Book Presentation: Malissa Taylor, Land and Legal Texts in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire: Harmonization, Property Rights and Sovereignty (2023)

February 20, 2024

Location: Zoom | Time: 2 pm to 4 pm | Date: Thursday, March 7th

Land and Legal Texts in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire: Harmonization, Property Rights and Sovereignty (2023) delves into the evolution of Ottoman land law, tracing its development from the sixteenth century to the 1858 Land Code. Through an analysis of legal texts, Malissa Taylor reveals the indigenous property rights embedded in Ottoman land tenure law and explores the shift towards legislative authority under the sultan, setting the stage for broader state intervention in the Tanzimat reform era.

Dr.Taylor is a Director of Middle Eastern Studies and Assistant Professor in the Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Dr. Taylor specializes in early modern Middle Eastern history, focusing on Ottoman property rights, agrarian empires, and the evolution of political authority, with an impressive track record of publications in numerous peer-reviewed journals as well as a winner of several fellowships, including grants from the Fulbright-Hays Commission, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.