Overview
Founded in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, the Imperial School for Tribes (Asiret Mektebi) was an initiative by Sultan Abdulhamid II to bring the sons of prominent Arab tribal leaders to Istanbul for a world-class education and transform them into loyal Ottoman future military and governmental leaders. Utilizing a plethora of new documents recently made available in the Ottoman archives as well as Ottoman newspaper collections in Istanbul and Beirut, this is the first book to shed light on the School for Tribes. It provides a detailed analysis of the origins and families of the over 500 graduates of the school, as well as the recruitment and placement processes developed by the administration. The further careers and allegiances of the graduates are examined, allowing us to better understand relations between Turks and Arabs both during the last years of the Empire as well as in the following decades. The book shows that many graduates who became prominent leaders in their newly formed countries, including Abdulmuhsin al-Sadoun (Prime Minister of Iraq), Omar Mansour and Orhan Kologlu (Prime Ministers of Cyrenaica-Libya), and Ramadan al-Shallash (Lebanon) availed of their Ottoman training and preserved their imperial loyalties even as rifts that occurred between the Republic of Turkey and the Arab states widened.
Full Product Details
Author: Mehmet Ali Neyzi
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.480kg
ISBN: 9780755649747
ISBN 10: 0755649745
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 04 May 2023
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
Neyzi's fine study uncovers an important but rarely-studied subject in Modern Middle East history. It brings together the imperial and local/tribal in the example of Abdulhamid's School for Tribes and using hitherto-unused primary sources. A must-read. * M. Talha Cicek, Assistant Professor, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Turkey * An exhaustive study of a short-lived yet venerable Ottoman educational institution and its notable alumni, who hailed from the margins of the empire and rose to prominence during the empire-to-nation transition in the Middle East. * Hasan Kayali, Professor, University of California, San Diego * This book offers a unique perspective on nineteenth century Ottoman efforts at modernization and reforms designed to keep the empire together. One ambitious project was a boarding school in Istanbul for the sons of the tribal leaders. In this well-written book, Neyzi skillfully examines the school and its legacy through the lives and careers of its Arab graduates. -- Sevket Pamuk * Bogazici University, Turkey *
Neyzi's fine study uncovers an important but rarely studied subject of the Modern Middle East history. It brings together the imperial and local/tribal in the example of Abdulhamid's School for Tribes and elaborates the subject with hitherto unused primary sources. A must read. * M. Talha Cicek, Assistant Professor, Istanbul Medeniyet University, Turkey * An exhaustive study of a short-lived yet venerable Ottoman educational institution and its notable alumni, who hailed from the margins of the empire and rose to prominence during the empire-to-nation transition in the Middle East. * Hasan Kayali, Professor, University of California, San Diego *
Author Information
Mehmet Ali Neyzi holds a PhD in Middle Eastern history from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. A graduate of Princeton University, USA, prior to academia he pursued a successful business career and was CEO of several large companies.
