Tuğlacı, Pars. Osmanlı Şehirleri. İstanbul: Milliyet, 1985, 411pp.
ABSTRACT
Ottoman Cities
Osmanlı Şehirleri
Ottoman Cities is an encyclopaedia published in 1985. According to the author, Pars Tuğlacı, the book aims to explain the political, economic, social and cultural lives of cities under Ottoman rule by relying on detailed and reliable resources and abundant visual material.
To keep the scope of the book manageable, the author focuses on the major developments in particular cities during Ottoman times, instead of studying the complete history of all the cities in Asia, Africa and Europe when the Ottoman Empire was at the zenith of its expansion.
The book divides the cities it discusses into two sections. In the first section, cities within the political boundaries of Turkey today are discussed. In the second section, the cities presented were once within Ottoman territories but are now outside the borders of Turkey. The entries, which start with Adana and end with Zigetvar, are alphabetically ordered. Old names of cities are also included within the entry title next to new names.
The entries provide a very short history of the cities before the Ottoman era and thereafter discuss major social, economic, and cultural developments, along with their geographical position, under the Ottomans.
In the foreword the author argues that the Turks have generally increased the standard of living in the cities they conquered, developed them and made them more prosperous. He refutes the claims that the Ottomans destroyed the cultural and religious structures of non-Muslims. Such assertions cause the reader to question the objectivity of this book.
Ecehan Koç
Koç, Ecehan. “English abstract of 'of Ottoman Cities'". Translated by Adel Laga in Cities as Built and Lived Environments: Scholarship from Muslim Contexts, 1875 to 2011, by Aptin Khanbaghi, 97. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2014.
Muslim Civilisations Abstracts - The Aga Khan University