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The Seasonal Empire: Ottoman Authority in the Early Modern Harameyn
Abstract by Tyler Kynn On Session 080  (Pious Encounters with Empire)

On Friday, November 15 at 12:30 pm

2019 Annual Meeting

Abstract
This paper examines the ways in which the Ottoman Empire extended its influence into the sacred spaces of the Harameyn through the seasonal hajj caravan and the payments carried with it. The payment of annual stipends (the sürre), carried by the Ottoman hajj caravan, provided one of the most important links between the Harameyn and the Ottoman Empire. However, this important imperial link was inextricably tied to the seasonality of the hajj itself, revealing the limitations of Ottoman imperial power the region. This paper argues that Ottoman control and authority in the Harameyn was largely dependent on the hajj and the hajj caravans from Damascus and Cairo. By examining, in detail, one year of the sürre defterleri (records of yearly stipends paid to residents in Mecca and Medina) in the late seventeenth century, this paper showcases the vast patronage network sponsored by Ottoman pious endowments and the ways in which this network was able to challenge local networks of power, represented by the Sharifs of Mecca. The data from the sürre defterleri demonstrates the different corridors of power through which the early modern Ottoman Empire sought to exert its influence beyond its core provinces and into the sacred spaces of the trans-imperial Harameyn. While the networks of imperial influence showcased through the sürre defterleri tell the story of Ottoman imperial power, they also reveal the global connections at the heart of Meccan and Median society.Therefore, this investigation into early modern Ottoman authority in the Harameyn exemplifies the myriad of ways in which early modern empires sought to extend influence in regions in which their authority was routinely challenged and questionable
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Ottoman Empire
Sub Area
13th-18th Centuries