Tribal banditry in Ottoman ayntab (1690-1730)

Abstract

This thesis attempts to understand the tribal banditry through a micro historical analsysis, which focuses on the tribal banditry in Ayntab region during the late seveneteenth and early eighteenth century. Though it focuses on a specific region, it tries to contribute to the discussion on banditry and also tries to develop a model for analyzing banditry in the Ottoman Empire. The novelty of this model is that it is more likely to consider different factors, like social organization, which is mainly shaped by the group perception of the actor, and social, economical, and political motivators, in understanding banditry. Moreover, this study offers an approach that sees the banditry as not sporadic events but a long lasting phenomenon in the Ottoman history. Thus, it reflects banditry as embodied socio-political conflicts.