Culture and Identity in the Work of an Historian of Ottoman Basra

Abstract

In comparison to other Ottoman Arab provinces, little has been written on Ottoman Iraq, and still less on Basra, historically Iraq's main outlet to the sea. To the vast majority of Arab historians, Basra only retains its importance because of its dominant contribution to the intellectual and religious debates of early Islam. Its later development as a key trading port for the Ottoman Empire is largely glossed over by those scholars still riveted by the 'golden age' of Islamic thought. And yet, Basra's social, demographic and intellectual evolution in the 18th and 19th centuries largely set the pattern for the province's interaction with Istanbul and the larger region throughout the rest of the Ottoman period.