Ruler Visibility and Popular Belonging in the Ottoman Empire, 1808–1908 by Darin N. Stephanov (review)

Since Abdülkadir Özcan's 1991 article on Mahmud II's country trips (memleket gezileri), the increasing visibility of Ottoman sultans in the nineteenth century has been frequently commented on and seen as a sign of changing sensibilities by several historians. Yet Darin N. Stephanov's book is the first systematic treatment of this very interesting phenomenon and a very welcome addition to the growing body of literature on Ottoman cultural history. With his detailed knowledge of Ottoman archives and linguistic gifts, which allow him to use Russian and Bulgarian sources, Stephanov gives us a fascinating account of ruler visibility and popular belonging in the Ottoman Empire throughout the long nineteenth century; more specifically from the accession of Sultan Mahmud II in 1808 to the Young Turk Revolution in 1908.

The book consists of an introduction and four chapters, which are divided between four nineteenth-century Ottoman sultans: namely Mahmud, Abdülmecid, Abdülaziz, and Abdülhamid. The first chapter, before focusing on Mahmud's reign, traces the concept of ruler visibility throughout the long history of the Ottoman Empire. It starts literally from the very beginning, that is to say with Osman. Due to the nature of the documentation available and also because of Stephanov's training as a scholar of the nineteenth century, this section is the least satisfactory part of the book. Obviously when Stephanov writes "beginning with Selim II, no Ottoman sultan personally led the Ottoman army on campaigns any longer," he simply reiterates one of the urban legends of Ottoman historiography. We know that Ottoman sultans kept on going to campaigns for almost another century and a half after Selim's death in 1574. Both Murad IV's Baghdad campaign in 1638 and Mustafa II's disastrous Austria campaign in 1697 can be cited as main examples. This section could have benefitted from the reading and suggestions of a colleague working on earlier periods. But the moment Stephanov begins to talk about Mahmud, in other words, when he puts his focus on the nineteenth century, both the author and the reader feel more confident.

The part about Mahmud II's growing visibility, especially after the abolition of the janissaries is as good as one can expect. It is a very comprehensive investigation of the paradigmatic shift that we see during the reign of Mahmud II. While the subject under investigation is not entirely original, Stephanov manages to bring his creative ideas and fresh insights into the picture. The discussion of increasing militarization of Mahmud's image as a result of his increasing visibility, for instance, is quite remarkable (p. 18). This chapter also introduces the ruler's celebrations motive. Here Stephanov details the institution of annual festivities for the sultan's birthday and accession day in the Ottoman context. The presentation of this novelty in "profoundly religious terms" (p. 24) is very Mahmudian and makes for engrossing reading.

The second chapter begins with the analysis of Sultan Abdülmecid's deliberate continuation of his father's policy of visibility. It shows very clearly how Mahmud set the tone, as it were, for many royal practices which would last until the end of the empire (pp. 41–42). The use of Western style medals and other insignia is also examined in this chapter, albeit briefly. It would have been interesting to read them as tokens of symbolic visibility. Stephanov instead shifts his concentration to what he calls the "trope of love," a theme which also constitutes the main premise of his next chapter.

These two chapters, respectively the ones on Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz, are the high point of the book. They have two characteristics which nicely complement each other. On the macro level, both chapters probe and analyze "some intended and unintended modernising effects of the discourse of reform" (p. 37). On the micro level, which is the most interesting part, they use the...