Cemal Kafadar, Between Two Worlds: The Construction of the Ottoman State (Berkeley, CA:

University of California Press, 1995), ISBN 978-0-520-20600-7.

To understand this work, one needs look no further than the first sentence: Osman is to

the Ottomans what Romulus is to the Romans.i The subtitle is something of an illusion as the

book focuses on the persona of Osman and his successors, the Osmanli, and only by implication

the formation of an empire. Ottoman lore proffers that the ancestors of Osman fled from central

Asia with the threat of the Chingisid juggernaught in the 13th century.ii The forebears of Osman

were the second-wave of Turkish migrants from Central Asia. The first wave included the

Seljuks, who quickly became political powers in Baghdad, and eventually matured into an

empire.iii These two empires evolved into competing Islamic entities, referenced multiple times

by Kafadar.iv

Whatever the provenance of the Osmanli, it was the Seljuk Empire which decisively

defeated the Byzantine Empire in the Battle of Mantzikert in 1071 AD.v This defeat played a

crucial role in diminishing Byzantine influence in Anatolia and Armenia, ultimately leading to

Turkification of these regions.vi The defeat of the Byzantines in 1176 by the Seljuk Empire at

Myriokephalon further cemented Seljuk preeminence in Anatolia for a time.vii During this

extended period, the frontier between the Christian and Islamic worlds was known as the land of

Rm. The inhabitants represented different, intermingled religious, linguistic, and political

groups.viii The Ottomans beginning with Osman did not find it incongruous to ally with

Christian rulers or to utilize Christian warriors. Nor was this unusual. Kadafar comments:

cooperation between Anatolian Muslim warriors and Byzantines is beyond doubt.ix One

striking story relates the close relationship between Byzantine Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos

(1341-1354) and Aydinolu Umur Beg, the Emir of Aydin (1334-1348), located on the Aegean

coast of Anatolia.x The Byzantine Emperor asked Aydinolu Umur not to destroy his empire.
Reportedly they became brothers, and the Beg even offered his daughter in marriage.xi

Despite the inclination of both Christian historians and Muslim chroniclers to emphasize the

religious conflict between East and West, it was apparently less important to adversaries in

Anatolia in the 14th century. Kadafar illustrates this in the case of Kantakouzenos, who certainly

was aware of the Islamic nature of Ottomans and their contemporaries, yet chose to minimize it

in his writings.xii

What distinguished the Muslims inhabiting Anatolia in the era of Osman and for

centuries thereafter was the tradition of az. According to Kadafar the original use of the term

referred to irregular raiding; that is a predatory raid or incursion into foreign territory. At

some indeterminable point the term acquired a religious connotation: a raid by Islamic warriors

into Christian-held lands.xiii Kadafar relates that some historians such as Paul Wittek

postulated the az thesis, which theorized that the growth of the power and influence of the

Ottomans, more correctly the Osmanli, was premised primarily upon the Holy War ideology.xiv

This assumption devolved into a tableau of the frontier between the Byzantine and Seljuk

Empires of bands of gazis warriors of the Islamic faith who spread across that frontier as

Seljuk power declined. Within this milieu, the band led by Osman gained preeminence. xv Later

historians such as Rudi Paul Lindner argue that the Holy War ideology is inconsistent with

real ethos of the early Ottomans, who recruited Byzantines into their ranks, fought against

other Muslim groups, exerted no pressure to convert or persecute Christians, and displayed

moderation, etc.xvi About Osman, Lindner asserts as a tribal chief, Osman acted as a fulcrum or

as mediator, protecting the rights of ethnically and ecologically diverse groups. Acting to keep

the peace and to help his tribesmen prosper, the chief renders himself indispensable; and if he

succeeds, his tribes grows.xvii [Emphasis added.] While not denying religious zeal, Lindner
posits that the tribal orientation of early Ottomans allowed alliances with Christians when it

benefited the Osmanli. Indeed, Ronald C. Jennings observed that using Christian soldiers

along with Muslim ones on campaign violates almost everyones standard of a holy war, and

leading Christian soldiers against Muslim ones is reprehensible.xviii Interestingly, in the history

of the Osman dynasty written by Aikpaazade, written in Turkish in the latter 15th century,

labeled the armies of Sultan Bayazid I as the army of Islam. However, this Ottoman

chronicler noted that Serbian (Christian) army joined the Ottomans in defeating the forces of the

Christian allies under the leadership of the King of Hungary Sigismund, who became the Holy

Roman Emperor in 1433. The Sultan had a Serbian wife, employed Christian advisors,

introduced Byzantine court practices, and waged war on other Turkish begliks.xix Kafadar

suggests that most Ottoman historians recognize that early Ottoman practices were conciliatory

toward Christian neighbors, thus unorthodox in the practice of Islam. Further, these early

Ottomans did not perceive this attitude as inconsistent with the gazi spirit.xx No doubt this

contributed to the view of central authority in the Seljuk Empire that the Ottomans and their

peers were ziyn, which translates to scoundrels, and potential troublemakers and socially

unstable elements.xxi

Kadafar recognizes the warrior aspect of the gazi. As a general observation based on my

experience, experienced soldiers adhere to the warrior ethosxxii This code compels respect for

the enemy soldier who likewise observes it. Alexios Angelos Philanthropenos, the Byzantine

Greek nobleman who ruled Thessaly (c. 1373-1390), was so respected by the Turks that they

were willing to halt the siege of Philadelphia in 1323 recalling his kindness and valor in 1295.

Another example more familiar to Western readers is Salh al-Dn al-Ayyb commonly

known in the West as Saladin.xxiii Kadafar classifies him as a warrior who displayed
statesmanlike compassion and magnanimity toward the enemy.xxiv Historians relate during the

Third Crusade (1189-1192) when King Richard I of England (Richard the Lionhearted) became

ill, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician and sent Richard fresh fruit with snow

to reduce his fever. Richard won an impressive victory over Saladin in the Battle of Arsuf

(1191).xxv Nonetheless, hearing that Richard lost his horse during the battle, Saladin sent him

two replacements.xxvi

There is much to commend this tome by Kafadar. In closing, there is one practice by

Osman and his heirs which contributed greatly to the success and longevity of the dynasty. That

is the adoption of primogeniture.xxvii This avoided the division of Osmans patrimony, as was

the common practice among other begliks.xxviii Primogeniture hopefully would insure the

integrity of the ever expanding world of the Osmanli united under a single leader.

Between Two Worlds is a noteworthy introduction into Ottoman history. Its breadth is

such that an in-depth review is impossible in but a brief synopsis. It was a pleasure to review it.

Pierre A. Kleff, Jr.

Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, Texas
i
Kadafar, 1.
ii
Kadafar, 2. Chingisid, or Chinggisid, refers to Mongols led by descendants of Genghis
Khan. See, Nicola Di Cosmo, Allen J. Frank, and Peter B. Golden, The Cambridge History of
Inner Asia: The Chinggisid Age (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
iii
Kadafar, 2.
iv
Kadafar, 3-9, 14, 122.
v
Kafadar, 3.
vi
Peter Malcomb Holt, Ann Katherine Swynford Lambton, and Bernard Lewis, The
Cambridge History of Islam (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 231-232.
vii
Kafadar, 4. It is important to note that despite significant defeat by the Seljuk army at
Myriokephalon, the capabilities of the Byzantine army were not affected. The following year,
the Byzantines handed the Seljuks decisive defeats at Hyelion and Leimocheir on the Meander
River. Nonetheless, Myriokephalon marked a definitive geopolitical reversal for the
Byzantines. See, Battle of Myriokephalon, Hellenic World,
www.hellenicweorld.com/Byzantine/en/BattleOfMyriokephalon.html.
viii
Kadafar, 4.
ix
Kadafar, 4.
x
Donald MacGillivray Nicol, The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 (Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 202.
xi
Kadafar, 70.
xii
Kafadar, 89.
xiii
Kadafar, 80.
xiv
Kadafar, xi-xii, 11, 38.
xv
Kadafar, 38, 49.
xvi
Kadafar, 51. The author presents position of the Ottomist historian Rudi Paul Lindner.
He does not provide a specific citation, but it is presumed that Kadafar references the following
text: Rudi Paul Lindner, Nomads and Ottomans in Medieval Anatolia (Bloomington, IN:
Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, 1983). It is listed in Selected
Bibliography, Kadafar, 203.
xvii
Lindner, 25.
xviii
Ronald C. Jennings, Some Thoughts on the Gazi-Thesis, Wiener Zeitchrift fur die
Kunde des Morgenlenders 76 (1986), 151-161. Quoted by Kadafar, 52.
xix
Hilmi Kaar, and Jan Dumolyn, The Battle of Nicopolis (1396), Bergundian Catastrophe
and Ottoman Fiat Divers, Revue belge de philologie et dhistorie 91 (2013), 927-928. In 1492,
Spain expelled its Jewish (and Muslim) population as part of the Spanish Inquisition. Bayazid II
sent the Ottoman navy to Spain to evacuate these refugees safely to Ottoman territories. He
issued a proclamation throughout the Ottoman Empire declaring these refugees were to be
welcomed. Isadore Singer, and Cyrus Adler, The Jewish Encyclopedia: a Descriptive Record
of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People From the Earliest Times
to the Present Day (New York, NY : Funk and Wagnalls, 1912), 460. See also, Vernon D.
Egger, A History of the Muslim World Since 1260: The Making of a Global Community (Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2008), 82.
xx
Kadafar, 55, 70.
xxi
Kadafar, 56.
xxii
Warrior ethos is a code of conduct that embodies a life where integrity, loyalty, honor,
selflessness, and courage are ones guide. Stephen Pressfield, The Warrior Ethos (Brooklyn,
NY: Black Irish Entertainment LLC, 2011).
xxiii
It should be noted that Saladin was a Kurd, and was the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, as
well as the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. He was a Sunni Muslim of Kurdish ethnicity. R.
Stephen Humphreys, From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 11931260
(Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1997), 29.
xxiv
Kadafar, 127.
xxv
Kennedy Hickman, The Crusades: Battle of Arsuf, ThoughtCo,
www.thoughtco.com/the-crusades-battle-of-arsuf-2-0360710. See also, Rich Laws, Richard
and Saladin: Warriors of the Third Crusade, Shadowed Realm: Medieval History,
www.shadowedrealm.com/articles/exclusive/richard_saladin.
xxvi
Laws.
xxvii
Primogeniture is the superior or exclusive right possessed by the eldest son to succeed to
the estate of his ancestor to the exclusion of younger sons. Blacks Law Dictionary, Revised
Fourth Edition (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company, 1968), 1355.
xxviii
Kadafar, 136.