| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, February 15, 2018 | 5:00PM - 7:00PM | External Event, 2098 Sidney Smith Hall Natalie Zemon Davis Room 100 St. George Street |
Seminar in Ottoman & Turkish Studies
It has long been received wisdom that the Ottoman institution of the timar (“fief/benefice/prebend”)—which gave a virtual caste of cavalry and other servants of the state the right to tax peasant agriculture in exchange for military or other service—was a linchpin of that state’s organization. Moreover, the timar is widely considered as crucial for the successful workings of the empire during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as, for example, the kapıkulı (“slave of the Porte”) military-administrative institution. The argument continues that the timar institution essentially became defunct by the seventeenth century, thanks to the adoption of viable gunpowder weaponry, inflationary pressures in Ottoman currency, and corruption. This seminar will offer a fresh look at these commonplaces in light of the problem of the survival of mountains of documents and defters—today mostly unseen or ignored—that suggest an institution that did not lose its vigour in the post-classical age and will consider the question, “Who are the ‘zombies,’ Ottoman timariots or Ottomanist historians?”
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.