PDF

Maisonneuve & Larose
Contested Territory: Ottoman Holy War in Comparative Context

Author(s): Linda T. Darling
Source: Studia Islamica, No. 91 (2000), pp. 133-163
Published by: Maisonneuve & Larose
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1596272
Accessed: 08-02-2016 21:04 UTC
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1596272?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Brill and Maisonneuve & Larose are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Studia Islamica.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 194.27.40.19 on Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:04:54 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Studia
2000
Islamica,
Contested Territory: OttomanHoly

War in Comparative Context
ThequestionofthenatureoftheearlyOttoman
oncethought
to
conquests,
have been exhausted(if not resolved),has been dramatically
reopenedin
recenttimes.A pairofpapersgivenattheopeningandclosingsessionsofthe
1998 Congresson theEconomicand Social Historyof theOttoman
Empire
viewson theroleofholywarinthefoundation
oftheOttovoicedcontrasting
of thesepapersreflects
a recrudescence
of
man state.(') The presentation
inthewell-known
thesis"
of
Paul
the
controversial
interest
Wittek,
pro"ghdzf
anddriving
forceofthe
positionthatghazd,or"holywar,"was thefoundation
tojih&d,thisinterest
state.(2)Although
ghazdis notidentical
earlyOttoman
withpublicanxietyoverextremist
is probablynotunconnected
groupslike
IslamicJihadorwiththespateofpublications
onjihadsincetheIranianrevoofWittek's
thesishas generated
a search
lutionof 1979.(3) The reassessment
ofsources
fornewsourceson theearlyOttoman
periodanda reinterpretation
ofwestern
Anatoliainthelatethirteenth
alreadyknownforthecultural
history
ofthesenewsources,
has
andfourteenth
centuries.
Theinvestigation
however,
thequestionoftheplaceofghazdintheearlyOttoman
statebuthas
notsettled
morepositionson itsmeaningfortheearlyOttomans
and
simplyintroduced
oftheirempire.
itsrolein thedevelopment
thatitis timetorethink
thewaythe
Thisongoing
lackofresolution
suggests
be answered.
andthestrategies
is structured
bywhichitmight
Despite
question
a nearabsenceofdirectevidencefortheroleofghazdinearlyOttoman
expehasprimarily
beenposedwithin
thenarthequestion
ofOttoman
rience,
ghazad
inwestern
Anatolia(one
oftheculture
oftheTurkish
rowcontext
principalities
theregion).Thistacticmight
wouldsoon dominate
of which,theOttoman,
Turofthehistoriography
oftheinfant
as a product
havebeenunderstandable
(1) Halil Inalcik, "New Researches on Osman Gazi," and Heath Lowry, "The Nature of the Early Ottoman State as Reflected in the 14thCenturyHistory of Bursa," given at the opening lecture and the final panel
of the VIII. Uluslararast Tiirkiye'ninSosyal ve Ekonomik Tarihi Kongresi, Bursa, Turkey,June 18-21, 1998.
I am grateful to the participants in the History Department Brown Bag at the University of Arizona for
helping to clarifythe ideas in this paper.
(2) Paul Wittek, The Rise of the Ottoman Empire (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1938).
(3) Expressions of this anxiety in English include, on the academic level, Samuel P. Huntington,"The
Clash of Civilizations?" Foreign Affairs72 (1993): 22-49; and on the popular level Karen Armstrong,Holy
War (London: Macmillan, 1988).
133
LINDA T. DARLING
of themature
kishrepublic,
butin factit emergedmuchlaterin thecontext
andnon-or
of
a
of
Turkish
number
nationalist
development
historiographies,
The Ottoman
even anti-Turkish,
and of increasedacademicspecialization.
didnottakeplacein a vacuum,andtheOttomans
didnot
however,
conquest,
ariseinwestern
Anatoliauntouched
ofthepastandtheproblems
bythecultures
ofthelandsthrough
whichtheymoved.Researchers
mustbroaden
thescopeof
the
of
western
Anatolia
and
Turkish
sourcesin
investigation problem
beyond
orderto see itsfulldimensions,
letalonetoresolveit.
This papersurveyssome of thedirections
in whichthatcontextualizationmightbe extendedandproposesa moreproductive
formulation
ofthe
theearlyOttomanstatewas a ghazi~
question.Ratherthanaskingwhether
stateor not,or seekingto identify
some kindof foundational
essence,it
takesa potentially
morefruitful
theOttomanstateas a propath,defining
ductof contestation
amonggroupswithdifferent
agendasand different
and
conceptsof therelevanceand value of ghazdfortheirown interests
goals. Most studentsof Ottomanorigins,whetheror nottheyconsidered
elementin thestate,havesoughtto define
"theghdzis"to be thedominant
theirroleas a groupvis-a-visothergroupsin thedevelopment
ofOttoman
of a
institutions,
ideas, and activities.But ghaza was not the property
homogeneousgroup;people advocatedor engagedin it fromdifferent
and fordifferent
reasons.The coexistenceof suchconflicting
standpoints
interests
can be attested,
noton theOttomanfrontier
alone,buton frontiers
aroundthe Muslimworldwhereghazd was practicedand forcenturies
thedebateaboutOttoman
priorto theOttomanconquest.Consequently,
in termsof theinterests
thatwereat stake
originsshouldbe reformulated
in theestablishment
ofthenew stateof Osmanand in thepursuitofghazd
cannotbe fullyaccomplishedin this
byitsmembers.Such a reformulation
shortspace, butthisessay seeks to providea basis on whichit can take
of oursourceson ghazdand theinterplace by examiningtheproduction
eststheyrepresent
or portray.
The debateto thispointhas centeredaroundthemeaningof theterm
to thesituations
and personnelof theOttoman
ghazdand itsapplicability
frontier.
Wittek'sthesis,thatthe foundersof the Ottomanstatewere a
warriors(ghdzis)motivated
groupof frontier
by an ideologyof holywar
was putforthto counterpreviousassertionsthattheearlyOtto(ghaz.),
mans
weresimplyunlettered
Turkishtribesmen
whosestateoweditscohesion and growthto traditions
of imperialgovernment
and sedentarized
borrowedfromtheByzantinesor theSaljfiqs.(4) Since Witbureaucracy
tek'stime,however,boththetribalorganization
oftheOttomansandtheir
thattheByzantines
werebehindOttoman
see Herbert
TheFoundaA. Gibbons,
(4) Fortheposition
greatness
tionoftheOttoman
fortheSaljtiqsseeM. FuadK6pruilii,
Press,1916);fortheargument
Empire(Oxford:
Clarendon
Les origines
de l'empire
ottoman
(Paris:E. de Boccard,1935);trans.GaryLeiser,TheOriginsoftheOttoman
of New YorkPress,1992).Vryonis's
formulation
embracesbothinfluences,
Empire(Albany:StateUniversity
theroleoftheOttoman
Turksinthefoundation
oftheir
ownstatetoconquest
anddestruction
reducing
(see Speros
Dumbarton
OaksPapers23-24[1969-70]:249-308).
Jr.,"TheByzantine
Forms,"
Vryonis,
LegacyandOttoman
134
CONTESTED
TERRITORY:
OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE
CONTEXT
in holywarhave beenquestioned.Laterscholarssharea cerengagement

tain skepticismtowardclaims by fifteenth-century
Ottomanchroniclers
thattheconquestsof theirforebears
weremotivated
by religiousdevotion
and zeal forthefaith.(5)The heterogeneous
natureofOttomanarmiesand
alliances,mixingChristianswithMuslimsand oftendirectedagainstcotheirfocus on booty and territorial
religionists,
expansionratherthan
and elementsof unorthodoxy
or even shamanismin Ottoman
conversion,
oftheearly
religiouspracticeargueagainstliteralreadingsoftheportrayal
Ottomansas Islamicholywarriors.The construction
of theOttomansas
ghdzisis now oftenconsideredto be a lateroverlay,whilethechroniclers'
inaccuraciesandobviouslytendential
reconstructions
call attention
totheir
own personalagendasas well as theirlack of reliableinformation
on the
timesoftheirancestors.Atthesametime,conflicting
versionsoftheOttomans' tribaloriginspresentedin the chroniclesraise doubtsabout their
have been resolvedin different
validity.These contradictions
ways.The
of tribalism
made by Lindnerdemandsa rejectionof ghdzi
interpretation
ideologyand orthodoxIslam in favorof an Islam heavilyinfluencedby
laterrepudiated,
and an organization
CentralAsian shamanisttraditions,
thatregardedbureaucratic
traditions
as alien and corrupt.
(6) On theother
oftribalorganization
hand,Inalcikconsidersthatthedisruption
bymigrabandsmade a space in whicha
tionand servicein Byzantinemercenary
mechanismfor
ghdzfideologycould act as a unitingforceand recruiting
peopleof tribaloriginwhowereno longertriballyorganized.(7)
theprevailing
towardtheOttomanchronicles
Morerecently,
skepticism
twoauthorsto tryto determine
whatcan be reliablyascertaihas motivated
ned aboutOttomanoriginsand ghdziideologiesfromothersources.Colin
Imber'sarticlesdeconstructing
historical
incidents
and mythological
narraof
tivesin thechronicles
clearedtheway fora minimalist
politicalhistory
verifiable
fromcontemtheearlyOttomansincorporating
onlyinformation
is basedin parton detailedstudyof thechronicles
and theirantecedents;
see espe(5) This skepticism
ofOttoman
andV. L. M6nage,"TheBeginnings
ciallyHalil Inalcik,"TheRise ofOttomanHistoriography,"
on
inHistoriansoftheMiddleEast,ed. BernardLewis andP. M. Holt,HistoricalWritings
Historiography,"
thePeoples of Asia, 4 (London:OxfordUniversity
Press,1962). For recentworkin thesame vein,see
StudiesinOttoman
HistoryinHonourofProfessorV.L. Mdnage,ed. ColinHeywoodandColinImber(Istanbul: Isis Press,1994).
(6) RudiPaul Lindner,Nomadsand Ottomansin MedievalAnatolia,Uralicand AltaicSeries,no 144
is shared
forInnerAsianStudies,1983);thisviewpoint
ResearchInstitute
IndianaUniversity
(Bloomington:
by Gyula Kildy-Nagy,"The Holy War (jihdd) in theFirstCenturiesof theOttomanEmpire,"Harvard
UkrainianStudies3-4 (1979-80): 467-73; and RonaldC. Jennings,
"Some Thoughtson theGazi-Thesis,"
in "Stimulus
and
76 (1986): 151-61.RudiPaul Lindner,
WienerZeitschriftfiir
die Kundedes Morgenlandes
in EarlyOttomanHistory,"
GreekOrthodoxTheologicalReview27 (1982): 207-24,describes
Justification
thana stimulus
to conquest.
afterthefactrather
as a justification
ghazdt
oftheOttoman
JournalofTurkish
State,"International
(7) Halil Inalcik,"TheQuestionoftheEmergence
due to Mongoladvancesto
servicewithpopulation
Studies2 (1980): 71-79;he combinesmercenary
pressure
band
westward
However,itshouldbe notedthatwhatInalcikcallsa warrior
expansion.
explaintheOttomans'
with
a "newtribe,"thatis, a mobilepoliticalorganization
is exactlywhatLindnercalls a tribe,in particular
in whichleadership
wenttothemostsuccessful
warleader(RudiPaul Lindrecruitment
notbasedon kinship
24 [1982]:700).
StudiesinSocietyandHistory
ner,"WhatWas a NomadicTribe?"Comparative
135
LINDAT. DARLING
sources.(8)On thatbasis,authentic
evidenceidentifying
porarynon-Turkish
the earlyOttomansas ghdzi'sis almostnonexistent
(the Byzantines,for
example,neverseem to have noticeda ghazi identification
amongtheir
Ottomanallies/opponents),
and whatlittleevidencethereis can be explained awayas laterinterpolations.
Imber'snegativemoveof breakingdown
thetraditional
narrative
ofOttoman
evidencewas
originsbasedon chronicle
followedby thepositiveone of reconstructing
an OttomanEmpireresemfromtheIslamicempiresof thepast.
blingthatof Kopriiliiin itsderivation
In place of theimperialadministration
of theSaljiqs, however,Imbersees
thesharr'aas theformative
impulseoftheOttomanstate.His studyoflegal
manualssupportsan argument
thattheOttomansfromthefirstconducted
theirwarfare
andorganizedtheirterritories
in accordancewiththestrictures
of Islamiclaw, theportrayal
of unorthodox
tribalghdzison thewarpath
a
reconstruction.
of
(9) In hisview,thepursuit
beingpurely fifteenth-century
theOttomansultansas Musghazdas mandated
bytheshard'alegitimated
limrulers,andchroniclers
to accountforanoma"adjusted"theirnarratives
lies andto maketheOttomans
heirsto theSaljiqs as ghdzileadersandthus
Imber
justifytheirtakeoverof Muslimlandsin Anatoliaas well.Although
admitsthattheportrayals
of ghazd in epic poetryand in the chronicles
appealedto different
groupsin Ottomansociety,he does notaccordthetensionbetweenthemanyformative
role.
CemalKafadar'sstudyofwestern
Anatolianliterary
sourcesleadshimto
of approach.He argues
quitea different
positiondespitea certainsimilarity
thatalthough
hardevidenceforOttoman
identification
as ghdzisin theearly
thinand can be arguedaway,expansionof thefieldof
yearsis extremely
as a whole bringsout an
inquiryto the westernAnatolianprincipalities
entirepost-Saljfiq
tradition
andliterature
ofghdziactivity.
(10) Late twelfthandthirteenth-century
Turkishleadersroutinely
considered
tobe
themselves
and used thetitleof ghdzt,and wereceleengagedin ghazd,weregranted
bratedas suchin songand storyas well as inscriptions
and letters.
In that
theOttomansmaybe regardedas havingalmostbeenrequiredto
context,
iftheywereto attract
engagein ghdztwarfare
supportfortheirexpansion.
But whatdid thetermghizi'meanto thosewho used it?Theyconsidered
Osmanlh
(8) Colin Imber,"Paul Wittek's'De la d6faited'Ankara la prise de Constantinople',"
5 (1986): 65-81; "The OttomanDynasticMyth,"Turcica19 (1987): 7-27; "The Legendof
Arastlrmalanr
OsmanGazi,"in TheOttoman
Emirate(1300-1389),ed. ElizabethZachariadou(Rethymnon:
CreteUniverin Studiesin OttomanHistoryand Law (Istanbul:Isis Press,1996; citations
sityPress,1993); all reprinted
arefromthisedition);"CanonandApocrypha
in EarlyOttomanHistory,"
in Studiesin Ottoman
Historyin
HonourofProfessorV. L. Manage,117-38;TheOttoman
Empire,1300-1481(Istanbul:Isis Press,1990).
(9) Colin Imber,Ebu's-su'ud:The IslamicLegal Tradition(Edinburgh:
Press,
Edinburgh
University
1997),p. 73; idem,"Paul Wittek's'De la d6faited'Ankara',"
pp. 294-301;idem,"The OttomanDynastic
Myth,"pp. 305-9.
State(Berkeley:University
(10) CemalKafadar,BetweenTwoWorlds:TheConstruction
oftheOttoman
of CaliforniaPress,1995). The need to expandthecontextin whichOttomanoriginsare consideredwas
andWittekalreadyin theearlytwentieth
butinsteadof broadening,
since
pointedoutby Kopruilii
century,
thattimethecontexthas drastically
narrowed
Rise,pp. 17-19).
(Kiprtilii,Origins,pp. 89-90;Wittek,
136
CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT
themselves
good Muslims,notholdersof tribalbeliefsoutsidetheIslamic
as holywarin anypurist
mainstream,
yettheydidnotsee theirghiztactivity
sense.Ghazdwas notjihddanddidnotadheretojihdd'slegalnorms;rather,
in whichpeopleofanyfaithororigincouldjoin,thoughit
itwas an activity
benefitted
theIslamicstateas well as thewarriorsthemselves.
Anatolian
centuries
the
of
the
twelfth
and
thirteenth
depictghdziwarriors,
epicpoems
mainagentsofconquest,as livingforbattleandbooty,gloryandgirls.The
withnonforIslamdidnotprecludecooperation
andintermarriage
struggle
or this-worldly
motivations;
Muslims,religioussyncretism,
ghazd was
inclusiveratherthanexclusive,aimingat theattachment
of newterritories
andnewadherents
meansprovedsuccessful,
whether
violentor
bywhatever
chronicles
written
members
of the
pacific.("11)Fifteenth-century
mainlyby
in
the
warfare
of
the
more
exclusive
reinterpreted
early
days
'ulamd'
ghdiizt
termsas holywarforthefaithpursuedbynomadsuncorrupted
bycivilization. This reinterpretation
was addressedto fifteenth-century
problems:
explainingTimfir's
breakupof theempireby theloss of an originalMuslim/tribal
the reconstituted
purity,legitimizing
post-Timurid
empireby
itsrulerswithCentralAsiannomadicroyalty,
orcriticizing
theimpelinking
rialrecruitment
and taxationpoliciesof MehmedtheConqueror.Tensions
betweenthesesourcesreflecttensionsin Ottomansocietybetweengroups
forthespoilsandcreditofconquest,andthatcontention
became
contending
a significant
aspectofOttomanexperience.
to
AlthoughKafadarcriticizedviews expressedin the introduction
Imber'sminimalist
(12) he didnotuse theampleevidencein Imber's
history,
hisownconstruction
oftheOttomans'
textwhichsupports
ghdziexperience.
His call for an expansionof the contextin which the early Ottoman
didnotgo beyondthestrictly
Turkishfield;
conquestsshouldbe considered
itdidnotincludea consideration
inparticular,
oftheOttomans'
non-Turkish
allies or enemies,despitean interesting
analysisof borderepics and the
of borderwarfare.
conditions
scholars,however,
Accordingto borderlands
one defining
characteristic
of bordersocietyis thatthegroupsfacingeach
otheracrossthebordertendtoresembleeachothermorestrongly
thanthey
do thehinterland
societiesof whichtheyare theextensions.(13) A consioftheotherarmiesinthefieldis thusnotirrelevant.
deration
nar(14)Imber's
evidencethatthecontextin
rative,likeearlierhistories,
providesabundant
(11) As Halil Inalcik had earlier stated, "Holy War was intended not to destroybut to subdue the infidel
world" and to redirectits profitstoward the Muslims (The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600,
trans.Norman Itzkowitz and Colin Imber [London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973; rpt.New Rochelle, NY:
Caratzas, 1990; rpt.London: Phoenix/OrionBooks Ltd., 1994], p. 7).
(12) Kafadar, Between Two Worlds, p. 164, n. 31; see Imber, The Ottoman Empire, pp. 12-13.
(13) Oscar Martinez, Border People (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994), pp. 18-20; Michael
Baud and Willem van Schendel, "Toward a Comparative History of Borderlands," Journal of World History
8 (1997): 216, 221-22. Wittek made this point earlier (Rise, pp. 18, 20).
(14) Comparison of the Normans and the Turks in the medieval Mediterraneanbrings out some startling
similarities; see Michel Balivet, "Normands et Turcs en M6diterran6e m6di6vale: Deux adversaires 'sym6triques'?" Turcica 30 (1998): 309-29.
137
LINDA T. DARLING
whichtheOttomansestablishedtheirstatewas thatof thelaterCrusades.

The impactof theCrusades,although
it did notalterthelegal definition
of
affected
thecultureoftheeasternMediterranean,
jihdd,strongly
generating
a twelfth-century
theoriginalMuslimconquests
literature
thatromanticized
as a Muslimholycity.(15)Subsequenteventstarand theroleofJerusalem
nishedthisauraofholywar,andbythefourteenth
itexistedonlyin
century
to be drawnuponforotherpurposes.A Muslimcommentator
of
memory,
theearlytwelfth
theCrusadeofhistime
couldconvincingly
century
portray
as ajihdd, (16) buttheCrusaderattackon Christian
in 1204,
Constantinople
warfare
on theMuslimside,madeholywara morecomlikeSunni-Isma'fli
plexconceptforlaterparticipants.
The Ottoman
conqueststookplace in a lullbetweentwomajorcrusading
mountedfora varietyof less
phases,duringa periodof minorexpeditions
warofreligiousideologytolegitimize
motives.(17) The deployment
worthy
fareand territorial
acquisitionhad become a standardtacticamongthe
and Muslim,of thethirteenthpeoplesof themanysmallstates,Christian
the
theFrankish
Balkansandwestern
Crusaders,
Anatolia,including
century
Venetians,Serbs,Bulgariansand Catalans,the Byzantines,and several
booty,and power,all of theabove
groupsof Turks.In pursuitof territory,
werepreparedto attackco-religionists,
ally withformerenemies,or hire
warriorsfromany background
at all. (18) The Ottomans'emergencetook
as well as Muslimsengagedin warplace in a contextin whichChristians
fareoftenmotivated
and,as Kafadarputit,
by greed,self-aggrandizement,
for"ourteam,"butlegitimated
victory
bycalls tofaithandholywar.Thisis
forthefaithon eitherside,but
notto saythattherewereno sincerewarriors
ofmotiveimpliedbytermslike"the
is
thattheuniformity
ghlzis" illusory.
ofWar,"in JustWarand Jihad:Historical
(15) FredM. Donner,"TheSourcesofIslamicConceptions
on Warand Peace on Western
and IslamicTraditions,
ed. JohnKelsayand
and Theoretical
Perspectives
JamesTurnerJohnson
(New York:GreenwoodPress,1991),pp. 53-54; Hadia Dajani-Shakeel,"Al-Quds:
inTheMeetingofTwoWorlds:CulturalExchange
Jerusalem
intheConsciousness
oftheCounter-Crusader,"
BornVerzSir
betweenEast and WestduringthePeriodoftheCrusades,ed. ValdimirP. Goss andChristine
stein,Studiesin MedievalCulture,21 (Kalamazoo:MedievalInstitute
Publications,
1986),pp. 201-21;see
musulmans
aux
also EmmanuelSivan,L'Islamet la croisade:Idiologie et propagandedans les rdactions
etd'Orient,
croisades(Paris:Libraired'Amerique
1969).
al-Jihad(1105); citedby RobertIrwin,"Islamand theCrusades,
(16) 'Ali b. Tahiral-Sfilam"i,
Kitdcb
1096-1699,"in The OxfordIllustrated
(Oxford:Oxford
HistoryoftheCrusades,ed. Jonathan
Riley-Smith
Press,1995),p. 225.
University
(17) Aziz SuryalAtiya,TheCrusadein theLaterMiddleAges(London:Methuen,1938),p. 282.
Societiesand Crusadingin theLate MiddleAges,"
(18) For examplessee NormanHousley,"Frontier
HistoricalReview10 (1995): 107-8;ElizabethZachariadou,"HolyWarintheAegeanduring
Mediterranean
inLatinsand GreeksintheEasternMediterranean
theFourteenth
after1204(London:FrankCass,
Century,"
inAnatolia,Byzantium,
and
1989),p. 214; Halil Inalcik,"TheRise oftheTurcomanMaritime
Principalities
9 (1985): 179-211;rpt.in TheMiddleEast and theBalkansunder
theCrusades,"Byzantinische
Forschungen
IndianaUniversity
TurkishStudies,
theOttomanEmpire:Essays on Economyand Society(Bloomington:
andwestern
ofMuslim,Byzantine,
1993),pp. 312-13.The intermingling
Europeanpeoplesandstatesin the
easternMediterranean
emergesvividlyfromJ.M. Hussey,"TheLaterMacedonians,theComneniand the
CamMedievalHistory,
ed. J.M. Hussey,vol. 4, pt. 1 (Cambridge:
Angeli,1025-1204,"in TheCambridge
Press),1966),pp. 232-39.
bridgeUniversity
138
We cannotsay thattheOttomanswerenotghcdzs,anymorethanthatthe
FourthCrusadewas nota crusade,butwe cannotassumethatghazi meant
thesamethingto all participants.
The battlesandmaneuverings
oftheCrusades arefamiliar
butcloserstudyofthecultureof crusading
warground,
farein theeasternMediterranean
in thelatethirteenth
and earlyfourteenth
centuries
Ottomanoriginsconsiderably.
mightilluminate
The borderepics studiedby Kafadarsuggestanotherexpansionof the
contextin whichghazdshouldbe interpreted,
thatis, an expansionof the
timescale. The warfaredepictedin theseepics is usuallynotgrandbattles
butdesultory
frontier
close andoftenfriendly
interactions
raidinginvolving
with"enemy"warriors
andmuchborder-crossing
indiby theprotagonists,
of a cross-border
cationsof thedevelopment
societyovera longperiodof
time.The Byzantinefrontier,
as we know,had been a featureof Islamic
anditis unlikely
thatthecustomsandtrasocietyalmostsinceitsbeginning,
ditionsoftheborderwerecompletely
overturned
bytheSaljfiqinvasions.In
of epic tales and themesfromArabicthrough
Persian
fact,thecirculation
and Turkishliteratures
indicatesa highlevel of continuity
in attitudes
and
Thisshouldnotbe surprising,
sinceevena cursory
examination
of
practices.
thefrontiers
in thetenthto twelfth
centuries
a highlevel of
demonstrates
in personnel,
notonlyovertimebutoverspace,as ghazismoved
continuity
fromone Islamicfrontier
to another.
mustbe
Thus,Ottomanghdziactivity
in the contextof the historyof ghaza in the largerIslamic
investigated
world.Kafadarpointsto the need forsuch an expansionof the context
butconfineshimselfstrictly
to Turkishsources.Materialforsucha quest,
however,can be gleanedfromsourcesquestionedby Kafadarfortheir
Turkishbackground
alone.
Two typesof sourcesusedby Kafadar,frontier
narratives
andcatechetical works,circulatedin late Saljiq-earlyOttomantimesbutembodiedthe
in theformsof epic poetry
of an earlierera.Frontier
traditions
narratives,
and hagiography,
containelementstraceableto earlierfrontier
epics and
saints'tales in Arabic and Persian(e.g., the Abamuslimndma,
exploits
to AbfiMuslim,the'Abbisid-propagandist-turned-folk-hero
attributed
on
theCentralAsian frontier,
and theBattdlnama,
thestoryof SayyidBattal
frontier
warfare).
(19) Such
Arab/Byzantine
Ghizi,a heroofseventh-century
of conceptsand
narratives
indicatethepresenceon theOttomanfrontier
and conveyedthrough
approachesdevelopedin thosedistantsettings
song
and story.These poemscloselyresembleepic poetryfromotherfrontier
milieux,suchas thepoemsoftheByzantineDigenisAkritesor theSpanish
oforaltransmission
andre-creation
Cid,andtheyhada longhistory
bystothe
warriors
themselvesbeforebeingstabilizedin
rytellers
ghazi
among
form.In themghazBis portrayed
as an ongoingactivity
written
of raiding
Abi-Muslim,Le 'porte-hache'du Khorassandans la traditiondpiqueturco(19) Irene M61ikoff,
iranienne(Paris: A. Maisonneuve,1962); idem,ed., La geste de MelikDanigmend,2 vols. (Paris: A.
Maisonneuve,1960).
139
LINDAT. DARLING
and small-scaleconqueststarring
individuals
whosepersonalqualitiesand
arethefocusofattention;
experiences
religiousloyaltiesaremoreimportant
thanreligiousbeliefs,and ethical,honorable,
courageousbehavioris more
importantstill. (20)
is ofa verydifferent
The secondtypeofworkhavingearlierantecedents
nature:thecatechism
('ilm-ihal)orarticlesoffaith(aqd'id),givingrulesfor
of ghazi and
religiousbehavior,in some instancesincludingdefinitions
jihid andrulesforbehavioron ghaza. (21) Producedby "ulam8'forthepurthistypeof textalso has a longhistory,
as exemplified
pose of instruction,
Anatoliancatechism
bytheresearchofSinasiTekinon a fourteenth-century
a sectionon therulesofghazd,as opposedtojihid ingeneral.(22)
containing
The oldestTurkishantecedent
Tekinfoundforhis Anatoliantextwas a
of a tenth-century
catechismby thefamoustheologianAbfialtranslation
even
Laythal-Samarqandi(d. 983); therulesthemselvesare presumably
older. Samarqandi'stextprovedso popularthatit circulatedwidelyin
Arabic,Persian,and Turkishversions.(23) Tekin notesthatanothertext
inthetwelfth
cenwritten
therulesofghazd,a Persiancatechism
containing
also appearedin severalearlyAnatolian
turybyanother
Samarqandiauthor,
centuries
AnaTurkishtranslations,
andthatin thefourteenth
and fifteenth
tolianTurkish'ulamd'suchas Molla Hiisrevcomposedsimilartextsoftheir
ofinsown.ThepresenceofthesetextsinAnatoliaimplieseithera tradition
in therulesofghazi emanating
fromtheCentralAsianfrontier
and
truction
or a migration
of
transferred
to theAnatolianfrontier
by literate
migrants,
fromSamarqandtoAnatolia,wheretheyengagedinthecodifiintellectuals
cationof theghazd.These worksmake a distinction
betweenghazi and
jihdd: in themjih&d,a dutyincumbent
uponall Muslims,refersto defense
of Muslimcitiesagainstinvasionby "infidel"armies,whileghazi, a duty
thatmaybe discharged
by a sufficient
portionof theMuslimcommunity,
refersto invasionof "infidel"
landsbyMuslimsauthorized
bythecaliphor
to defenseof far-distant
of
Muslim
The
rulesin them(24)
parts
territory.
selvesstrongly
to imposea modicumof controlovera
suggestan attempt
chaoticsituation;
theyseekto regulatethemakingofwar,peace,andtruce,
(20) Kafadar,BetweenTwo Worlds,
pp. 62-77.
(21) Ibid.,p. 64.
(22) Sinasi Tekin,"XIV iinciiYiizyllaait birilm-iHal: Risileti'l-Islam,"WienerZeitschrift
far die
Kundedes Morgenlandes76 (1986): 279-92; idem,"XIV. YiizylldaYazllmlqGazilikTarikasl'Gaziligin
Metnive Gazi/CihadKavramlarl
Yollar' AdllbirEskiAnadoluTiirkgesi
JournalofTurkish
StuHakklnda,"
dies 13 (1989): 139-204.
Kavramlarl
Hakkmnda,"
(23) Tekin,"GazW/Cihad
p. 139 andn. 3.
"infidel"
wheretheapplicablerulesare
(24) In theseworksAnatoliaappearstobe stillconsidered
territory
thoseofghazt(ibid.,p. 143;see also ClaudeCahen,"La premibre
[second
p6ntration
turqueen Asie-mineure
et OriensChristianus
moiti6du XIe s.]," Byzantion18 [1946-48]:64-65; rpt.in Turcobyzantina
[London:
Variorum
a
to
of
the
that
For
list
of
considered
be
and
what
Diral-Islaim
1974],I).
Reprints,
"provinces"
part
statusinvolved,
see Fadl-Allah
b. RiizbihinIsfahini,
MuslimConductofState,basedupontheSulik-ul-Mulak,
trans.
Aslam(Lahore,University
ofIslamPress,1974),p. 459. Likemostworksonjihad,thiswork
Muhammad
anddefensive
butwithout
betweenoffensive
warfare,
distinguishes
usingthetermghazd(p. 464).
140
thedivisionofbootyandtheconsumption
ofperishables,
thecommission
of
orsubthesale ofarmsto theenemy,andtheofferofconversion
atrocities,
missionto thoseaboutto be attacked.
The circulation
of thesetwoverydifferent
typesofworkson theAnatorevealsthe existenceof divergent
interests
and worldviews
lian frontier
withinthebordercontext.(25) Whilefrontier
works
epics and catechetical
ofghazi, theyembodiedvastly
ostensibly
operatedfromthesamedefinition
individualheroismthattookadvandifferent
impulses.The epic celebrated
ofbordersocietytomakefriends,
and
converts,
tageoftheboundarylessness
and
enemy,extolledthebondsofcomradeship
marriages
amongtheputative
the acquisitionand generousdisposalof personalwealth,and in general
embodiedtheromanticand individualistic
aspectsof borderwarfare.The
on theotherhand,soughtpreciselyto setcontrols
on thefluidity
catechism,
of bordersociety,to imposeboundaries
betweenwarriors
identified
primaand to interpose
thestate
rilyas Muslimsand theirunbelieving
opponents,
anditsdemandsintothecollectionofwealthandthedisposition
ofthespoils
andbetweenthe
ofcampaign.The tensionbetweenthesepowerful
interests,
borderwarriors
and 'ulamd'whoembodiedthem,is farolderthantheOttoin thefirstcentury
manstate;thekillingof thecaliph'Uthm&n
of thehijra
(26)Kafadarnoted
alreadyinvolveda conflictbetweenthesame interests.
thistensionin theOttomanchroniclesof thelate fifteenth
which
century,
to reinterpret
Ottomanoriginsto suitthedemandsof contending
attempted
itappearsalreadyin theprocess
forcesinpost-1453society.Here,however,
ofcomposition
oftheearlyAnatoliansourceson ghazd.
sourceswere not written
down in Turkish
Althoughthesecontrasting
untilthefourteenth
or later,theircirculation
in written
Persianand,
century
we maypresume,oralTurkishversionsduringtheformative
periodof the
of thestate.
Ottomanstatepointsto a tensionlyingat theveryfoundations
oftribalor sedenRatherthanbeinga creationoftheghdzisorthe"ulamd',
of theGreeksor theTurks,theOttomanstatewas a
tarysocialformations,
ofthecoincidenceanddivergence
oftheinterests
ofall thesegroups
product
andmore.Atheart,thenascentOttomanstatein Anatoliawas contested
terIn placeofassessingthesuccessorfailureofthestatebyitscloseness
ritory.
to or distancefroman originalessenceof whatevernature,we can better
conceptualizeOttomanoriginsand subsequentups and downsin termsof
interests
andthebalanceofpowers.Thisis not
conflict
anditsmanagement,
forOttomanists,
as a consideration
ofthehistoriography
on
a newprocedure
role(Wittek,
Rise,
(25) Wittekand Imberbothnoticedthistensionbutdid notaccordit anyformative
pp. 294-95; idem,"The OttomanDynasticMyth,
p. 18; Imber,"Paul Wittek's'De la d6faited'Ankara',"
of approachreflected
theseparatesocial spheresin
p. 306); forKopriilii(as forKafadar)thedifferences
andheterodox
whichtheywereexpressed,
andhe drewattention
Sofi
onlyto thetensionbetweenorthodox
orders(Kdpriilii,
Origins,pp. 88-98,103-6).
al-Tabari,TheHistoryofal-Tabar, vol. 15: TheCrisisoftheEarly
(26) AbfiJa'farMuhammadb. Jarir
ofNew YorkPress,1990),pp. 221-22.
Caliphate,trans.R. StephenHumphreys
(Albany:StateUniversity
141
LINDAT. DARLING
would
theTanzimator on MehmedII's reforms
in thelatefifteenth
century
show,butit needsto be appliedto thequestionof thenatureof theearly
andgroupscompeted
Ottomanstate.Withrespectto theghazd,individuals
itsrole,andreapitsrewards.
fortherighttodefineitsparameters,
determine
of
all had a stakein theprosecution
Rulers,"ulam8',and borderwarriors
evenatodds.Othergroups
sometimes
ghazd,buttheirstakesweredifferent,
orpeasants,perhaps)couldbe seenas havinga stakeinthelimi(Christians
tationor elimination
ofghaziactivity.
The verymeaningofghaza mustbe
seenas contested
betweenconquerors
whoperhapswantedto acquirereliandpower,"ulamd'whopergioussanctionandprestige
alongwithterritory
relihapswantedtobringtheconquestsunderreligiouscontrolandestablish
saintswhoperhapswantedto spreadtheirfaithor liveup
giousinstitutions,
injustification
to itsdemands,andsoldierswhowereperhapsnotinterested
orfaithbutin bootyandglory.
ororganization
This bringsus to a thirdinterest
frontier,
operativeon thepre-Ottoman
thatofthedistant
central
butclaiming
state,locatedinthehinterland
authority
in theborderland.
centralstates"attempting
to
The identity
of the"distant
variedovertime,but
controland directtheactivity
of thefrontier
warriors
and capabilities,
or lack thereof,
also helpedshapethefinal
theirinterests
Ottomanproduct.Amongthetypesof sourcesexaminedso far,thecentral
in a textcontaining
thesamerulesofghazdas thecatestateis represented
Bahr al-Favi'id, citedby
chismsbutin a different
genre.The anonymous
is a mirror
for
Tekinas an antecedent
forthefourteenth-century
catechisms,
princesproducedin Aleppo around1160 underNfr al-D"inZang"i(11461174),a ghdztand fighter
againsttheCrusaders.(27) The book was comofexistingsources,including
bothmanualsofreligious
piledfroma variety
oftheporforprinces.In fact,theresemblance
practiceandearliermirrors
worksdiscustionon ghaz8tothecorresponding
sectionofthecatechetical
thespeculation
thatSamarqandi's
textwas amongthose
sed aboveprompts
availabletoitsauthorinthewestern
century.
Saljfiqlandsinthemid-twelfth
But in additionto therulesof ghaz8,thebookincludesadviceto kingsto
and dispense
pray,consultthe'ulamd',protecttheirdomainsand treasury,
tradifromthePerso-Islamic
justicein opencourt;thesevalues,stemming
tionof theGreatSaljfiqsof Iraq and Iran,are enforced
by storiesof pious
menand rulesforroyalgrants,
thelivesof caliphsand thewondersof the
world.(28) The text,despiteits dependenceon thecatechisms,
depictsa
inwhichghazdis onlyoneamongseveralwaysinwhichtheroyal
viewpoint
timeandtreasure
mightbe spent.
member
ofthe"ulamd',
The authorofthisbookwas an anonymous
quite
possiblyone of thosewhomNfiral-D'inbroughtin fromPersia and the
east to stafftheSunnfschoolsand courtshe builtin Syriain thetwelfth
and
(27) The Sea of Precious Virtues (Bahr al-Favt'id): A Medieval Islamic Mirrorfor Princes,
trans,
ed. Julie Scott Meisami (Salt Lake City: Universityof Utah Press, 1991); rules of ghazd on pp. 27-32.
(28) Ibid., pp. 147, 215, 299, 301, 324.
142
forprinceswritten
forSal(29)His workwas amongseveralmirrors
century.
and
rulers
in
the
of
wake
al-Ghazili's
contemporary
Nasthat
jiq
al-Mulak,
worksthatsoughtto reconcilethe Perso-Arabictradition
of statewith
Islamicnormsmorefullythanin earlierperiodswhentheyhad beenregardedas alternatives.
Ratherthanchoosingbetweentherolesofroyalautocrat,
aficionado,
justjudge,cultured
piousdevotee,andzealousgh&zi,rulersnow
triedto combinethem,an endeavorthatgainedpoignancyaftertheend of
the caliphate.If the borderepics and hagiographies
placed the personal
rewardsofghazd(material
orspiritual)
aboveitscommunal
andthe
benefits,
catechetical
workstriedto harnessindividualheroismby theconstraints
of
forprincessoughtto deploytheapprovalobtainedthrough
law,themirrors
andgloryoftherulerandthestate.
ghazdto enhancethelegitimacy
In Anatolia,
a number
ofbooksofadvicetokingswerewritten
byrefugees
fromtheeastwhofledfromtheSaljiq breakup
andtheMongolinvasions
and
to theRim Saljiq courtin theearly-to-mid
thirteenth
men
migrated
century,
suchas thesecretary
Yahy&b. S&'adb. Ahmad,theStfiNajmal-DinRizi,and
the "dlimSirij al-Din Urmawi.(30)These authors,
withothersof
together
well as artists,
orthodox
and
architects,
easternorigin--as
poets,andmystics
themostfamousofwhomis ofcourseJalalal-DinRfimi--created
antinomian,
an Anatolian
Turkish
culture
thathadcloseconnections
withthatofnorthern
andnortheastern
Iran.Theroutefromtheeast,moreopenthanthesouthward
roadto Syriawhichwas closedbytheCrusaders,
had beentraversed
by the
andbeforethatbyghdzisfromtheCentralAsianfrontier.
Saljiiqsthemselves,
The workofeasternrefugees
andmigrants
thesuggestion
of the
strengthens
worksthata prominent
sourceforthirteenth
andfourepicsandcatechetical
Anatolian
ideasaboutghazawas theIranianfrontier
ofan earteenth-century
lierperiod.An investigation
ofthatregionis thusin order.
In contrast
totherelatively
staticArab/Byzantine
theIranian/Cenfrontier,
tralAsianfrontier
in theearlycenturies
was a creativematrix
forthewhole
Islamicworld.It was, of course,thehotbedof the'Abbfsidrevolution
and
thehomeof mostof thosewho shapedthatdynasty's
outlookand policies,
members
ofthedynasty
itsmostimporitself,suchas al-Ma'mfin,
including
tantservants,
suchas theBarmidkids,
and thetroopsthatwereitsmainstay,
bothKhurfsanians
andTurks.The northeastern
frontier
was also thehomeof
and it was therethatthelinkbetweentheSilfisand the
developingSOifism,
Nurad-Din: ungrandprincemusulman
de Syrieau tempsdes Croisades(511-569
(29) NikitaElissdeff,
3 vols.(Damascus:Institut
h./1118-1174),
Frangaisde Damas, 1967),2:461-62; citedinSea ofPreciousVirsee NikitaEliss6eff,
tues;p. x and n. 27. For Niiral-Din'sconstructions
de Niirad-Din,"
"Les monuments
BulletindEtudesOrientales13 (1949-51):5-43;idem,"La titulature
de NOir
ad-Dind'apris
ses inscriptions,"
Bulletin
Orientales14 (1952-54): 155-96.
d'Etudes
(30) C.-H. de Fouch6cour,"Haddtyeq
al-Siyar,un Miroirdes Princesde la cour de Qonya au VIIXIII sidcle,"StudiaIranica 1 (1972): 219-28;Najmal-DinRazi, ThePathofGod's Bondsmen
fromOrigin
to Return,trans.HamidAlgar(Delmar,NY: CaravanBooks, 1982); on Urmawisee Ann K. S. Lambton,
of
andInjusticefromthe5th/lIthCentury
tothe8th/14th
inPersia:The
"Changing
Concepts Justice
Century
StudiaIslamica68 (1988): 27-60;Louise Marlow,"Kings,Prophets
and
Saljuq Empireand theIlkhanate,"
the Ulama' in MediaevalIslamicAdviceLiterature,"
StudiaIslamica81 (1995): 101-20.
143
LINDA T. DARLING
sourcesaretoofewto shedlightonthe
ghaziswas forged,
although
surviving
mainoppotheMuslimwarriors'
centuries,
process.(31) In theeighthtotenth
nentswerethepaganTurksof thesteppe,butTurksalso livedwithinthe
bothas
on theIslamicsideinincreasing
Islamicfrontier
andfought
numbers,
oftheUmayyad,
members
warriors
andas official
'Abbfsid,and
independent
werecooks).
Samanidarmies(somewereofnoblestatus;others,
interestingly,
In theprocessmanybecameMuslimsand someachievedhighoffice.(32) In
of theregionghazisappearas volunteers
thechronicles
(10,000,20,000,or
Samanidand Ghaznavidarmieson cam30,000in number)accompanying
as defenders
of citiessuchas Samarqand
paignsagainstpaganopponents,
and Bukhirain theabsenceof government
troops,and as robberor rebel
was modeledon thatofnomadicwarbands.(33) The styleofborderwarfare
battlesand
thanset-piece
andraidsrather
fare,whosetacticswereincursions
of Ghdziwas givento numerous
territorial
(34) The title
princes
occupation.
Samarofghdziexpeditions.
andgeneralsin command
(35) Atthesametime,
slavemarket,
commercial
center,
papermanufacturing
qandwas an important
andsomeghazismaywellhaveengagedat
andhomeof scholarship,
center,
timesin occupations
otherthanfighting.
(36)
of OklahomaPress,
(Norman:University
(31) RichardN. Frye,Bukhara:TheMedievalAchievement
thattheribats
or frontier
fortresses
exchanged
1965),pp. 115-17.It musthave been in thetenthcentury
oftheribats
was
thecommunalSfifism
character
fora religiousone. In theeleventhcentury,
theirmilitary
On theconquestand IslamizationofCenshaykhs(EI2, s.v. "Saldjfikids").
by
spreadwestward
Khurasmni
in AspectsofAltaic
tralAsia see Devin DeWeese, "YasavianLegendson theIslamizationof Turkistan,"
CivilizationIII, ed. Denis Sinor (Bloomington:Research Institutefor Inner Asian Studies, 1990),
pp. 1-19.
Studies2 (1978): 85-96;Richard
(32) DanielPipes,"TurksinEarlyMuslimService,"JournalofTurkish
attheTimeoftheArabConquest,"MusN. FryewithA. M. Sayili,"TheTurksin KhurasanandTransoxania
limWorld35 (1945): 308-15;rpt.in RichardN. Frye,IslamicIran and CentralAsia (7th-12th
Centuries)
(London:Variorum
1979),XIII; FukuzoAmabe,TheEmergenceofthe "Abbasid
Autocracy:The
Reprints,
'AbbasidArmy,Khurdsdnand Adharbayjdn
Press,1995), pp. 130-33.Inalcik
(Kyoto:KyotoUniversity
onthesubsequent
oftheAnatolianTurks:HalilInalofthisbackground
development
pointsouttheinfluence
cik,"Islamin theOttomanEmpire,"CulturaTurcica5-7 (1968-70): 19-29;rpt.in Essaysin OttomanHistory(Istanbul:Eren,1998),pp. 229-45.
DowntotheMonTurkestan
toBayhaqi,Ibnal-Athir,
andGardizi,citedinW. Barthold,
(33) According
of the
gol Invasion,3rded. (London:Luzac, 1968),pp. 215, 242, 287, 295, 345. For a similardescription
ghdzisof Sicilysee RobertS. Lopez, "TheNormanConquestof Sicily,"in A HistoryoftheCrusades,ed.
of WisconsinPress,1969-),1: 58-61.BothKipriiliuand
KennethM. Setton,6 vols. (Madison:University
or corporations,
mass of gh&zisbut of ghaziorganizations
Wittekspeak notjust of an undifferentiated
organizations,
topicsthatareoutsidethescopeofthispaper.Members
linkingthemwithakhisandfutawwa
andintheabsence
otherthanwarfare
full-time
oftheseorganizations,
ghdzis,possessedno meansofsupport
orbandits(Kiprtilii,Origins,p. 89) or,in an urbansetting,
ofghaziraidingbecamemercenaries
ayydrs(C.
BSOAS 31 [1968]: 538; rpt.in idem,TheMedievalHistoryof
E. Bosworth,
"TheArmiesof theSaffarids,"
and CentralAsia [London:Variorum
Iran,Afghanistan
1977],XVII).
Reprints,
inA HistoryoftheCrusades,ed. Setton,1:
(34) ClaudeCahen,"TheTurkishInvasion:The Selchtikids,"
138.
calledaloftheSaljQiqdynasty,
whomlaterhistorians
founder
(35) ThisincludedSaljfiq,theeponymous
and the
Malik al-Ghazi(IbrahimKafesoglu,A Historyof theSeljuks:IbrahimKafesoglu'sInterpretation
IllinoisUniversity
trans.GaryLeiser[Carbondale:Southern
Press,1988],p. 25 and
Resulting
Controversy,
n. 55).
Barthold,
Turkestan,
(36) EI2, s.v. "Samarkand;"
pp. 237, 256.
144
of thedistant'Abbasidstate
On theCentralAsianfrontier,
theinterests
wererepresented
by theSaminids(874-999). Theywerein chargeof the
ghazd,buttheircourtalso became,as we know,thecenterforthedevelopmentofPerso-Islamic
culture.
The mostoutstanding
productofthatculture,
Firdawsf'sShadhndma,
is preciselya storyof tensionbetweenthecentral
stateandthewarrior
to the
hero,a themethatmusthavebeenquitefamiliar
influential
region'srulersand warriors.(37) Abfial-Laythal-Samarqandf's
the'ulamd"sattempt
tocontainthepractices
ofghdzi
catechism,
embodying
warfarewithina legal framework,
had appearednotlongearlier.We thus
of interests
findthesameconstellation
thatwerepresentin Anatoliareprein thetenthcentury.
sentedon theCentralAsian frontier
At thatmoment,
thisfrontier
was on thepointof closing,as theconversion
of mostof the
steppeTurksto Islamhad causedtheghdzisto lose theiremployment
(perhaps explainingtheirappearanceas robbers).The Saminidsbeganto send
and about the same time the
expeditionssouthwardinto Afghanistan,
broke
the
northwest
frontier,
Byzantines
through
takingAleppo,Tarsus,and
Antiochduringthe960s. (38) In thesecondhalfofthetenthcentury,
ghdzis
leftCentralAsia in largenumbers
tojoin thefighting
in thesouthandwest.
We havereports
of thehavoccausedin Rayyas ghdzisheadingforAnatoin 966. (39) Soon afterward,
in the
lia passed through
Saminid territories
northeast
weretakenoverby theMuslimKarakhinidsfromtheeast,and
in Transoxiana.
therewas no longera frontier
The sponsorship
of ghazd into India by the TurkishGhaznavidsof
SeveralGhaz(999-1161)attracted
Afghanistan
manyghazisfromthenorth.
navidrulersborethetitleof Ghaz, as did someof theGhilridrulerswho
succeededthem.(40)It is unclearhowthistitlewas bestowedorbywhom;in
latertimesitwas either
conferred
bythe'ulamd'on theleaderofan officially
or
forraidsintonon-Muslim
self-awarded
proclaimed
territory.
(41) The
ghazd
(37) See Dick Davis, Epic and Sedition: The Case of Ferdowsi's Shdhndmeh(Fayetteville: Universityof
Arkansas Press, 1992), p. 20.
(38) For details see Mark Whittow, The Making of Byzantium,600-1025 (Berkeley: Universityof California Press, 1996), pp. 310-37.
(39) CliffordE. Bosworth, "Military Organisation under the Biyids of Persia and Iraq," Oriens 18-19
(1965-66): 157, fromthe chroniclers Miskawayh and Ibn al-Jawzi. The Bfiyids,regardingthese ghdzis as a
Samanid invasion, defeated them and threwthem out (idem, The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan
and Eastern Iran, 994-1040 [Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1963; 2nd ed. Beirut: Librairie du
Liban, 1973], p. 167). Similar troubles arose in Baghdad in 971-72, according to Ibn al-Athir,instigatedby
people arriving"fromeverywhere" in response to a call forghazd (Kiprtilii, Origins, p. 90).
(40) Bosworth, The Ghaznavids, pp. 33, 114; the thirdsultan Mas' id (1030-1041) had plans to wage holy
war in Anatolia as well as India (Bayhaqi, cited in Bosworth, "The Imperial Policy of the Early Ghaznavids,"
Islamic Studies 1 [1962]: 57, 73; rpt. in idem, The Medieval History of Iran, Afghanistanand Central Asia
[London: Variorum Reprints, 1977], XI); see also 'Abdu-l-Q~dir ibn-i-MulfikShih al-Badioni, Muntakhabut-Tawarikh,vol. 1, trans. George S. A. Ranking (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1848; rpt.Patna: Academica Asiatica, 1973), pp. 64, 74-75.
(41) Hamd Allih Mustawfi Qazwini, The Ta'rikh-i-Guzida or "Select History", abridged trans. Edward
G. Browne (Leiden: E. J. Brill; London: Luzac, 1913), p. 161; Babur Mirza, "Baburnama," in A Centuryof
Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, trans. W. M. Thackston (Cambridge: Aga Khan Program for
Islamic Architecture,1989), p. 250.
145
LINDA T. DARLING
ghazi activityof the Ghaznavidsand Ghfiridsis knownmainlyfrom

in contemporary
references
andlaterchronicles,
buttoa largeextentitmust
have continuedtheghazi traditions
of the CentralAsian frontier,
just as
of its
Ghaznavidimperialgovernment
maintained
theSamanidtraditions
of theghazi ideologycan be seen in the Chahar
origin.The importance
whichputghazivalorbeforejustice
Maqala byNizamiArficiSamarqandi,
andorderin thepraisesof theGhfirid
princeto whomitwas addressed.(42)
tothehistory
of 'Utbi,theGhaznavidghazaentailedthesubmisAccording
sion of non-Muslims
to Muslimrule,theincorporation
of theirterritories
ofidolatry
intothelandsof Islam,andtheofficialrenunciation
by conquebutmassconversion
was nota central
issueevenforIndiantroops
redrulers,
servingin theGhaznavidarmies.(43) Besides theGhaznavids'own slave
troops,thearmyincluded"varioustribesofTurks,Khiljis,andHindusand
andtheGozz (sic) troops,"anda forceofArabsis also mentioned.
Afghans,
fromCentralAsia; on one occasion"nearly
In addition,
therewerewarriors
thousandmenhad come fromtheplainsof Mawarannahr,
through
twenty
zeal forIslam,and theysat downwaitingthetimefortheSultan'smovetheshoutof theholy
theirnumerousswords,and uttering
ments,striking
war,'God is great!"'(4)
oftheghazis;they
do notportray
theculture
Thechronicles
unfortunately
of battles,butculturalinformation
is confinedto
givedetaileddescriptions
theGhaznavidregimeas
therulersandtheircourts.'Utbi'shistory
presents
an amalgamof Islamicorthodoxy,
andmiracles,drinking
astrology
parties,
of intrigue.
andbureaucratic
administration,
Bayhaqi'ssimplyas a snakepit
however,so on the
(45) As on theAnatolianand CentralAsian frontiers,
in epic form.The
of theghziis was preserved
Indianfrontier
thetradition
was the"Princeof Martyrs,"
heroof thistradition
Salir Mas'id, "nephew"
oftheGhaznavidSultanMahmQfid
andgeneral(sipahsalar)ofa ghazfarmy.
in
the
eleventh
buttheregionof Mas'fid's
early
reigned
century,
Mahmfid
exploitswas notactuallyconqueredbytheMuslimsuntiltheearlythirteenth
so itis notclearwhothisMas'fidreallywas. By thelatethirteenth
century,
AmirKhusrawcouldsee his tomb
however,thepoetand traveler
century,
it was a popularpilgrimage
site
in Bahraich,and in thefourteenth
century
visitedby Ibn Batfita,who recordedthetaleshe was toldof themartyr's
(42) EdwardG. Browne,"TheChah.rMaqala ("FourDiscourses")ofNidhmi-i-'ArfidPi-i-Samarqandi,"
JournaloftheRoyalAsiaticSociety(1899): 619-20.
trans.JamesReynolds(London:OrientalTranslation
Fund,1858),pp.
(43) al-'Utbi,TheKitab-i-Yamini,
"ThePoliticaland DynasticHistoryoftheIranianWorld(A.D. 1000283, 322, 326, 362; C. E. Bosworth,
HistoryofIran,ed. RichardN. Frye,7 vols.(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity
1217),"in TheCambridge
Press,1975),5: 177-80.
(44) 'Utbi,pp. 363, 335-36,333,450.
(45) On Bayhaqisee MarilynRobinsonWaldman,Towarda TheoryofHistoricalNarrative:A Case
Press,1980); JulieScottMei(Columbus:Ohio StateUniversity
Studyin Perso-lslamicate
Historiography
sami,"DynasticHistoryand Ideals of Kingshipin Bayhaqi'sTarikh-iMas'udi,"Edebiyat,n.s. 3 (1989):
57-78.
146
deeds.(46)The legendof SalarMas'id, whowas giventhetitle

miraculous
theMir'7tGhdziMiydn,survivesin an earlyseventeenth-century
rendition,
ofMas'id" by'Abd al-RalhmnChishti.(47) According
i Mas'isd or "Mirror
thiswork,besidesquotingfromextanthistories,
toitsauthor,
containsinforworkof repute"but
mationwhichhad "notfounda place in anyhistorical
was extracted
he graciously
froma veryold bookwiththeaid of "directions
and "verified
receivedfromthespiritof thedeparted"
by oralcommunicaas
tionswiththeauthor'sspiritual
visitors."
functioned
(48)Theseassertions
andspiritual
to itsaccuracyon boththehistorical
levels.
testimony
thework'slaterdateofcomposition,
andthefactthattheghdzis'
Although
wereidolators
rather
thanpeopleoftheBook,separateitfromthe
opponents
ithasseveralthings
incommonwiththem.One
Anatolian
frontier
narratives,
is a certain
lackofreligious
itsself-conscious
orthodoxy
"despite
religio-politicalcorrectness";
tothistext,"thePrinceofMartyrs
was most
(49) according
miraclesand
spotlessin bodyand mind"and "freefromsin";he performed
exhibited
andhisgoalwas "toconvert
unbelievers
tothe
supernatural
insight;
one God andtheMusulminfaith.If theyadoptourcreed,well andgood.If
is a connecnot,we putthemto thesword."(50)Relatedto thisunorthodoxy
tionwitha Stfimilieu:GhiziMiyanwas portrayed
as an asceticandspiritual
moreover
tookpainsto
hero,andhis tombbecamea shrine.His biographer
linktheexploitsofMas'id to thelatercareeroftheSilfisaintMu'in al-Din
Chishtithrough
the device of clarifying
the separationbetweenthe two.
Another
is a willingness
to cooperateand allywithinfidels;after
similarity
ofthegarrison
toraise
Delhi,SalfrMas'ildordersthecommander
conquering
mostlikelynon-Muslim,
"from
and
troops,
amongthepeopleofthecountry,"
on theirthrones
confirms
rulerswhosubmitto himwithout
their
demanding
Yet anotherlikenessis a fascination
conversion.
withtheworldlypursuits
of thehuntand thecollectionof booty.(51) None of theseacts,clearly,was
considered
inconsistent
witha ghizi lifestyle
eitherbytheoriginators
of the
legendsorbythelateraudienceforthisversion.
Whilethepublication
ofthesetalesin theseventeenth
century
mayhave
been meantas a contribution
to thediscourseon syncretism
thatfollowed
(46) IqtidarHusainSiddiqui,"A Note on theDargahof Salar Mas'ud in Bahraichin theLightof the
StandardHistoricalSources,"in MuslimShrinesin India: TheirCharacter,Historyand Significance,
ed.
W. Troll(Delhi: OxfordUniversity
Christian
Press,1989),pp. 45-47; see also TahirMahmood,"TheDarandReality,"in ibid.,pp. 24-43.
gahofSayyidSalarMas'ud Ghaziin Bahraich:Legend,Tradition
(47) 'Abdu-rRahminChishti,"Mirit-iMas'iidi,"partialEnglishtranslation
by R. B. Chapman,in The
ed. H. M. ElliotandJohnDowson(London:Triibner
& Co.,
HistoryofIndiaas ToldbyIts OwnHistorians,
to scholarlyattention
1869;rpt.New York,AMS Press,1966),2: 513-49.This workwas brought
by C. E.
Iran 6 (1968): 41-42;rpt.in
"TheDevelopment
ofPersianCultureundertheEarlyGhaznavids,"
Bosworth,
and CentralAsia (London:VariorumReprints,1977),
idem,The MedievalHistoryof Iran,Afghanistan
XVIII.
(48) Chishti,pp. 513-14.
totheDadnishmandnama
(49) Thisphraseis Kafadar's,referring
(BetweenTwoWorlds,p. 66).
(50) Chishti,pp. 520, 522, 525, 530.
(51) Ibid.,pp. 548-49;532-34;530, 538, 541.
147
LINDA T. DARLING
thereligiousinnovations
of theMughalemperorAkbar(1556-1605),their
rolein earliertimescan be seenas embodying
a call to faithand conquest
withtheacknowledged
thatcontrasted
andbureaudramatically
corruption
craticintrigue
of theGhaznavidcentralstate.This tensionresemblesthat
seen on theAnatolianfrontier
in theabsenceof thelaw-bound
butdiffers
of
the
'ulamd',
we notedabovetheexistenceof a legal
orthodoxy
although
ofghazdin Samarqandthatwas transferred
to theAnatolianfrontradition
in theIndiansourcesmeanthat"ulamd'
tier.Does itslackofrepresentation
fromCentralAsia didnotgo to Ghaznaor forsomereasonplayeda lesser
role in Ghaznavidand Ghirid society?Or are therestill undiscovered
sourcesto be foundon theghazdin India?
A majorinfluence
on theghdzttradition
of NorthIndiawas theMongol
in 1220 withtheMongols'pursuitof theKhwarazmincursions,
beginning
shahto theIndusvalley.The ghdzisof theDelhi Sultanateturnedfromthe
andin somechronicles
thetermghazdcame
conquestofIndiatoitsdefense,
to referonlyto warfare
againstthepaganMongols,in whichMuslimsand
Hindusbothparticipated.
describedall Mongollea(52)Thehistorian
Jfizjani
ders as "accursed"and saw theirirruption
as a sign of the end of the
IndianMuslimrulers;Sultan
world.(5) Ghazd againstthemlegitimated
al-DinTughluq(earlierknownas GhdztMalik)wonthetitle
GhdziGhiyath
of Ghdziby his successfuldefenseagainsttheMongols,and FirfizShih's
his rightto rule.(54)
defenseof Delhi froma Mongolraid demonstrated
NorthIndianusage,defining
as
defensive
warfare
rather
thanoffenghazd
sivewarandraiding,
was thustheoppositeofthatdevelopedon theAnatoTherewerewesterners,
however,amongthe Indianfrontier
lian frontier.
oftheDelhi Sultanatewere
severalof thegeneralsandgovernors
warriors;
Rimis orAnatolianTurks,andtroopsweresentfromthecourtofthecaliph
in Baghdad.(55)In fact,fighters
camefromall overtheMuslimworld,parfromCentralAsia,Afghanistan,
andIranas thoseregionsfellunder
ticularly
in theDelhi Sultans'successful
to participate
to
Mongolcontrol,
opposition
theMongols.The understanding
of ghazdtin India mustsurelyhave been
of the migrating
warriorsas well as by
affectedby the ghdzitraditions
So far,however,
thetopichas scarcelybeen
India'shistorical
circumstances.
studied;a recentbookalludingtotheghazdin Indiawas forcedto fallback
on researchon theOttomanghazd.(56)One indicationof a shiftin alignon holywar"and "attending
to theprosments,however,is that"carrying
Tabakat-iNasiri,trans.H. G. Raverty,
2 vols. (London:
(52) See, forexample,Minhaj-iSiraj Jfizjani,
Gilbert& Rivington,
1881-97;rpt.Osnabriick:
BiblioVerlag,1991),2: 1007,1009,1039,1053,1117,1123,
1135.
(53) Ibid.,2: 935.
3:
FirozShahi,"in TheHistoryofIndiaas ToldbyIts OwnHistorians,
(54) Zia al-DinBarani,"T~rikh-i
tohave
FirozShahi,"ibid.,3: 278. In thismilieu,GhAziappearssometimes
226; Shams-iSiraj'Afif,"Tirikh-i
beenusedas a propername.
(55) Jiizjini,2: 724, 752, 787, 1117.
of
(56) RichardM. Eaton,TheRise ofIslamand theBengalFrontier,
1204-1760(Berkeley:University
California
Press,1993),pp. 71-77.
148
no
is, ghazdtand good administration--were
perityof the peasants"--that
inpraisesof
as contrasting
impulsesbutwerelinkedtogether
longertreated
afterthestartoftheMongolinvasion.(57)
goodrulerswritten
as well,changesovertimein theway ghazd
On theAnatolianfrontier
was depictedcan be relatedto changesin thebalanceof forcescontending
The Anatolianfrontier
was forMuslimsthearchetypal
siteof
foritscontrol.
thatoftheleaderofthepilgrimage
ghazd;thestatusofitsleaderapproached
therelargelyshapedtheofficialIslamiclegaldefitoMecca,andconditions
nitionsof ghazd. (58) The Muslimforcesneverbecame large enoughto
thanpermaensurea successfuloffensive
war,andperpetual
raidingrather
combat.Thisnecessity
the
nentconquestbecamethegoaloffrontier
brought
of ghazw as camelghazd closer to the originalpre-Islamicdefinition
economicactivity
raiding,a redistributive
governedby an elaborateset of
rules.(59) Aftertheabandonment
oftheinitialUmayyadpolicyofuniversal
fron(754-775)established
jihad,the'Abbisid caliphal-Manstir
permanent
tiers(thughi2r)
theUmayyad
againstthe Byzantinesand institutionalized
of moreor less annualsummerraidsby combinations
of caliphal
pattern
led by princesof theroyalhouse.(60)
volunteers,
troopsand miscellaneous
fromtheeastwereprominent
andgovernamongbothvolunteers
Emigrants
The official
menttroopsfromtheearliestperiodof thefrontier's
history.
fromKhurisin; further
'Abbisid armyconsistedlargelyof eastemrners
to be sentat intervals
to
easternforces,led by 'Abbisid princes,continued
reinforce
thewesternfrontier.
Bothcaliphaltroopsand volunteers
counted
Turksamongtheirnumbers.(61) Hiriinal-Rash"id
createdwhatbecamethe
frontier's
"classical"organization
andreorganizing
theinstitubyexpanding
He also beganto lead expeditions
in personandbecame
tionsofal-Manstir.
thefirst"ghdzi-caliph,"
onewhofought
notonlyas theleaderoftheMuslim
butas a ghdziin his ownright.(62) In so doing,he was clearly
community
(57) Jiizjani, 1: 665, 676, 698.
(58) J. F. Haldon and Hugh Kennedy, "The Arab-Byzantine Frontierin the Eighth and Ninth Centuries:
Military Organixation and Society in the Borderlands," Zbornik Radova Byzantoloskog Instituta 19 (1980):
106, 115.
(59) John Walter Jandora, Militarism in Arab Society: An Historiographical and Bibliographical
Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997), pp. 4-5; EI2, s.v. "Ghazw." On the relationship of
Islamic definitionsof ghazd to pre-Islamic Arabian raiding practices and theiradaptation by Muhammad to
warfareagainst the enemies of Islam, see Donner, p. 35.
(60) For Umayyadjihdd policies and summerraids see Khalid Yahya Blankinship, The End of the Jihad
State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn 'Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads (Albany: SUNY Press,
1994); on the 'Abbaisids see Michael Bonner, Aristocratic Violence and Holy War: Studies in the Jihad and
the Arab-Byzantine Frontier (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1996).
(61) Bonner, Aristocratic Violence, pp. 53, 66; C. E. Bosworth, "The City of Tarsus and the Arab-Byzantine Frontiersin Early and Middle 'Abbasid Times," Oriens 33 (1992): 272, rpt.in The Arabs, Byzantiumand
Iran: Studies in Early Islamic History and Culture (Aldershot: Variorum, 1996), XIV. For the numbers of
Turks see Peter von Sivers, "Taxes and Trade in the 'Abbisid Thughir, 750-962/133-351," Journal of the
Economic and Social History of the Orient 25 (1982): 86.
(62) Bonner, Aristocratic Violence, pp. 99-106; the termwas introducedby C. E. Bosworth in his introduction to The History of al-Tabarf, vol. 30, The "Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium (New York: SUNY
Press, 1989), p. xvii.
149
LINDAT. DARLING
"playingto an audiencewhichincludedreligiousscholars,"whomhe cultihisreign.(63) Hairfin's

vatedthroughout
presenceon campaigntiedtheAnatolianghazdmorecloselyto thecentralstate,and thestateto the'ulamd',
thanwas thecase in CentralAsia orIndia.
The 'ulamd'werean activeforceon theByzantinefrontier
duringthe
In contrast
'Abbasidperiod,andmostwerefighters
as well as intellectuals.
to thetheologicalferment
of theCentralAsian frontier,
however,Islamic
intellectual
on theAnatolianbordercentered
on law and historical
activity
at thetimeof alprecedent;earlybooks on thelaw of war werewritten
In theeighthcentury
thefrontier
of thefrontier.
Mansir'sreestablishment
al-Fazaliof Kufa,"sdhib
suchas Abfi
was hometo fighter-thinkers
Ish.q whoseworkon maghdzf
sunnawa-ghazw"and authorof a Kitdibal-Siyar,
was continuedby Hanbalilegists;'Abdallahb. al-Mubirakal-Khurasani,
theneedsofthevolunteer
authorofa Kitdbal-Jihdd
groups;and
addressing
Ibrahimb. Adhamal-Balkhf,
thefamousascetic,frontier
ghdzi,andheroof
oftherulesofjihddduringtheearlyninth
centhefaith.(64)Thecodification
ofjihdd developed
intoIslamiclaw thedefensivedefinition
turyenshrined
on the Anatolian frontier(65). The stabilized frontierbecame a permanent
of institutions
of
featureof Muslimsocietyand led to the development
forcommercial
accommodation
suchas theamdnorsafe-conduct,
providing
of frontier
contactwiththeputativeenemy,and theribdt,thecombination
andtenth
centuries
fortress,
hostel,andreligiousretreat.
(66) In thelateninth
and prosperous,
the townsof the borderregionbecame well-established
an activecommercial
andintellectual
lifeas well as servingas
maintaining
bases forghdzfexpeditions.
(67) It has beenarguedthatbecauseof'Abbasid
ofa warrior
theurbanmerthedevelopment
aristocracy,
policiespreventing
cantileclasses,fromwhichthe 'ulamd'rose,dominatedtheranksof the
withtheofficialgovernment
warfare
volunteers
sharingthetaskoffrontier
of
the
forces
This
frontier
omitstherabbleandrob(68)
description
troops.
ofghdzigroupsin theeast;robberbaronsandcondottieri
berscharacteristic
werenot consideredghdzisas theywereelsewhere,although
apparently
were knownto claim the title.(69) It also seems
beggarsand tricksters
frontier?
irenic;werethereno tensionson theArab/Byzantine
remarkably
Violence,p. 105.
(63) Bonner,Aristocratic
of thesefrontier
see ibid.,pp. 109-34;and idem,
intellectuals
(64) Ibid.,pp. 68, 108. For biographies
theEarlyDevelopment
Studia
"Some Observations
of Jihadon theArab-Byzantine
Frontier,"
Concerning
Islamica75 (1992): 5-31.
definition
Violence,pp. 40, 131.The defensive
ofjihtdmayhavebeena temon latergenerations.
influence
within
an overalloffensive
butithashadconsiderable
porary
strategy
purpose,
and theArabs:War and Peace betweenTwo WorldCivilizations,"
(66) C. E. Bosworth,"Byzantium
andIran(AlderJournalofOrientalandAfrican
Studies3-4(1991-92):5, 9-11;rpt.inTheArabs,Byzantium
shot:Variorum,
1996),XIII.
Violence,pp. 150-51.
(68) Ibid.,pp. 8, 137.Bonnerconcludes(ibid.,p. 156) thatduringtheCrusades,theZangidsand Ayyfibidswerefinallyable to createan alliancebetweentheprofessional
andmerchant
classes.
military
andtheArabs,"p. 12.
Violence,pp. 48-49,154; Bosworth,
"Byzantium
150
frontier
ThemainfaultlinesontheArab-Byzantine
appearinthechronicles
forauthority
betweencaliphsand theirmajorcommanders
or
as struggles
these
strugglesfor controlover taxation.(70) Scholarshave interpreted
eitheras competition
and
amonggovernment
troops,volunteers,
struggles
forrevenueanditsmaximization
intheformofspoilsof
merchants
(whether
orelse as competition
war,commercial
gains,ortaxrevenues),
amongactual
orwould-bepoliticalleadersforthelegitimacy
granted
bytheexerciseofborder functions
suchas leadershipof ghazdand redemption
of captives.(71)
whichfrontier
tookin other
However,in viewofthedirections
development
timesandplaces,thesefaultlinesacquirea new significance.
The financial
conflict
betweenthemilitary-fiscal
interests
of thestateandthecommercial
of themerchants,
interests
foreshadows
thetension
'ulamd',and volunteers
betweenthevaluesofthecentralstateandthevolunteers
on theGhaznavids'
Indianfrontier.
in emphasisbetweenFazali'slegal
Likewise,thedifferences
and historicalinterests
and al-Balkhi'sasceticismand individualheroism,
as frontier
are later
intellectuals,
despitethesemen'scommonclassification
in the differing
reflected
attitudes
towardboundary-marking
and control
exhibited
and theAnatolianghdzfis'
folk
by theSaljiiq 'ulamd"scatechisms
andtheSamarqandi
robbersof
epicsorbytheAbQial-Laythal-Samarqandis
the CentralAsian frontier.
The epic of Delhemma(Dhat al-Himma,"the
stout-hearted
theeagerghazis
contrasts
frontier)
lady"oftheArab/Byzantine
witha qddhwhorepresents
thelackluster,
eventraitorous
forces,
government
in collusionwiththe Byzantines.(72) The inclusiveness
of the
apparently
Ottomanand Indian ghdztsis matchedby the heterogeneity
of the
whereslaves,renegades,
and volunteers
fromeach
frontier,
Arab/Byzantine
sidefilledtheranksoftheother,
andbaronsalikewerebilingualin
brigands
ArabicandGreek,andgoods,ideas,horses,andwomencrossedtheborderin
bothdirections.
(73) The tensionin medievalIslamic societybetweenthe
Once
"ulamd'and thecentralstateis too well knownto requirecomment.
of the state,the
again,polarizationamong(at least) the representatives
can be identified
in thefrontier
context.
'ulamd',andthewarriors
theborderregionitselfbecamea bone
Moreover,in thetenthcentury
of contention,
as the ghazd became a legitimating
device not only for
individualcaliphsbutforentireregimes.The Fatimids(909-1171),seeing
how theirsuccessin thenavalghazdvalidatedtheirindependent
caliphate,
triedto gaincontrolof theAnatolianborderarea as well.The Hamdanids
theirseizureofnorthern
there
(905-1004)justified
Syriaandtheirautonomy
(70) Peter von Sivers, "Military,Merchants and Nomads: The Social Evolution of the Syrian Cities and
Countryside During the Classical Period, 780-969/164-358," Der Islam 56 (1979): 222.
(71) Iderni,"Taxes and Trade," 73, 80, 90; Bonner, Aristocratic Violence, 153-54.
(72) This contrast may go back to the original version of the story,as it forms the basic plot structure
(Marius Canard, "Delhemma, 6pop6e arabe des guerres arabo-byzantines,"Byzantion 10 [1935]: 285).
(73) Idem, "Les relations politiques et sociales entreByzance et les Arabes," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 18
(1964): 45-46; rpt.in idem, Byzance et les musulmans du Proche Orient (London: Variorum Reprints, 1973),
XIX.
151
LINDA T. DARLING
in
counterattack
bytheirsuccessesinholywar.(74) The powerful
Byzantine
the960s, whichbrokethefrontier
andcapturedseveralof themajorcities,
temporarilyintensified"the spiritof militantjihdd."
(75)
The Byzantines'
goal, however,was controlratherthanreconquest;once havingreestabliin thefrontier

to see Aleppo
shedtheirpreeminence
region,theypreferred
as thecapitalofan independent
buffer
zoneruledbyArabtribalpolitiesthat
becameByzantineprot6g6s,
receivingByzantinemilitary
supportagainst
the stilldangerous
theirmajoropponents.(76) Duringthe next
F.timids,
hundred
of stability
years,theretumrn
alongtheborderfavoredraidingover
over politicalones, encouragingthe
conquestand commercialinterests
centralstatesofthehinterlands
toturntheirattention
awayfromthefrontier
of the
area once again.On thefrontier
itselfwe can see theroutinization
in the worksof 'ulamd'such as Abfi'Amr 'Uthman
dominantinterests
al-Tarslsi,an "dlimofTarsus,whocompileda handbookon theprocedures
of the summerraids of the ghdzis,the summonsto arms,the ribdtsof
the fighters,
the lives of the 'ulamd',the revenuesof the tithesand the
andthewallsthatdefended
thatoutpostofthe
endowments
theybenefitted,
Dar al-Islam,or Muhammadb. 'Umar,whosefatherhad been a faqih of
in Creteforthejihdd,butwhobecametheauthorof a
al-Andalusstationed
bookon chartering
merchant
ships.(77)
This comfortable
balancewas upsetin thesecondhalfof theeleventh
TurksandCrusaders,
bothofwhich
bythearrivaloftwonewforces,
century
hadholywaron theirminds.Theirinvasionscreateda newconfiguration
of
and renewedtheabilityof holywarto
statesin theeasternMediterranean
theirrulers.Theoldborderregionofnorthemrn
legitimate
Syriabecamea new
focalpointofcontention
betweenCrusaderstatesandghdziprinceslikeNfir
atleasttheconsciousanduncontested
head
al-D'inZang"i("ifnotthecreator,
andheroofan enormous
ofMuslimardor"),whosecapitalofAleppo
rebirth
(74) HamiltonA. R. Gibb,"TheCaliphateand theArabStates,"inA HistoryoftheCrusades,ed. Setton,1: 88.
"TheCityofTarsus,"pp. 283-84.The fierysermonpreachedbythekhatibIbnNubataon
(75) Bosworth,
theByzantine
arrivalsurvives;
see MariusCanard,ed.,Sayfal Daula: Recueilde textesrelatifs l'~mirSayfal
Daula le Hamdanideavecanotations,
cartesetplans,(Algiers:EditionsJulesCarbonel,1934),pp. 167-73;also
forthejihad
thatpreachedat thetakingof Aleppo(ibid.,pp. 155-60)andone preachedto rouseenthusiasm
(ibid.,pp. 129-32;Frenchtrans.inA. A. Vasiliev,ByzanceetlesArabes,vol.2, La DynastieMacidoine[867de Philologieet d'Histoire
Orien959], ed. HenriG6goireandMariusCanard[Brussels:Iditionsde l'Institut
taleset Slaves,1950],pp. 292-94);see also selectionsin AdamMez, TheRenaissanceofIslam,trans.SalahuddinKhudaBakhshandD. S. Margoliouth
(London:Luzac andCo., 1957),pp. 319-25.
(76) Claude Cahen,La Syriedu norda l'dpoquedes Croisadeset la principautd
franqued'Antioche
(Paris: Paul Geuthner,1940), p. 177; PieterSmoor,Kings and Bedouinsin the Palace of Aleppo as
inMa'arrf'sWorks(Manchester:
ofManchester,
Reflected
1985),pp. 31, 183-88;MariusCanard,
University
de France,1953);
Histoirede la dynastie
des H'amdanidesde Jaziraetde Syrie(Paris:Pressesuniversitaires
andEl-RisalahPublishing
House,
SuhaylZakkar,TheEmirateofAleppo,1004-1094(Beirut:Dar al-Amanah
1971).
andtheLastYearsofArabRule
"AbfiAmrUthmanAl-Tarssi'sSiyaral-Thughar
(77) C. E. Bosworth,
in Tarsus(Fourth/Tenth
"RaidandTradein the
Graeco-Arabica
5 (1983): 183-95;V. Christides,
Century),"
A TreatisebyMuhammadbn. Umar,theFaqih fromOccupiedMoslemCrete,and
EasternMediterranean:
theRhodianSea Law, Two ParallelTexts,"Graeco-Arabica
5 (1983): 63-102.
152
as partof theHolyLand andthegatewaytoholywar.(78) In

was redefined
theSyriaoftheZangids(1128-1174)andAyyibids(1171-1250),itwas the
in ghazdas a legitimizing
andorganizing
forcethatappeared
state'sinterest
as rulersmaneuvered
centralcontroloverthe
mostprominently,
to maintain
manifested
holywar and directit wheretheypleased.A different
pattern
itselfin Anatolia,wheretheunexpecteddefeatof theByzantinearmyin
1071byTurkishtribalforcesandtheirinvasionofthepeninsulaallowedthe
of nomadicraidersand antinomian
over
interests
ghidzisto predominate
thoseofthecentralstate.(79) Saljfq princeswereunabletoexertfullcontrol,
and the balance shiftedaway fromthe 'ulamd"s rule-boundapproach
to ghazdtowardtheheroicand themystical.The fortified
frontier
withits
ruleson a well-known
schedulegave way
accordingto established
fighting
to theunpredictable
who were
sweepsof nomadicbandsled by chieftains
indifferent
to,or anxiousto escapefrom,theimperialhandoftheSaljfqs.
The chieflyfamilyof the Dinishmands,whose titleof Malik was
bestowedbythecaliphfortheirzeal in ghazd,mostprominently
represented
theraidinginterests
ofthenomads.(80) Thattitlewas firstheldby thethird
thegrandson
oftheconqueror,
andwas projected
Muhammad,
Dinishmand,
backwardontohis ancestorsby the myth-makers.
(81) The legendof the
Danishmands
linkedthemwiththefrontier
capitalofMeliteneandwiththe
heroof theArab/Byzantine
Ghizi. The old border
frontier,
Sayyid
Batt.l
acrossreligious,cultural,
culturecontinuedin theghcidzis'
easy intercourse
lifein thefrontier
boundariesand in theactivecommercial
and linguistic
fullofcharity
andjustrulers,
for
region.The Saljfiqswereknownas tolerant
theinvadingforces,
theirChristian
century
subjects.(82) Duringthetwelfth
fewin number,
wereinterspersed
Byzantine
amongtheremaining
relatively
villagers,and pastoralnomadicgroups.(83)
populationas urbangarrisons,
withtheirnew subjectsand may have been of
They easily intermingled
(78) Forthequotationsee Cahen,La Syriedu nord,p. 374; Cahensees theghazaas theformintowhich
on thefrontier,
butitmightbe theotherwayaround,the
the"Sunnitewar"oftheSaljfiqswas transformed
ofAlepposee thetableofcontents
to Ibnalofghaza.Forthenewdefinition
"Sunnitewar"as an extension
in David Morray,An Ayyubid
Notableand His World:Ibn al-'Adimand
'Adim'sbiographical
dictionary
oftheCruAleppo(Leiden:E. J.Brill,1994),p. 202. On theriseofNOral-Dinandhistakingup thegauntlet
saderssee HamiltonA. R. Gibb,"TheCareerofNfiral-Din,"inA HistoryoftheCrusades,ed. Setton,1: 513witha Message: Propagation
of Jihadunder
27; on his devotiontojihad see YasserTabbaa, "Monuments
Nfiral-Din(1146-1174),"inMeetingofTwoWorlds,pp. 223-40.
see F. Taeschner,"TheTurksand
(79) Cahen,"TheTurkishInvasion,"pp. 144, 147-48.Fora summary
in The CambridgeMedievalHistory,vol. 4,
theByzantineEmpireto theEnd of theThirteenth
Century,"
pt. 1,pp. 737-52.
(80) Cahen,"La premiere
p6n6tration
turque,"
pp. 59-60;EI2, s.v. "SaldjOkids."
as wellas theAyyfibids,
also seemtohaveusedtheterm
Geste,p. 104.TheDanishmands,
(81) M61ikoff,
father
was calledAmirGhazi,Saladin'sson was al-ZahirGhizi, and
as a propername;Muhammad's
ghdzf
therewas an AyyObid
princessnamedGhaziya.
StudiaIslamica 1
(82) Osman Turan,"Les souverainsseldjoukideset leurssujetsnon-musulmans,"
(1953): 69-72,76.
Jr.,TheDeclineofMedievalHellenisminAsia Minorand theProcessofIslamiza(83) SperosVryonis,
of CaliforniaPress, 1971),
tionfromtheElevenththroughthe Fifteenth
Century(Berkeley:University
pp. 170, 180-85.
153
LINDAT. DARLING
rathermixedoriginsthemselves;a poem on the Saljfiqforcesattacking

Cairosaysthattheyincluded"Armenians,
ArabsandEdomites,Greeksand
Germans,Paphlagoniansand Turks."(84) Withtime,continuedmigration
alteredtheethnicbalance;Turkscontinued
to moveintoAnatoliaand the
farto thewest.In
relocatedmuchoftheirAnatolianpopulation
Byzantines
easternAnatolia,westernIran,and the Caucasus,Muslimand Christian
royal familiesfreelyintermarried.
(85)
A strugglebetweenghdztand raidinginterests,patronizedby the

Danishmandsand others,and thoseof the Saljhq scions who soughtto
controltheghdziactivityin Anatolia,to establisha centralizedstate,and
to makealliancesandborderagreements
withtheByzantines,
occupiedthe
nexthundred
ruler
moves
Arslan's
years.The twelfth-century
Saljfiq
KIhi
towardsubjectingthe Danishmandsand accommodating
theByzantines
rousedthedisapprovalof thegreatghdzi,Nir al-DinZangi,and attempts
to mollifyNir al-D"inled to a rupture
betweenSaljfiqsandByzantines.(86)
The Saljfiqsat lastdefeatedboththeDanishmandsand theByzantinesin
theghdzisto an imperial
1176, afterwhichtheyworkedto subordinate
statemodeledon thatof theGreatSaljfiqsof Iraq. The influenceon the
and literary
cultureis apparentin
Rim Saljfiqsof Perso-Islamicstatecraft
thecourthistories,advice literature,
and scribalmanualscreatedby the
of Islamiccivilizationwho flockedor fledto thecourtat
representatives
influence
came
(87) Byzantine
Konya,mostlyduringthethirteenth
century.
servicetorulers,
conversion,
through
exchangesofpersonnelbymarriage,
and thetakingof refuge;it is evidencedin partby thereconsolidation
of
theRfimSaljfiqstatebyKai-KhusrawI (1204-1211),eightyearsa refugee
at theByzantinecourt,afterwhosetimetheSaljiqs bequeathedtheirrealm
his ownfather
had followed
undivided,
although
previoussultansincluding
thesteppetradition
of parcelingit out amongtheirheirs.(88)The eclecticismof thisstateis well illustrated
by thewalls of Konya,its capital,
whichweredecoratedwithreusedinscriptions,
reliefs,and ancientstatues
thathad been lootedfromtheByzantines"withtheswordof Khusraw,"
as well as with quotationsfromthe Qur'an and the Sha^hndma,
thus
(84) JosephHa-Kohen,quotedbyTaefKamalEl-Azhari,TheSaljaksofSyriaduringtheCrusades,463549 A. H./1070-1154

A. D. (Berlin:Klaus SchwarzVerlag,1997),p. 45.
Comnenis,"
(85) Kafesoglu,p. 97; HaldonandKennedy,
p. 85; V. Minorsky,
"KhaqaniandAndronicus
in Iranica: Twenty
Articles(Hertford:
StephenAustinand Sons, 1964),p. 127; MichelBalivet,"TheLongLived RelationsbetweenChristians
and Moslemsin CentralAnatolia:Dervishes,Papadhes,and Country
16 (1991): 321,n. 19.
Folk,"Byzantinische
Forschungen
Lilie, "Twelfth-Century
(86) Cahen,"The Turksin Iran and Anatolia,"pp. 676-79; Ralph-Johannes
andTurkishStates,"Byzantinische
16 (1991): 37-39.Ironically,
theeponymous
SalByzantine
Forschungen
to
jiiq himselfis reported have engagedin ghaza and to have been awardedthetitleof al-Malikal-Ghazi
A HistoryoftheSeljuks,trans.anded. GaryLeiser[Carbondale:Southern
IllinoisUni(IbrahimKafesoglu,
Press,1988],p. 25).
versity
(87) EI2, s.v.
"Saldj.kids."
Decline ofMedievalHellenism,pp. 223-44; Cahen,"The Turksin Iranand Anatolia,"
(88) Vryonis,
p. 681. The realmwas dividedagainbytheMongolsas partoftheirpacification
policy.
154
theghazdagainsttheByzantinesto thelegendary
heritageof
assimilating
theSasaniansand thePerso-Islamicstatetradition.
(89)
centuries
also saw a rapprochement
The latetwelfth
and earlythirteenth
betweenthe Rim Saljiiq stateand the 'ulamd',withgreaternumbersof
of 'ulamid'interests
'ulamti'servingthestateand increasedofficialsupport
The
at
the
suchas madrasa-building.
(90)
'ulamd'
Saljfiqcourtseemto have
succeededinaccommodating
themselves
toa government
theyviewedas less
and moreorthodox
thanthatof theGhaznavids.The adherenceof
corrupt
Anatolian
rulerstotheCaliphal-N&sir'sffutuwwa
embodied
thirteenth-century
to theofficial
ofSunniIslamas wellas their
theirconnection
representatives
commitment
to the chivalricethosof the ghdzis.At the same time,the
construction
ofSifi lodgesandshrines
ofsaints'livesandStifi
andthewriting
handbooks
ofthemystical
impulse,in which
suggesta certaindomestication
role.(91) Commercial
sultanicpatronage
interests
were
playedan important
also attendedto, as the statepursuedthe revenuesof trade,miningand
resourceexploitation,
capturingseaportsand buildingcaravanseraisto
trade.A survey
inAnatoliainthetwelfth
ofPersianworkswritten
to
promote
thissedentarizing
fourteenth
centuries
reflects
trend:at firstworksof poetry
therest,butlatercatechismsand literary
and Stifismoutnumbered
works
becamemorenumerous,
accompanied
byworksonscienceandgovernment.
(92)
The arrivaloftheMongolsdiminished
theactivity
of theSaljiq rulers,
who
becameMongolvassals,butculturalpatronage
to flowfromthe
continued
bureaucrats
and greatamfrs.(93) Eventually,
in the
Mongoladministration
tradition
Perso-Islamic
of itsown on Anatolian
beganto have an influence
tojudgebythewriting
andcopyingofadministrative
manuals.Thus,
culture,
Anatolia
saw
the
of
andthe
'ulama',
warriors,
thirteenth-century
incorporation
centralstateintoa single,perhapsuneasy,whole.
The vacuumof authority
on thewesternfrontier
leftby theByzantine
in 1261 made thearea attractive
return
to Constantinople
to rebels,tribal
groups,andurbanelements
fleeingtheMongols,especiallyfromtheregion
oftheDanishmands
whereMongolcontrolandtaxationintensified
withthe
of therevoltof 1277. (94)On thefrontier,
antinomian
attitudes
suppression
"TheSeljuksofRumandtheAntique,"
(89) ScottRedford,
Muqarnas10 (1993): 153-55.
DeclineofMedievalHellenism,
Cahen,"TheTurksin
(90) Vryonis,
pp. 352-55;EI2, s.v. "SaldjfOkids";
IranandAnatolia,"pp. 677-80;idem,Pre-Ottoman
(London:SidgwickandJackson,1968),pp. 249Turkey
ofconstruction
53. Thisflurry
was madepossiblein partby a significant
Anatolia.
growthin tradethrough
workbyEthelSara Wolperpursuesthistheme(personalconversation).
(91) Forthcoming
Mecmuast
Eserler,"Tiirkiyat
(92) AhmetAteg,"HicriVI-VIII. (XII-XIV.) AslrlardaAnadolu'daFarsga
AnadoluBeylikleri
7-8, pt. 2 (1945): 94-135; i. HakklUzunganlh,
Karakoyunlu
ve Akkoyunlu,
Devletleri
(Ankara:TtirkTarihKurumuBaslmevi,1937),pp. 209-11.
inThirteenth
Journal
Anatolia,"
(93) HowardCrane,"Noteson Saldjiq Architectural
Patronage
Century
oftheEconomicand Social HistoryoftheOrient36 (1993): 22.
The il-XanidMint'sExploitation
oftheRfim-Saljiqid
(94) A. PeterMartinez,
Imperialism:
"Bullionistic
Ottomanicum
13 (1993-1994): 172. An Ottomanorigin
Currency,
654-695H./1256-1296
A.D.," Archivum
in northern
woulddo muchto explaintheirmixture
of
Anatolia,thoughnotsupported
by thechronicles,
tribalism
andurbanism,
andantinomianism,
institutions.
orthodoxy
MongolandPerso-Islamic
155
LINDA T. DARLING
could flourishside by side withmore orthodoximpulses,as indeed theydid

even in more centralpartsof Anatolia. Like the initialAnatolian conquests,
the later thirteenth-century
border raids on the Byzantines were pursued
withoutthe help and sometimeswithoutthe sanction of official Saljfiq or
forsuchactivitywere
moments
Mongolsources.(95) The mostopportune
timeswhenexisting
politieswerein fluxandthecentralstatewas tooweak
to controlnomadactivity,
as was thecase after1277.(96) In thelastdecades
Anatolianoteda
ofthethirteenth
chroniclers
ofwestern
Byzantine
century,
massive increasein pastoralnomads whose raids capturedbooty and
offtheland.(97) Thisraiding
anddrovetheagricultural
population
prisoners
intoAnatoliaat gaining
was as successfulas theearlyTurkishincursions
theirdominancein the
forthenomadicelementsand ensuring
pastureland
borderregion,anditcouldas easilybe dignified
bythetitleofghazd.
In contrast
to earliertimes,however,whenSaljfiqsultans(liketheearly
to
Islamiccaliphsor theSamanidamfrs)hadbeenable aftertheincursions
the tribalchiefsor ghazi leadersof the newly
controland incorporate
inthelatethirteenth
conqueredlandsandgivetheirraidingofficialsanction,
to
thedemandsof MongolsuzerainsturnedtheSaljfiqs'attentions
century
theirpower
theeast,constrained
theirabilityto act,and finallyeliminated
Since the Mongols themselveswere unwillingor unable to
altogether.
thenew acquisitionswerenotfully
controlthewesternAnatolianfrontier,
intoa centralized
state.The chronicles
showOsmanandother
incorporated
and local officialsratherthanwith
leaderstreating
withtekfurs
frontier
of any
theabsencefromtheborderland
imperialByzantine
representatives;
centralstateactivity--Mongol,
or
striking.
Saljhq, Byzantine--is
(98) It was
leftto theconquerors
themselves
to fillthevacuumat thetop.
In theendeavorto governwhattheyhad conquered,it is unlikelythat
Turkishrulersin theborderland
or
spurnedanyofthegoverning
techniques
follegitimating
ideologiesavailableto themthatcouldrallytheirdisparate
than
lowers,amongwhomnomadsandghdztsformeda greater
percentage
inAsia
andIslamization
Jr.,"Nomadization
(95) Cahen,"La premiere
p6n6tration,"
p. 65; SperoVryonis,
Oaks Papers29 (1975): 45; rptinByzantina
Studieson Byzantium,
Minor,"Dumbarton
kafMetabyzantina:
2 vols. (Malibu,CA: UndenaPublications,
1981),2: IV. This was truedespitethe
Seljuks,and Ottomans,
ofMongolinvestiture
leaderssuchas AliBey ofDenizliandthepresenceofMonacquisition
byTuirkmen
Anatolia(Cahen,Pre-Ottoman
gol troopsthroughout
Turkey,
pp. 280, 283).
whentheSaljuiqstatewas strongitwas able toexertcontroloverghdzfactivity
andput
(96) In contrast,
downnomaduprisings
suchas thatofBaba Rasil in 1240(Vryonis,
"Nomadization
andIslamization,"
p. 47);
on thisrevoltsee A. Yasar Ocak,La rdvolte
de Baba Resulou la formation
de l'hMtdrodoxie
musulmane
en
TarihKurumu,1989).
Anatolieau XIIF sitcle(Ankara:Tiurk
and Islamization,"
(97) Vryonis,"Nomadization
Turkey,
p. 318; Inalcik,
p. 48-57;Cahen,Pre-Ottoman
oftheOttomanState,"pp.73-74.Someofthesenomadswereprobably
dis"TheQuestionoftheEmergence
whoturnedto pastoralism
forsurvivalin theabserceofeffective
foragriculprotection
placedByzantines
inAnatolia,"Byzantinische
ture(KeithHopwood,"NomadsorBandits:The Pastoralist/Sedentarist
Interface
16 [1991]: 185).
Forschungen
et 16gendesdes premiers
Turcica28 (1996): 73.
Ottomans,"
(98) ElizabethA. Zachariadou,"Histoires
The Saljfiqrulerwas fullyoccupiedin attempting
leaderclosestto himin Denizli
to controlthefrontier
(Cahen,Pre-Ottoman
Turkey,
p. 279).
156
underthesettledSaljiq state.Consequently,
creatingnew politicalentities
in theborderregionmeant,amongotherthings,
developingformsoflegititowardtheghdziand tribalelementsthanSaljiq
macythattiltedfarther
claimshad done,whilestillmakingroomfor 'ulamd',former
legitimacy
of thePerso-Islamic
statetradition.
Byzantinesubjects,andrepresentatives
As an ideology,ghazcwas flexibleenoughtobe represented
as an orthodox
Islamicactivity
the'ulamd',an unorthodox
activity
to/by
to/byantinomian
and a politicalactivityto/by
Sifis, an economicactivityto/bytribesmen,
and inclusive
aspiringrulers.As such,it mayhavebeenthemostpowerful
more so than
unifyingdevice available to conquerorson the frontier,
tribalism,
origin,religion,
language,or culture.
Amongtheseborderchiefs,it was the Ottomanswho were the most
successfulin the long run at transforming
themselvesinto sultansand
an imperialstate.Tryingto decide whether
establishing
ghazd was "the"
elementin thatstateis a singularly
foundational
futileexercise.The lackof
directevidencemeansthatwe mayneverknowwhether
Osmanhimself
was
theleaderof a ghdziband,thechiefof a nomadictribe,theson of a Saljia peasant,or all of theabove.We mayneverbe able to assess
qid officer,
hisdegreeofIslamicorthodoxy
orhislevelofreligiouszeal. The arguments
builton thescrapsof evidencethatremainto us appearto be based more
on theamountoffaiththeirauthors
thananything
chooseto placein thefifchroniclers
andtheirselectionamonginterpretations
ofclues
teenth-century
thatcouldpointin severaldirections.
But how muchdoes it reallymatter?KnowingOsman'scorrectlabel
wouldsignificantly
increaseourunderstanding
of Ottomanhistory
onlyif
we assume an organictheoryof nationhood(as the seed, so the tree).
Instead, we must acknowledgethe agency of statebuildersover the
whilerecognizingthepowerof tradition
to legitimizetheir
generations,
and mobilize theirfollowers.If Osman grew up in the
statebuilding
in thedecades after1261, thenwe know
westernAnatolianborderlands
thathe attainedadulthoodin a regionand a periodwhencentralstate
was recedingand local leadersof all typeswereleftto maintain
authority
themselvesand theirfollowerswithonlytheirown resources.In anyone
area theseresourcesprobablyincludedintactnomadictribesand nomads
andbrigands,
whosetribalaffiliations
had beenbroken,warriors
local villagers (Byzantineor Turkish),pastoralists(Turkishor Byzantine)and
urbanrefugeesfromdisturbed
areasfarther
east,convertsand "renegades"
fromtheByzantine,Catalan,Venetian,and othereasternMediterranean
statesandlaterfromtheless successfulTurkishprincipalities,
unemployed
losersin Mongolpoliticalstruggles,
andintellectuals,
Saljiq functionaries
and more. There were also people who straddledthese categories;it
has been suggested,forexample,thatOsman in his youthled the stillnomadicwingof a bodyof Turkswho werein theprocessof sedentariza157
LINDAT. DARLING
tion.(99) A mobilebandof thistypemaywell have includedTurksfrom

othergroupsand perhapssome adventurous
Byzantines,makingit difficultto definethenatureofOsman'sleadership,
especiallysinceitchanged
overtime.Resourcesavailableto himalso includedadvantagesof locafor conquest,sources of wealth,and ideologies of
tion, opportunities
includingtheideologyof ghazc. Whatwe needto discoveris
legitimacy,
therolestheseresourcesplayedat different
pointsin thecreationof the
wereat
and ultimately
theOttomanEmpire,whichinterests
principalities
stakein the variousactionsof Osman and his peers,and whichgroups
fromtheoutcomesand becameable to shape thedirectionof
benefitted
of itspast.
theirstateand thememory
as belongingto
It wouldbe a mistaketo visualizethesevariedinterests
half
exclusivegroupsofpeople.Duringthefirst
andmutually
homogeneous
for
some
of
the
same
individuals
ofthefourteenth
probacentury, example,
and
timesas nomadicraiders,
mercenaries,
Byzantine
blyservedatdifferent
theirinterests
doubtlesschangedto some degree,butnot
ghdziwarriors;
withtheirchangesof occupation.The existenceof conquests
completely,
mightindicatethepresenceofthe'ulami' and
organizedon shar'fprinciples
or itmightsimplymeanthatshar'iprintheinfluence
of 'ulam6'concerns,
sharedbyMiddleEastern
cipleswerepartof thenormalconquesttradition
Osman'soriginalfollowersmay
rulersno matterwhattheirpredilections.
ofOttoman
havebeenmostly
Muslims,butitwas notlongbeforea majority
thismusthaveaffecoftroopswereChristian;
subjectsanda certainnumber
of ghaz6 as muchas mercenary
servicewiththe
ted the understanding
It wouldbe moreusefulto inquirehowrulersdeployedthetraByzantines.
ditionsandresourcesattheirdisposalintheseever-changing
circumstances,
and how thesemoves werejustifiedby laterhistorianswritingin very
different
contexts
foraudienceswithverydifferent
priorities.
ofOttomanorigins,
butit
Thisis nottheplaceto begina reinterpretation
ofinterests
intoaccountmay
can be suggested
howtakingthiscontestation
affectourassessment
ofthesources,drawingourattention
notonlyto their
contents
butto thetimeandmanneroftheircomposition.
Forexample,the
whichdrewon a fundof AnatolianoralnarlegendofMalikDinishmand,
rative,on theonehand,andon theothertheromanceofSayyidBattal,writtenin thelateeleventhor earlytwelfth
was itselfputintowriting
century,
fortheSaljfiqSultain
'Izz al-DinKaikavusII (1246-1259)notlongafterthe
notonly
arrivaloftheMongols.Itscomposition
atthatpointintimetestifies
andtheSaljfiqsbutalso
to a partialreconciliation
betweentheDinishmands
to thefactthateven at thesophisticated
courtof Konya,subjectionto the
Mongolscreatedan audiencefortheghdzitradition,
depictedas a holywar
carriedon by tribalforceswhose simplefaith,thoughscarcelyorthodox,
(99) Haldon and Kennedy, p. 101; Keith Hopwood, "Low-Level Diplomacy between Byzantines and
Ottoman Turks: The Case of Bithynia," in Byzantine Diplomacy, ed. JonathanShepard and Simon Franklin
(Aldershot: Variorum, 1992), p. 152.
158
was strongly
felt.('") Such faithpermitted,
evenencouraged,
alliancewith
local Christianpowersto fightthepagan enemy,whose presenceon the
ofAnatolia
peninsulawas themostimportant
challengefacingthewarriors
in thesecondhalfofthethirteenth
and saints'lives
century.
Epic narratives
andtheethostheyembodiedwerewell-known
in thirteenth-century
Anatoandnomadiccirclesbutamongeducatedcity-dwellers
lia,notonlyin ghdczi
as well.Side by side withorthodox
of ghazdin theworks
legal definitions
ofthe'ulamdi',
thereexisteda coherent
as a romantic
and
imageoftheghdczi
heroicfigureofthepastthatdoubtlessservedas a modelforaspiring
raiders
andwarriors
butcouldalso provideinspiration
forsubjugated
courtiers
and
andperhapsfor'ulamd'as well.The sameimagelivedon intothefifrulers,
teenthcentury
in thehistory
of Ashikpashazade,
and in all thesesettings
it
embodiedan elementof resistance
to an encroaching
authority.
(10') Rather
thanbeinga pureexpression
of a group'sethos,then,in each case it was a
ofrepresentations
ofthatethosforparticular
deployment
purposes.
In thislight,Ottomanclaimsto delegationbytheSaljiqs takeon a new
meaning:notonlyweretheSaljfiqstheonlyones who could authorizea
ghazd againsttheByzantinesin the absenceof thecaliph,butalso their
had priority
overanyMongolclaims.(102) This priority
was cerauthority
tainlyrecognizedby Bayazid I, who deployedit (unsuccessfully)
against
Timur'sattempt
to restoreMongolsuzerainty
in 1402. (103) Fourteenth-centuryMongolfinancemanualsindicatethattheMongolsat thattimestill
considered
thewestern
Anatolianstates,including
Orhan's,as theirownborderprincipalities
(ucdt),althoughtheydid notseemto expectanyrevenue
fromthem.('104) Claims of Saljiq authorization
wouldhave supported
an
Ottoman
resistance
to Mongoldomination,
a resistance
hintedatbythefact
thatin theearliestsectionsoftheOttomanchronicles
Osman'sgreatest
hosis directed
notagainsttheByzantines
butagainstthe"Tatars,"
a people
tility
whodidnotfollowtheetiquette
ofghazdc
as itwas understood
on bothsides
oftheByzantine/Turkish
divide.(105)TheTatarsweretroopsoftheMongols,
Geste,pp. 56-60,162.
(100) M61ikoff,
(101) Was italso one ofthesourcesfortheimageoftheBalkanhaiduk?
claimsto investiture
tribal
(102) Real or fictitious
by theSaljfiqsor Mongols,usefulin legitimizing
leaderson thefrontier,
to Saljfiqand Mongolclaimsof suzerainty
corresponded
(and,potentially,
revenue)
in theborderregion(see Cahen,Pre-Ottoman
Turkey,
pp. 313-14).
hiscampaignin Anatolia,see
(103) EI2, s.v. "BayazidI." On thelogicofTimur'scampaigns,
including
BeatriceForbesManz, "Temiirand theProblemof a Conqueror'sLegacy,"Journalof theRoyalAsiatic
Society,ser.3, vol. 8 (1998): 23-26.
(104) "AbdAllahb. Muhammadb. Kiyaal-Mazandarfini,
Risdla-yiFalakiyya,ed. WaltherHinz (Wiesbaden:FranzSteiner,1952),p. 162; AhmetZeki VelidiTogan,"MogollarDevrindeAnadolu'nun
Iktisadi
in
Vaziyeti,"TiirkHukukveIktisatTarihiMecmuast1 (1931): 33; trans.GaryLeiser,"EconomicConditions
Anatoliain theMongolPeriod,"AnnalesIslamologiques25 (1991): 233. The financerecordsdatefromafter
thedisappearance
of theSaljfiqs;priorto 1307,however,theinterposition
of some Saljfiqauthority
in the
borderlands
was probably
recognizedbytheMongols(see AhmetZeki VelidiTogan,Umumf
TiirkTarihine
Giris[Istanbul:IsmailAkgiinMatbaasl,1946],pp. 237-38).
of Ahmedi'shistorical
(105) Kafadar,BetweenTwo Worlds,p. 85. At thebeginning
epic,thefaithand
of theMongols(Ahmedi,"Dastanve
justiceof theOttomansarejuxtaposedto theunbeliefand oppression
vol. 1 (Istanbul:Tiirkiye
Al-Osman,"in
Tarihleri,
Baslmevi,1949),pp. 6-7).
Osmanlh
Tevr~ih-i
159
LINDAT. DARLING
whosestatewas notevennominally
Muslimin Osman'searlyyears.It was
a primetargetforghazd and a significant
factorin western
consequently
Anatolian
seemtohaveavoideddwelling
however,
politics.Thechroniclers,
on theMongolpresence,perhapsin orderto emphasizetheSaljfilq
connechashada distorting
effect
on ourunderstanding
of
tion,andthissuppression
Ottomanorigins,
on theByzantine
frontier
to theneglect
focusingattention
ofthelargerAnatoliancontext.
OsmanandOrhanmayhavebeenghdzisin thesenseof
Parenthetically,
theepic narratives,
butwhether
is a
theywereawardedthetitleof Ghdczi
different
question.HardevidencethatbothOsmanandOrhanreceivedthis
titleis limitedto an inscription
on a 1337mosquecallingOrhan"Ghdizi
son
of Ghdzi,"butit has been arguedthatthisinscription
was notoriginalbut
was partofa laterrestoration
ofthemosque.(106) As we haveseen,thetitle
of Ghdziwas generallybestowedon themostprominent
leaderof ghazd;
the protocolsurrounding
its use has not been clarified.Correspondence
manualsprescribedtheproperuse of theterm,and inscriptions
in other
westernAnatolianprincipalities
indicatethatit was borne,in different
forms,by therulersof Aydln,MehmedBey (1310-1334) and UmurBey
(1334-1348),andbyrulersin Germiyan,
Sinope,Karaman,Menteshe,and
Manisa. (1'07)In thefirsthalfof thefourteenth
therulersof Aydln
century
werethemostactiveghdzileadersin thewest,carrying
theghazdintothe
Aegean with theirnaval forces. ('108)Only after 1354, when the Ottomans
establishedtheir beachhead at Gallipoli and began their European

leadersin ghazc. The titleof
conquests,did theybecometheundisputed
in
announced
the prominenceof a ruler's
inscriptions
building
Ghdzf
and legitimated
hisrule;thus,if the1337inscription
is authentic,
leadership
itrepresents
a claimbyOrhanparalleltothatofUmurBey.Itsinauthenticity
Orhan'sclaimtothetitle,as he mayhavereceived
byitselfwouldnotdisprove
itonlyafterUmurBey'sdeathin 1348.DuringthereignofMuradI (13621389), however,the Ottomanswere clearlythe most prominent
ghdzt
leaders;itis also possiblethatitwas Muradwhowas firstawardedthetitle
of Ghdziand that,as in the case of the Danishmands,because of their
successthefirsttwoOttomanrulerslaterreceivedthetitleby
descendants'
meanthatthey
courtesy.('09) Theirlack of thetitlewouldnotnecessarily
(106) Sinasi Tekin, "TiUrkDiunyaslnda Gazc ve Cihdd Kavramlan Uzerine Dutiinceler, II: Gazf Teriminin Anadolu ile Akdeniz B61gesinde Itibinnl Yeniden Kazanmasl," Tarih ve Toplum 19, no. 110 (Subat
1993): 73-80.
(107) Feridun M. Emecen, "Gazaya Dair: XIV. Yiizyll Kaynaklarl Araslnda Bir Gezinti," in Prof Dr.
Hakki Dursun Yildiz Armag~an (Ankara: TiurkTarih Kurumu Baslmavi, 1995), pp. 195-96; Paul Wittek,
"Deux chapitres de l'histoiredes Turcs de Roum," Byzantion 11 (1936): 305 and n. 3; Kafadar, Between Two
Worlds, pp. 76-77.
Enverf) (Paris: Presses universitairesde
(108) Irene Milikoff, Le Destan d'Umar Pacha
(Diistarndtme-i
France, 1954), p. 45.
(109) Bayazi~d I, despite his conquests, his defeat of the Crusaders, and his attempton Constantinople,
was apparently never granted the title of Ghadzi.This in itself would suggest that the title was usually
conferredex post facto, as an acknowledgement of a career of ghdzi-like deeds.
160
was notrecowerenotengagedin ghazd,butonlythattheirpreeminence

century.
gnizeduntilafterthemiddleof thefourteenth
The mid-fourteenth
centuryseems in generalto have been a turning
of
pointin thecultureof ghazd;it was then,in thecontestedprincipality
Eretna,thatthelegendofMalikDinishmandreceiveditssecondredaction,
Sifi veneer.(10) A numberof saints'
whichgave it a "mystico-religious"
werealso produced
lives,catecheticalworks,and othertypesof literature
at thistime,as variouselementsof thecomplexAnatoliansocietyfound
in theuse of theterm
finedistinctions
voice. By theend of thecentury,
ofOttoman
have
become
irrelevant.
The
earliest
seem
to
compilation
ghazi
history(finishedin 1402, alreadya centuryafterthe events)labeled the
ofmarone ofghazd,seennotas theactivity
wholeperiodoftheOttomans
of a powerfulruler,a conqueringstate.
ginalnomadsbutas thefunction
has beenunderThis "history",
partofAhmedf's
epic poemIskandarnima,
stood by some scholarsas depicting"the"ghdzitendencyin the early
Ottomanstate(an antinomian
ghazd accordingto Wittek,a shar'i ghaza
accordingto Imber).('")
In contrast,Pil Fodor sees the poem not as a depictionbut as an
an effortto supportOttomanlegitimacyafterthe defeatby
instrument,
(112)But withwhatweapons?The ostensiblemessageof thepoem,
Timfir.
of theOttoas analyzedby Fodor,Imber,and others,is thelegitimization
mans throughtheirsupportof ghazd, the one criterionon whichtheir
wereclearlybetterthanTimur's.This messageis conveyed
qualifications
mainlythroughthe poem's language,but its structure
conveysanother
messageas well. Its linkingoftheOttomanswiththelegendof Alexander
theGreatandtherulersofpre-IslamicIran,as wellas itspanegyric
nature,
of courtpoetrybestexempliplace thepoemsquarelywithinthetradition
in prose,thehistoriesofJuvayni
fiedbyFirdawsi'sShdhndma;
andRashid
al-Din servedthesame function
fortheIlkhanidsof Iran.The dedicatees
of suchworksweregreatconquerorsturnedPerso-Islamicemperors,
like
GhazanKhan,or Mahmid of Ghazna(althoughthelatterdid not
Hitlegti,
coulddo forhim).AlreadyduringtheMonappreciatewhattheShdhndma
thatIslamigol period,theShahndmahad receiveda Silfiinterpretation
cized theancientwisdomof thepre-IslamicIranianpastand appliedit to
the Ilkhanidrulers.(113) Ahmedf'sIskandarndmafollowedthistradition,
emphasizingtherole of themysticalteacherHlzlr,Iskandar/Alexander's
Geste,pp. 61-62.
(110) M61ikoff,
(111) Wittek,Rise,pp. 14; Imber,"The OttomanDynasticMyth,"pp. 308-9. Impliedis a critiqueof
BayazidI forhisadoptionofByzantinemoresandhis failureagainstTimur.
Dasitanas a SourceofEarlyOttomanHistory,"
ActaOrientaliaHungarica
(112) Pil Fodor,"Ahmed~i's
38 (1984): 50-51.
"Le Shah-ndme,
(113) AssadullahSourenMelikian-Chirvani,
la gnose soufieet le pouvoirmongol,"
Journalasiatique 272 (1984): 312-15; RobertHillenbrand,
"The IskandarCycle in the GreatMongol
in TheProblematics
ofPower:Easternand Western
Representations
ofAlexandertheGreat,ed.
Sihnarma,"
M. Bridgesand J.Ch. Biirgel(Bern:PeterLang,1996),p. 220.
161
LINDA T. DARLING
searchforspiritual
andhisrelationship
to previoussovereigns
ofthe
truth,
world.(114)
The originalversionofthepoem,lackingthesectionon Ottoman
history,
was probably
in 1390fora Germiyanid
completed
princeduringthereignof
B&yazidI, who subsequently
gained controlof Germiyanand became
Ahmedi'spatron.B&yaz"id
was thefirstOttoman
rulertobe recognized
as an
andto developan imperialadministration
in thePerso-Islamic
traemperor
dition.Previously
theOttomans
werenotfamedas goodrulers,piousmen,
or patronsof thearts;conquestwas theironlyoutstanding
accomplishment
of the associationwithAlexander).Only in
(thus the appropriateness
of Ottomanbureaucrats
and stateservants
B&yazid'stimedid theinterests
firstbeginto outweighthoseof theconquerorsand raiders.Ahmediwas
surelyawarethatBayazidclaimeddescentfromAlexanderandpossesseda
set of tapestries
Alexander'slife.("5) Even thoughtherevised
portraying
versionof theIskandarndma
withtheOttomanhistoryattachedwas not
untilafterthedefeatbyTimurandso was givento Bayazfd'sson,
presented
thepoemsupported
ambitions
atthesame
byitsstructure
Bayazid'simperial
timethatit critiqued
his failureto attainthem.Ratherthanbeingsimplya
oftheghdzispirit,
celebration
howeverdefined,
itwas an attempt
toharness
thatspiritto a regularized
Perso-Islamic
regime.
In contrast,
theprosehistories
ofthefifteenth
assumedan opposicentury
tionbetween
ruleandportrayed
theearlyOttoman
rulers
as
ghazdandimperial
on one sideortheotherofthatdivide.("6) Ghazdbecamea political
standing
football
overbydifferent
toscorewithit;itcould
struggled
groupswhosought
ortocritique
tosupport
thecentral
Theveryattackof
be usedeither
authority.
Timurlegitimized
andperpetuated
theuse ofghdziideologythrough
muchof
thefifteenth
sinceevenTimursaw theirghdziroleas reasonenough
century,
notto obliterate
theOttomans
Inalcikand M6nageshowedthat
completely.
usedstockimagesofpurenomadsandnobleghdzistocritique
Ashikpashazade
theimperialtendencies
of MehmedII and thecorruption
of the'ulamrd'
and
andthatthiscritique
was drivenbythegradualpoliticalsubordibureaucrats,
nationof theghuizwarriors
andnomadsto thecentralized
state.As Kafadar
whowrotethenextgeneration
ofhistories
hadan interest
argues,the'ulamrd'
inrepresenting
incompliance
withtheshart'a,and
ghazdas anordered
activity
in ghazdas a Sunniactivity
as Imberargues,thestatehada growing
interest
versions
ofIslamlikethatoftheSafavis.We recognize
opposedto "heretical"
thecoexistence
ofconflicting
in ghazain thefifteenth
interests
when
century
thoseinterests
wereattachedto identifiable
political
groupswithdiffering
agendas.
ValuesinAhmad'Ts
(114) CarolineSawyer,"SwordofConquest,Dove oftheSoul: PoliticalandSpiritual
in ibid.,pp. 135-38,141.
Iskandarnanma,"
(115) Kafadar,BetweenTwoWorlds,
p. 94; Hillenbrand,
pp. 222-23.IftheOttomansectionofthepoem
was largelycomposedbeforethebattlewithTimur,it mayevenhavebeenintended
to celebrateBlyazid's
thevictory
at Kosovo,thedefeatoftheCrusaders,
andtheattackon Constantinople.
ghizfachievements:
et legendes,"pp. 60-61,andthesourcescitedthere.
(116) See Zachariadou,"Histoires
162
of a state,however,is a different
The foundation
story;subsequent
itsexistenceas somehownecessary,
have a needto understand
generations
theinevitable
and theirresistible
forproductof the"genius"ofitsfounder
of itsfirstgeneration.
wardmomentum
Theyquarrelonlyovertheprecise
in whichtheinitial
geniusand theexactdirection
qualityof thefounder's
momentum
pointed.The decisionwhethertheoriginalOttomanswereor
of theirentire
to governtheinterpretation
werenotghdzis,then,is thought
and to givetheirstatea specificmeaningfromthefirst.
history
subsequent
buttheexamination
ofother
Notonlyis theevidenceinconclusive,
however,
frontiers
also showshow diversewerethemotivesof thosewho interested
themselvesin ghazd. Even Ahmedi'spoem reflectsa contestamong
theideologiesof warriors,
'ulamd',and thecentralstate.Analyzingthese
contextwill yielda morecomplexviewof the
ideologiesin a comparative
under
natureof theearlyOttomanstate,a clearerpictureof theconditions
ofthesources.
whichitwas founded,
and a morenuancedunderstanding
LindaT. DARLING
ofArizona,U.S.A.)
(University
163

PDF

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

PDF

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Maisonneuve & Larose

Contested Territory: Ottoman Holy War in Comparative Context

Contested Territory: OttomanHoly

OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE

in holywarhave beenquestioned.Laterscholarssharea cerengagement

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

whichtheOttomansestablishedtheirstatewas thatof thelaterCrusades.

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

ghazi activityof the Ghaznavidsand Ghfiridsis knownmainlyfrom

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

deeds.(46)The legendof SalarMas'id, whowas giventhetitle

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

"playingto an audiencewhichincludedreligiousscholars,"whomhe cultihisreign.(63) Hairfin's

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

goal, however,was controlratherthanreconquest;once havingreestabliin thefrontier

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

as partof theHolyLand andthegatewaytoholywar.(78) In

rathermixedoriginsthemselves;a poem on the Saljfiqforcesattacking

A strugglebetweenghdztand raidinginterests,patronizedby the

(84) JosephHa-Kohen,quotedbyTaefKamalEl-Azhari,TheSaljaksofSyriaduringtheCrusades,463549 A. H./1070-1154

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

could flourishside by side withmore orthodoximpulses,as indeed theydid

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

tion.(99) A mobilebandof thistypemaywell have includedTurksfrom

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

establishedtheir beachhead at Gallipoli and began their European

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

was notrecowerenotengagedin ghazd,butonlythattheirpreeminence

CONTESTED TERRITORY: OTTOMAN HOLY WAR IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT

Você também pode gostar