Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Associate Professor, Department of History and Civilization of Islamic Nations, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
For the study and teaching of the history of any polity, some form of periodization is indispensable, and Ottoman history is no exception. Nevertheless, the periodization of Ottoman history has today become a highly contested issue. Whereas early Ottoman historians, largely following the conventional patterns of Islamic historiography, based their periodization on the reigns of Ottoman sultans or on centuries, later Ottoman historians—through their encounter with European models of historical periodization—sought to construct a scheme with clearly defined historical phases, from the rise to the decline of the Ottoman state. Although these periodizations were articulated either within the broader framework of Islamic history or as independent historical narratives, following the collapse of the Ottoman state and during the early Republican era, Ottoman history and its periodization came to be firmly situated within the framework of Turkish history. In recent years, however, this classical periodization of Ottoman history has been subjected to critical reassessment, particularly in light of growing doubts concerning the theory of Ottoman decline from the late tenth century AH/sixteenth century CE onward. Accordingly, the present study undertakes a historical examination of the problems associated with the periodization of Ottoman history and, by integrating the classical approaches of Ottoman historians with the perspectives of contemporary critics, proposes a sevenfold periodization of Ottoman history. These major periods are further subdivided into smaller phases—twenty periods in total—in order to ensure greater compatibility with historical transformations and to reflect more effectively the overall trajectory of Ottoman history.
Keywords
- : Historical Periodization
- Ottoman History
- the Ottoman State
- Ottoman Historiography
- Contemporary Ottomanists
Main Subjects
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