Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 3/24/2005
EAN 9780521843133, ISBN10: 0521843138
Hardcover, 300 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
Gabor Agoston's book contributes to an emerging strand of military history, that examines organised violence as a challenge to early modern states, their societies and economies. His is the first to examine the weapons technology and armaments industries of the Ottoman Empire, the only Islamic empire that threatened Europe on its own territory in the age of the Gunpowder Revolution. Based on extensive research in the Turkish archives, the book affords much insight regarding the early success and subsequent failure of an Islamic empire against European adversaries. It demonstrates Ottoman flexibility and the existence of an early modern arms market and information exchange across the cultural divide, as well as Ottoman self-sufficiency in weapons and arms production well into the eighteenth century. Challenging the sweeping statements of Eurocentric and Orientalist scholarship, the book disputes the notion of Islamic conservatism, the Ottomans' supposed technological inferiority and the alleged insufficiencies in production capacity. This is a provocative, intelligent and penetrating analysis, which successfully contends traditional perceptions of Ottoman and Islamic history.
1. Introduction
firearms and armaments industries
2. Gunpowder technology and the Ottomans
3. Cannons and muskets
4. Saltpeter industries
5. Gunpowder industries
6. Munitions and ordnance industries
7. Conclusions
guns and empire
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index.