Browsing by Author "Ciftci, Erdal"

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Anatolian Livestock Trade in the Late Ottoman Empire
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2025) Ciftci, Erdal
Bedouin Bureaucrats: Mobility and Property in the Ottoman Empire.
(Burhan Caglar, 2024) Ciftci, Erdal
This monograph examines the imperial nation-building process in the latter half of the nineteenth century, centering on tent-dwelling Bedouin tribes of inner Syria, predominantly in the Transjordan region. Investigating interactions among Bedouin chiefs, commercial-capitalists, urban elites, and Ottoman officials from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century, it illustrates the central role of Bedouin bureaucrats in fostering mutually beneficial relationships within or outside the state sphere.
Hegira, the Religion and the State: the Ottoman Policy of Migration(1856-1908)
(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2023) Ciftci, Erdal
[No Abstract Available]
Citation - WoS: 6
Citation - Scopus: 3
Migration, memory and mythification: relocation of Suleymani tribes on the northern Ottoman-Iranian frontier
(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2018) Ciftci, Erdal
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The Political Ecology of Violence: Peasants and Pastoralists in the Last Ottoman Century
(White Horse Press, 2026) Ciftci, Erdal
Raiders of the Sultan in the Theater of Plunder: Tribes and Raiding in Ottoman-Iranian Rivalries
(Oriental inst Czech Acad Sci, 2024) Ciftci, Erdal
Existing scholarship in Ottoman studies often portrays the tribes in the Ottoman Iranian borderlands as isolated troublemakers in an area characterized by turbulence and banditry, disrupting relations between empires and straining diplomatic ties. This study argues that this perspective underestimates the tribes' interconnectedness with imperial policymaking, particularly how nomadic mobility was instrumentalized as a military asset by both states. Empires frequently militarized and empowered these tribes to align them with their interests, accommodating their cross-border movements and utilizing them as raiders. To illustrate the hegemonic relationship between tribes and state officials, this study delves into and juxtaposes the Ottoman-Iranian wars of 1578-1590 and 1821-1823, periods wherein tribes were overtly enlisted as auxiliary forces alongside regular armies. Raiding emerged as one of the central tactics in these conflicts, transforming the imperial borders into a theater of plunder. The study also reveals how petty raids endured as a means of micro-level territorial assertion among tribes amidst ongoing rivalries between empires, with tribes often functioning as proxies backed by local authorities. The turbulent, nomadic nature of these tribes cannot be attributed solely to their inherent traits, as it is apparent that imperial policies facilitated their role as raiders.
State-Making in the Ottoman Periphery: Tanzimat Reforms in the Sanjak of Bayezid in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
(Historical Soc Southern Primorska Koper-hssp, 2025) Ciftci, Erdal; Kaya, Hakan
The Ottoman centralization process, which began in the early nineteenth century, attempted to homogenize various administrative, judicial, and societal aspects of the state and life. In the Empires' eastern peripheral regions, the system of indirect rule, governed by local hereditary dynasties, prevailed but gradually came to an end. The shift towards an imperial-national direct state sphere necessitated the implementation of new regulations and institutions in these outlying regions. This paper explores the application of centralization reforms in the hereditary sanjak of Bayezid, located on the Ottoman eastern frontier adjacent to the Iranian and Russian Empires during the mid-nineteenth century. The state-making efforts did not merely involve the removal of local dynasties; it also entailed the multifaceted imposition of state rules and structures, establishing direct governance across various domains. This study examines how these new regulations were implemented, both successfully and to a limited extent, in Bayezid during the ]850s and ]860s, the initial decades of the reform period in the region. Additionally, the paper challenges the prevailing literature by arguing that not all hereditary dynasties resisted the reforms aimed at establishing a direct state sphere.
Warfare and Alliances in Ra.s Al-.ayn: Hamidiye Regiments, Bedouin Tribes, and Ottoman Governors, 1895-1905
(Univ Toronto Press, 2024) Ciftci, Erdal