This website is part of a project that has been completed by Prof. Betül Başaran’s Islamic Empires class for the 2019 Fall semester. This website is used as a summary of each individual’s
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About the FA 22 Class
This website was created as part of a class project at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The class is Islamic Empires: Podcasting the Ottomans, (HIST 314), and is taught by Dr. Betül Başaran. Ashlie H. I’m a senior at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. I’m majoring in religious studies and art. I’m a Wiccan Adept at the Circle of the Silver Raven, where I teach classes.… Read more Continue reading About the FA 22 Class
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Birka Ring and Muslim-Viking Relations
When we think of examples of cultural interactions between two different cultural groups throughout human history, interactions between Muslim travelers and Vikings is one that for many people do not expect or even know given the vastly perceived cultural differences and the geographical distance between the Islamic and Viking worlds. However, the discovery of a Islamic finger ring discovered in a burial site of a… Read more Continue reading Birka Ring and Muslim-Viking Relations
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Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahâtnâme; the Great Account of the Ottoman Empire at the Height of its Power
Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahâtnâme; the Great Account of the Ottoman Empire at the Height of its Power A painting of Evliya Çelebi. Credit: David Szabo Four hundred years ago, in a dream, Evliya Çelebi confused the words for “intercession” and “travel,” and instead of getting peace of mind from the Prophet’s blessing, he inadvertently sentenced himself to a lifetime of global travel (Dankoff 2010, p.3). This… Read more Continue reading Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahâtnâme; the Great Account of the Ottoman Empire at the Height of its Power
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About 2024
This is a website created by the students of the “Islamic Empires” class (HIST 314)–Jon Geyer, Collin Ward, and Mortimer Shiflett– taught by Dr. Betül Başaran in 2024. It is devoted to the critical study of three objects, each of which speaks to some notable aspect of Islamic history. For his part of the project, Jon wrote about the significance of the Seyahâtnâme, and its… Read more Continue reading About 2024
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Hurrem Sultan’s Imaret in Jerusalem
Introduction: The Imaret is part of a larger complex called the Waqf. The imaret is a massive soup kitchen that would be placed in countries that the Ottoman empire would conquer, and would feed thousands of people on a daily basis. The specific one that I wrote about in the Imaret in Jerusalem was founded in the early 1550s but was not fully established until… Read more Continue reading Hurrem Sultan’s Imaret in Jerusalem
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Suakin: An Ottoman Port in the Red Sea
Aerial view of the city’s ruin Before Ottoman Occupation Located in Northeastern Sudan, Suakin was a trading hub at the Red Sea connecting Africa, the middle east and even as far as India even before Ottoman occupation. Early Arabic sources from the tenth-century indicate it was a port inhabited by the local Beja people who facilitated trade in the red sea, and was also a… Read more Continue reading Suakin: An Ottoman Port in the Red Sea
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Objects of the Ottoman Empire 