Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Preface

A note on spelling, names, maps and quotations

A guide to Ottoman titles

Maps

  1.   First among equals

  2.   A dynasty divided

  3.   An imperial vision

  4.   Sultan of the faithful

  5.   Possessor of the kingdoms of the world

  6.   The sedentary sultan

  7.   Government by faction

  8.   Revenge of the pashas

  9.   Rule of the grandees

10.   The empire unravels

11.   The perils of insouciance

12.   The power of the provinces

13.   From the ‘New Order’ to the ‘Re-ordering’

14.   A crisis of identity

15.   The Islamic empire

16.   The storm before the calm

Sultans of the Ottoman Empire

Chronology

Notes

Bibliography

Index