| Between the 1499 Safavid rise to power in Iran and the 1517 Ottoman conquest of Mamluk Egypt, the Nile to Oxus region was characterized by extreme violence and political instability. In the midst of this commotion, debates concerning Islamic identity, belief norms, and correct governmental practice emerged, the conclusions of which came to dominate much of the subsequent ideological orientation of the Sunni Ottoman and Shi`i Safavid empires.; The writings of one somewhat neglected Ottoman prince and scholar, Korkud (ca. 1468--1513), offer an excellent entry to these developments. A comprehensive intellectual biography of this prince qualitatively widens and deepens our understanding of the modalities of Ottoman imperial rule, the social imperatives driving intellectual output at the time, and the forces behind the articulation of a specifically Ottoman style of Islamic piety.; In order to make explicit the connection between Korkud's writings and the milieu in which he produced them, chapters II and VII examine Korkud's life in detail based on archival materials, correspondence, and narrative sources.; Four chapters concentrate on the prince's scholarly efforts and contributions to Ottoman Islamic legal discourse, based on his Arabic treatises. Chapter III addresses Korkud's role in the material support of and legal sanction for corsair captains operating throughout the Eastern Mediterranean at the turn of the 16th century.; Chapter IV examines the apostasy debate as reflected primarily in Korkud's "The Individual's Protector from Faith's Rejector." This work, upon comparison with contemporary works addressing similar issues, demonstrates how Korkud participated in the articulation of imperial religious ideology as it emerged in the first two decades of the 16th century.; Chapter V describes Korkud's critiques of Ottoman administrative practice and views of correct ethical living as articulated primarily in "The Erring Soul's Summons to Virtuous Works," and secondarily in his other extant treatises.; Chapter VI describes Korkud's self-imposed exile in Mamluk Cairo and the justification offered for this exile in an extended missive of his, entitled "The Means of the Beloved for Authorization, Written by a Son whom Desire has Driven to the Land of the Hijaz."... |
