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THE JANISSARIES
₨ 4,626From the fifteenth to the sixteenth century, the janissaries were the scourge of Europe. With their martial music, their muskets and their drilled march, it seemed that no one could withstand them. Their loyalty to their corps was infinite, as the Ottomans conquered the Balkans as far as the Danube, and Syria, Egypt and Iraq. Their political power was such that even sultans trembled.
Who were they? Why were they an elite? Why did they decline and what was their end? To answer these questions, the book begins by exploring the origins of the Janissary corps with the careful selection of youths from Christian families in the Balkans. It then introduces the pillars of the Ottoman state which these recruits were to serve, and depicts the victorious years of this elite corps.
ISBN: 0863567401
Publisher: SAQI -
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THE PRIVATE WORLD OF OTTOMAN WOMEN
₨ 4,626Recovering the oft-neglected role of women in Ottoman high society and power politics, this book brings to life the women who made their mark in a male domain. Though historical records tend to favour the glitter of palaces over the trials of daily life, Goodwin also reconstructs ordinary women’s domestic toil. As the Ottoman Empire first expanded and then shrank, women travelled its width and breadth whether out of necessity or merely for pleasure. Some women owned slaves while others suffered the misfortune of being enslaved. Goodwin examines the laws, which governed women’s lives from the harem to the humblest tasks. This perceptive study of Ottoman life culminates with the nineteenth century and explores the advent of modernity and its impact on women at a time of imperial decline.
ISBN: 0863567452
Publisher: SAQI
