Capitulations And The Ottoman Legal System: Qadis,consuls And Beraths In The 18th Century (Studies in Islamic Law and Society)

Pre-modern Western sources generally claim that European mercantile communities in the Ottoman Empire enjoyed legal autonomy, and were thus effectively immune to Ottoman justice. At the same time, they report numerous disputes with Ottoman officials over jurisdiction (“avanias”), which seems to contradict this claim, the discrepancy being considered proof of the capriciousness of the Ottoman legal system. Modern studies of Ottoman-European relations in this period have tended uncritically to accept this interpretation.

Readership: All those interested in legal history, the history of Islamic law, the history of the Ottoman Empire, the history of European-Ottoman relations, as well as historians of the Middle East in general.