The Capitulations and the Ottoman Legal System

Abstract

Qadis, Consuls and Beratlıs in the 18th Century Author: Maurits van den Boogert Pre-modern Western sources generally claim that European mercantile communities in the Ottoman Empire enjoyed legal autonomy, and were thus e fectively immune to Ottoman justice. At the same time, they report numerous disputes with Ottoman o cials over jurisdiction ("avanias"), which seems to contradict this claim, the discrepancy being considered proof of the capriciousness of the Ottoman legal system. Modern studies of Ottoman-European relations in this period have tended uncritically to accept this interpretation, which is challenged in this book. Readership All those interested in legal history, the history of Islamic law, the history of the Ottoman Empire, the history of European-Ottoman relations, as well as historians of the Middle East in general. For more information see brill.com

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