This volume is a local history, focusing on the experiences of people andcommunities as they navigated and enacted institutions and transformationsassociated with modernization in the late Ottoman era. Focusing onthe local political arena of a relatively small, predominantly rural and ordinarysetting, this book examines two neighboring Western Anatolian towns:Yenişehir and İznik.Utilizing rigorous historiographical inquiry and in-depth use of archivalmaterials, this book sketches a dynamic picture of late Ottoman imperialpolitical belonging with the agendas and priorities of the countryside, wherethe majority of Ottomans lived. The monograph contributes to understandingof modernization from different local perspectives by excavating theprovincial hinterland of the imperial capital. It uses a narrative technique ofanalyzing certain local events to address larger structures and transformationspertaining to the long 19th century in general and Ottoman history inparticular. As a “micro” study, it argues for the significance of individuals’and social groups’ agencies, strategies and conceptions of their world in theunfolding of Ottoman modernization.Offering a vivid picture of local communities and their engagements withmodern political, social and judicial structures in the late Ottoman era, thisbook will appeal to scholars and advanced graduate students interested incomparative imperial history, Ottoman history and Middle Eastern studies.
