were under-populated and under-institutionalized. Yet, by the end of the following century, the regions of Deliorman and Gerlovo were home to one of the largest Muslim populations in southeast Europe. Nikolay Antov sheds fresh light on the mechanics of Islamization along the Ottoman frontier, and presents an instructive case study of the 'indigenization' of Islam – the process through which Islam, in its diverse doctrinal and socio-cultural manifestations, became part of a distinct regional landscape. Simultaneously, Antov uses a wide array of administrative, narrative-literary, and legal sources, exploring the perspectives of both the imperial center and regional actors in urban, rural, and nomadic settings, to trace the transformation of the Ottoman polity from a frontier principality into a centralized empire. Contributing to the further understanding of Balkan Islam, state formation and empire building, this unique text will appeal to those studying Ottoman, Balkan, and Islamic world history.

'The Ottoman Wild West makes substantive contributions to the history of Muslim communities in the early modern northeastern Balkans and, simultaneously, to the history of the imperialization of the Ottoman EmpireThrough meticulously documented and carefully reasoned analyses of social, economic and religious primary sources, Antov delineates the intertwined processes of Turcoman colonization and conversion to Islam while simultaneously demonstrating the impact of Ottoman state policies on these processes at both the central and regional levels. The result is an incredibly rich and robust story of 'Islamization' that is quite simply exemplary.' Ahmet T. Karamustafa, University of Maryland
'Nikolay Antov's The Ottoman 'Wild West' presents one of the most nuanced and well-researched studies on the establishment of Ottoman rule in the Balkans. Its contributions to studies of empire building and Islamization will make echoes far beyond Ottoman historiography. Synthesizing the approaches of such great Ottoman historians as Ömer Lütfi Barkan and Ahmet Yaºar Ocak, Antov also offers a masterful historiographical lesson to all students of Ottoman history, senior and junior alike, on how to utilize archival sources in conversation with the narrative ones.' Baki Tezcan, University of California, Davis
'… the work provides a useful reference and source of information for scholars of the Ottoman Balkans' religious and social history …' Ines Aščerić-Todd, TRT World Research Centre

Nikolay Antov is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arkansas. His research has been supported by the Social Science Research Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Research Institute in Turkey. It focuses on the history of Islam and Muslim communities in the Balkans, the historical development of heterodox Muslim dervish groups in the Ottoman Empire and the wider Islamic world, conversion to Islam, and the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781316633748
ISBN 10	1316633748
Title	The Ottoman 'Wild West'
Author	Nikolay Antov
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2020-03-26
Number of pages	344
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable