This dissertation is about Kara Feyzi, a bandit and rebel who commanded a heterogeneous network of violent malcontents that devastated local communities and imperial forces throughout Ottoman Rumeli (i.e., Ottoman Europe) from the early 1790's until 1806-1807, when he was finally co-opted as a local Ottoman notable (a 'yan) and official. Although he is today one of many forgotten men of Ottoman history, in his day Kara Feyzi was one of the most notorious brokers of violence who dominated Rumeli and siphoned off social and imperial resources. His network evolved into a social, economic, and political enterprise that brought together men from all walks of life, from the lowliest tax-paying subjects (re 'aya) and irregular soldiers (sekban) to the high-ranking ministers (vezirs) from across the empire.;Through a close examination of Kara Feyzi's practices, network, and the mechanisms that informed his ascent onto the stage of Ottoman imperial politics, this dissertation offers a case study in Ottoman political culture during the reign of Sultan Selim III (1789-1807) from a completely different angle. It challenges the established narratives about the period regarding issues such as the supposedly sharp dichotomies between the Ottoman "center" and "periphery," the role of provincial notables (a 'yan) in the ubiquitous disorder of the period, the rote of imperial reforms issued from Istanbul that allegedly rallied Ottoman society against the government, and notions of justice and rebellion in the Ottoman and greater Islamic tradition. This study also underscores the necessity of studying frontiers and their peoples in late Ottoman history on their own terms, because as was the case in earlier periods, the men who populated these spaces still played "central" roles in Ottoman society. This work attempts to go beyond Balkan and Turkish nationalist historiography and make a case for an integrated approach to the history of Ottoman Rumeli that synthesizes regional, national, imperial, and inter-imperial histories.
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