A History of the Ottoman Empire

by Batuhan Aksu
published on 17 August 2026

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"A History of the Ottoman Empire" is recommended to people seeking to learn about the Ottoman world from its inception to its dissolution. Designed in the form of a textbook, it is intended primarily for the general public and history students. As a unique contribution, it refutes widespread assumptions regarding the Ottoman society and economy from a revisionist perspective.

A History of the Ottoman Empire offers a comprehensive survey of Ottoman history in broad contours. Its author, Douglas A. Howard, Professor Emeritus at Calvin University, defies misconceptions and prejudices about the Ottoman world. In doing so, he embraces a revisionist approach to clarify controversial and lesser-known components of Ottoman historiography. Rather than the Gregorian calendar, Howard divides the chapters of his book based on the Islamic calendar. He adopts a chronological model from the 8th to 14th Islamic centuries in seven chapters.

Howard’s original thesis in the introduction and his ability to implement it throughout the work consistently are the book's most commendable aspects. His underlying argument in the introduction is that the way to move beyond understanding Ottoman history as a tediously chronological narrative confined to the sultans is to grasp the “Ottoman worldview” and its construction. This multi-layered worldview signified a mental universe shared by different ethnic and confessional communities. He argues that these consist of sultanic sovereignty (din ü devlet), the fiscal model, and spiritual convictions. I concur with his central argument, as he skillfully employs concepts from the Ottoman world while avoiding presentist or Orientalist pretensions. For instance, he clarifies that the idea of din ü devlet, representing dynastic sovereignty, is quite different from its modern meaning:

Din was spiritual energy... Devlet meant charismatic authority, the magical ability to lead, to bring victory and prosperity (5).

The author's sense of division provides readers with another important tool in understanding the subject. He claims that calendars are not merely a means of identifying dates but cultural structures that give meaning to the lives of societies. Hence, he asserts

a society’s sense of time seems a suitable point at which to enter its worldview (6).

Thus, Howard's book offers a critique of the modernist historical narratives, which often downplay the role of time and calendars in people’s mental universe in the non-Western world. For instance, his fifth chapter, “The Global and Local," does not elucidate the Ottoman world from 1700 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar. Rather, it embraces a timeline between 1688 and 1785, or the 12th Islamic century, as did various Ottoman chroniclers. Another strong feature of this work lies in utilizing visuals and primary sources to support discussions. Solidifying its credibility through the book, Howard clarifies his claims, like pervasive melancholia in Ottoman society, by quoting Esrar Dede or Galip, who metaphorically employed the concept of ruin to express their melancholic world. Thus, he effectively resists the undervaluation of literary sources in Ottoman historiography.

Like any other work in Ottoman scholarship, the book also contains several historical mistakes. To exemplify, Howard mistakenly states that Murad III (d. 1595) was the first sultan to campaign with the Ottoman army in person after Suleiman I. However, it was his son, Mehmed III (d. 1603), who led it through the Battle of Keresztes in 1596. I think Howard can revise these kinds of relatively minor faults in the second edition. However, the most significant drawback of this book is its lack of a conclusion in the end. A concluding section that links its exemplary introduction and meaningfully structured chapters, offering an overall assessment and judgment, would have made this book much more effective.

On the whole, A History of the Ottoman Empire is a landmark contribution to Ottoman historiography and an effective textbook. Despite several flaws, it is a groundbreaking narrative that refutes commonplace assumptions about Ottoman history, offering readers active engagement and encouraging them to reassess their perceptions of the Ottoman world and worldview.

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