Faroqhi, Suraija Roschanİnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü2023-04-182023-04-182021Faroqhi, S. (2021). Ottoman artisans in a changing political context: Debates in historiography. Dimensions of Transformation in the Ottoman Empire from the Late Medieval Age to Modernity, S. Kenan ve S. A. Somel (Ed.), Dimensions of Transformation in the Ottoman Empire from the Late Medieval Age to Modernity içinde (123–146. ss.). Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004442351_006978900444235197890044098281380-6076https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004442351_006https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12154/2220Historians have interpreted the relationship between Ottoman artisans and sultan governance in two contrasting ways. Some believe that, by definition, the sultan represented the interests of the Islamic community and even, to some extent, those of his subjects at large. Others assume that, although the Islamic legitimacy of sultans was never in doubt, artisans could nonetheless develop initiatives of their own, including participation in rebellions when their livelihoods were under threat. While adhering to the second option, the author discusses why artisans thought that compliance with officialdom was the royal road to success, and why, such conformity notwithstanding, Ottoman guilds often defended the interests of master craftsmen with reasonable success. Since artisans legitimized their strivings for private gain through constant reference to the sultan, they had little reason to limit the ruler’s power. When soldiers and associated artisans acted to depose Selim III in 1807, they did so because his policies threatened their livelihoods, and not because they wanted broader participation in policy decisions, or because they blindly upheld a ‘traditional’ system. The fall of Selim III (1807) thus differed fundamentally from what had happened in France in 1789.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessBook Chapter7312314610.1163/9789004442351_006N/AWOS:000869165300006