Moedige krijgers of het zwaard van God? Een conceptuele herevaluatie van Paul Wittek's gaza-thesis over de Osmaanse staatsvorming

Subtitle:'Courageous Warriors or the sword of God? A conceptual reevaluation of PaulWittek gaza's thesis about the Ottoman state formation

This article re-evaluates Paul WittekU+2019s famous gaza thesis, which until the 1980s was the dominant explanation of the Ottoman state and remains influential. It situates Wittek within the intellectual genealogy of Ottoman Studies, which exhibits two major lines: the Ottomans were either barbarians without an understanding of state-building, or fanatical Muslims who were engaged in continuous holy war. Since Wittek, many scholars have believed that holy war was central to the Ottoman state and ideology. Wittek wrongly interpreted the concept gaza as equivalent to the western term U+2018holy warU+2019, seeing the terms gaza , jihad , and holy war as synonyms. In fact each of these concepts has a different semantic and historical context. Although the gaza ideology was relevant to Ottoman expansion and dynastic legitimacy, it was not the all-defining ideological motif.

Publication year:2014

BOF-keylabel:yes

IOF-keylabel:yes

Authors:National

Authors from:Higher Education

Accessibility:Open