Legitimizing the order. The Ottoman rhetoric of state power

The three sections of the book, The Well-Founded Order, Religiosity and Orthodoxy and the Crisis of Ottoman Legitimacy revolve around the issue how the sultan and the Ottoman ruling class sought to inculcate their understanding of authority into the Ottoman population. Besides notions such as good government, justice and divine right, the practical achievement of order and tranquility was the hallmark of a successful Ottoman ruler. The last section of the book turns to the question how Ottoman notions of legitimacy - especially in the 18th and 19th centuries - were exposed to criticism or how they were disrupted in crisis situations. [Back cover].