NMC386H1

Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Ottoman Empire

Although ruled by a Muslim dynasty and frequently characterized as an Islamic empire, the Ottoman state was inhabited by diverse religious and ethnic populations, many of them non-Muslim. This course examines how the Ottoman Empire governed and organized its subjects, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, of various ethnic backgrounds. It explores the relations among these communities and their interactions with the state, raising questions about tolerance, co-existence, conflict, loyalty, and identity. By looking into a selection of topics from the wide territorial span of the Ottoman Empire (Anatolia, the Balkans, and the Arab Middle East) the course seeks to provide insights into the organization, functioning, and transformation of a multi-confessional state and society in the premodern and modern eras.