Tunis: The Turning Point 

The fight over the Maghreb (North Africa) was a never-ending battle between the Hapsburgs, the Spanish and the Ottomans vying for control, until Piri Reis paved the way in his Kitab-i Bahriye as Ottoman success and mastery over Tunis. This episode explores the different dimensions of the formation of Tunis as a legitimate Ottoman polity. Join us as we explore the historical consequence of the Tunis’ conquest, and Piri Reis’ unique depiction of this crucial Ottoman territory. 

Researchers and Hosts

Rachel Varley, Luchi Casale, Solace Yee, Hunter Magher, Fiona Sawyer, Nasma Kawar

Image

"Tunisian coastline with the ports of Bizerte and Tunis as far as Kelibia", The Book of Navigation, The Walters Art Museum, ms W658. f. 279b.

Music Credit

Eren Ergen, "Müsemmen (8/8)" 

Mood Mode, “Funk That Feelings Instrumental.”

Vlada Balas, “The Road to Mecca.”

Volodymyr Piddubnyk, “Middle Eastern Arabic Background Cinematic Music.”

Bibliography

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Dávid, Géza. “Ottoman Armies and Warfare, 1453–1603.” In The Cambridge History of Turkey, edited by Suraiya N. Faroqhi and Kate Fleet, 276–319. Cambridge History of Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Elliott, J. H. "Iberian Empires." In The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern European History, 1350-1750: Volume II: Cultures and Power, edited by Hamish Scott. 2015

Faroqhi, Suraiya N. “Ottoman Population.” In The Cambridge History of Turkey, edited by Suraiya N. Faroqhi and Kate Fleet, 356–404. Cambridge History of Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Fleet, Kate. “Ottoman Expansion in the Mediterranean.” In The Cambridge History of Turkey, edited by Suraiya N. Faroqhi and Kate Fleet, 141–72. Cambridge History of Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Fleet, Kate. “The Ottomans, 1451–1603: A Political History Introduction.” In The Cambridge History of Turkey, edited by Suraiya N. Faroqhi and Kate Fleet, 19–43. Cambridge History of Turkey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Reis, Pirî, and Tülây Duran. Kitab-I Bahriye Pirî Reis. Edited by Ertugrul Zekâi Okte. Translated by Vahit Çabuk. 3 vols. Istanbul: Istanbul Research Center, 1988.

Soucek, Svat. "Islamic Charting in the Mediterranean." In History of Cartography, Volume 2, Book 1, edited by J. B. Harley and David Woodward. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. 

Soucek, Svat. "Tunisia in the Kitab-i Bahriye by Piri Reis." Archivum Ottomanicum 5 (1973): 129-296.