Fifteenth Century Ottoman Realities

This work examines the manner in which the Ottomans established control, in the fourteenth and fifteenth century, over a largely Orthodox Christian population in the Balkans and Aegean basin. It argues that their success in ruling the multi-ethnic, multi-confessional state thus created was due less to force of numbers than it was to their granting a wide variety of concessions and privileges to their subjects. This policy, known as istimalet, or good will and accommodation, stemmed, according to Lowry, from a combination of factors including a severe shortage of trained manpower to administer their ever-growing polity and an understanding, from a remarkably early period, that the fruits of conquest (booty and slaves) were no substitute for the steady flow of income (tax revenues) which could be obtained from a population whose support they enjoyed.

This book provides the reader a fascinating behind the scenes glimpse into how the early Ottomans managed to create a world empire primarily among peoples whose languages, religions and cultures were all equally foreign to them.