A Monetary History of the Ottoman Empire (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)

I just read Pamuk's book, it was my first written by him. I am a serious coin collector (Balkans) and this book was able to give me a lot of information I needed. Ottoman Empire has ruled Balkans for hundreds of years and there is so much influence in economic terms that sometimes it is very difficult to weed out the reasons why something happened. This book is excellent at pointing at right sources and further reading. It is very readable once you decide to leave out all the footnotes until the end. But something like this is expected from a historic scientific book as opposed to a historic novel, I guess. Nevertheless, if one combines this book with classics by Album and Schaendlinger, one can get a very good picture of the subject at hand. Apart from sometimes tediuos readablity, it is an excellent book. If it had more story-telling oriented text in it, it would have been even better for me, but this is a very personal matter, I guess. Highly recommended! 1. Introduction -- Trade, Money, And States In The Mediterranean Basin -- Ottoman Economic Policies -- Money, Economy, And The Ottoman State -- A Periodization -- 2. Trade And Money At The Origins -- Gold And Silver; East And West -- Byzantine Empire And The Balkans -- Anatolia -- Early Ottoman Coinage -- Mints And Their Administration -- Silver Mines -- Copper Coinage -- 3. Interventionism And Debasements As Policy -- Centralization And Interventionism -- The Silver Famines -- The Debasements Of Mehmed Ii -- Motives And Explanations -- Towards A Political Economy Of Ottoman Debasements -- 4. The Emerging Monetary System -- The Gold Sultani: An International Coin -- Foreign Coins -- Gold-silver-copper -- Bimetallism Or Silver Monometallism? -- Increasing Use Of Money -- 5. Credit And Finance -- Credit -- Business Partnerships -- State Finances And Financing The State -- 6. Money And Empire -- Monetary Zones Within The Empire -- The Balkans -- Egypt -- The Shahi Zone --^ The Crimean Akce -- The Maghrib -- Algeria -- Tunis -- Tripoli -- 7. The Price Revolution In The Near East Revisited -- Competing Explanations -- New Evidence And A Review Of The Old -- Why Did Prices Rise In The Near East? -- Long-term Consequences Of The Price Revolution -- 8. Debasement And Disintegration -- The Debasement Of 1585-86: A Turning Point? -- Fiscal Crises And Monetary Instability -- Disappearance Of The Akce -- 9. In The Absence Of Domestic Currency -- Debased Coinage In Ottoman Markets -- Belated Government Intervention -- The Return Of Copper Coinage -- 10. The New Ottoman Kurus -- The Ottoman Kurus -- Economic Expansion And Fiscal Stability -- Fiscal Troubles And Depreciation Of The Kurus -- 11. Linkages With The Periphery -- The Para In Egypt -- The Riyal Of Tunis -- Algeria -- Tripoli -- Crimea -- Convergence Of Currencies -- 12. The Great Debasement -- Attempts At Financial Centralization -- Evolution Of Internal Borrowing -- The Great Debasement (1808-34) --^ Financing The State: The Galata Bankers -- 13. From Bimetallism To The Limping Gold Standard -- Integration To The World Economy -- Bimetallism, New Coinage, And Paper Money -- Banks For Lending To The State -- External Borrowing -- The Limping Gold Standard -- Commercial Banking -- The Financing Of World War I -- 14. Conclusions -- App. I. Excerpts From Ottoman Laws On Taxation, Money, Mints, And Mines -- App. Ii. Price Indices For Istanbul, 1469-1914 -- App. Iii. A Note On Basic Economic And Monetary Magnitudes. Şevket Pamuk. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 243-269) And Index. The Ottoman empire stood at the crossroads of intercontinental trade at the dawn of the era of capitalism. This volume examines the monetary history of that empire from its beginnings in the fourteenth century to the end of the first world war. Through a detailed examination of the currencies and related institutions of an empire which stretched from the Balkans through Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and the Gulf to the Maghrib, the book demonstrates the complexity of the monetary arrangements and their evolution in response to both local developments and global economic forces. The volume also affords some valuable insights into social and political history and the evolution of Ottoman institutions. This is an important book by one of the most distinguished economic historians in the field. This volume examines the monetary history of a large empire located at the crossroads of intercontinental trade from the fourteenth century until the end of World War I. It covers all regions of the empire from the Balkans through Anatolia, Syria, Egypt and the Gulf to the Maghrib. The implications of monetary developments for social and political history are also discussed throughout the volume. This is an important and pathbreaking book by one of the most distinguished economic historians in the field.