This volume is a local history, focusing on the experiences of people and

communities as they navigated and enacted institutions and transformations

associated with modernization in the late Ottoman era. Focusing on

the local political arena of a relatively small, predominantly rural and ordinary

setting, this book examines two neighboring Western Anatolian towns:

Yenişehir and İznik.

Utilizing rigorous historiographical inquiry and in-depth use of archival

materials, this book sketches a dynamic picture of late Ottoman imperial

political belonging with the agendas and priorities of the countryside, where

the majority of Ottomans lived. The monograph contributes to understanding

of modernization from different local perspectives by excavating the

provincial hinterland of the imperial capital. It uses a narrative technique of

analyzing certain local events to address larger structures and transformations

pertaining to the long 19th century in general and Ottoman history in

particular. As a “micro” study, it argues for the significance of individuals’

and social groups’ agencies, strategies and conceptions of their world in the

unfolding of Ottoman modernization.

Offering a vivid picture of local communities and their engagements with

modern political, social and judicial structures in the late Ottoman era, this

book will appeal to scholars and advanced graduate students interested in

comparative imperial history, Ottoman history and Middle Eastern studies.