Making Things to Serve Sultans, Viziers and Army Commanders (1450-1800)

Abstract

Ottoman documents on manufactures for court and army concentrate on governmental initiatives. However, the time has come to view these branches of production in a broader, comparative perspective, focusing on the demands of the sultan’s officials and the actions of skilled persons working for the apparatus of empire. As for the production of military hardware, the demands of eighteenth-century warfare fell most heavily on the more prosperous workshops; and the lack of working capital became a permanent worry after the Russo-Ottoman war of 1768–74. However, until about 1750, the sultans’ military machine was still ahead of the Russians in the supply of armaments and foodstuffs. Technology and the lack of manufacturing skills, thus, were not at issue when Ottoman armies suffered defeat.