This volume brings together some thirty essays in a Festschrift in honour of Abdul-Karim Rafeq, the leading historian of Ottoman Syria, touching on themes in socio-economic history which have been Rafeq's principal academic concerns.

The essays discuss continuity and change in Bilad al Sham (Greater Syria) during the sixteenth century, examining to what extent Egypt and Greater Syria were affected by the transition from Mamluk to Ottoman rule. This is explored in a variety of areas: diplomatic relations, histories and historiography, fiscal and agricultural administration, symbolic orders, urban developments, local perspectives and material culture. In order to rethink the sixteenth century from a transitional perspective and thus overcome the conventional dynasty-centered fields of research Mamlukists and Ottomanists have been brought together, shedding light on the remarkable sixteenth century, so decisive for the formation of early modern Muslim empires.

"Der Band behandelt das geographische Syrien im 18. und 19. Jh. Dieser Zeitraum war von tiefgreifenden wirtschaftlichen Veranderungen gepragt, insbesondere der allmahlichen Integration des Osmanischen Reiches in den Weltmarkt. Die hier vorgestellten neuen Fragen und Forschungsrichtungen, die zu einem differenzierteren Bild der osmanischen Herrschaft beitragen, beziehen wesentliche Impulse aus sozial- und wirtschaftsgeschichtlichen Ansatzen. ... Je ein Index fur Personen- und Ortsnamen sowie Begriffe runden den Band ab. Man kann nur hoffen, daa diese Art der sozial- und wirtschaftshistorischen Nahostforschung, die sich bislang weitgehend im anglo-amerikanischen und arabischen Raum entwickelt hat, auch in Deutschland weitere Verbreitung finden wird." Orientalistische Literaturzeitung "athe book is a major contribution to the study of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Syria. The authors, the editors, and the publisher are to be commended for producing this important publication." Journal of Near Eastern Studies . (Franz Steiner 1998)

The Impact of European Imperial Influences, Economic Rivalries, and Religious Tension on Muslim-Christian Relations during the 1860 CE Riot in Damascus

Grounded Identities: Territory and Belonging in the Medieval and Early Modern Middle East and Mediterranean explores attachment to lands in the pre-modern Islamicate world and the theoretical and long-term implications of land-based senses of belonging.

The Ottomans ruled much of the Arab World for four centuries. Bruce Masters's work surveys this period, emphasizing the cultural and social changes that occurred against the backdrop of the political realities that Arabs experienced as subjects of the Ottoman sultans. The persistence of Ottoman rule over a vast area for several centuries required that some Arabs collaborate in the imperial enterprise. Masters highlights the role of two social classes that made the empire successful: the Sunni Muslim religious scholars, the ulama, and the urban notables, the acyan. Both groups identified with the Ottoman sultanate and were its firmest backers, although for different reasons. The ulama legitimated the Ottoman state as a righteous Muslim sultanate, while the acyan emerged as the dominant political and economic class in most Arab cities due to their connections to the regime. Together, the two helped to maintain the empire.