[Bilimsel Haber] Book review: Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

Gabor Agoston. Guns for the Sultan: Military Power and the Weapons
Industry in the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge Studies in Islamic
Civilization Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 277
pp. Illustrations, bibliography, notes on weights measurements, index.
$75.00 (cloth), ISBN 0-521-84313-8.
*
Reviewed by:* Tom Lewis, Department of Defence, Australia.
*Published by:* H-War <http://www.h-net.msu.edu/%7Ewar> (December, 2006)



An Empire's Firearms Explained

Guns for the Sultan comprehensively sets out the development of firearms
technology in the Ottoman Empire. Such weapons provided the main
tactical advantage utilized in this nation-state force's heyday and the
work sets out to be a reference on their procurement for any scholars
studying the period. Has it achieved its aim?

Author Gabor Agoston has chosen a straightforward thematic approach
which works well. The reasons for acquiring the technology are charted,
as are the weapons which various powerbrokers manufactured and used over
several hundred years. The discussion covers a collection of firearms
from small pieces firing projectiles of 30-500 grams, up to the largest
items firing shots of up to 74 kilograms in weight. The author examines
the process of manufacturing these weapons--from location of an
abundance of saltpeter and sulfur deposits--through to the basics of
design, mechanics of manufacture, and the requirements of labor.

The text takes the reader through the personnel allocations necessary to
build and operate mortars, bombards, and other weapons, and there is
sufficient use of anecdotal descriptions to bring the picture to life.
Thus we are able to see aspects of the human society that underpinned
the societal infrastructure necessary to provide "guns for the sultan."
The author has thoughtfully provided a mix of basic technical
requirements, moving smoothly from basic and brief descriptions to a
higher level of detail, which requires that the reader have a sufficient
background knowledge. In this way, the work will prove attractive to
both the layman and the professional, although its principal strength
lies in its scholarly reference detail.

The author's use of sources has been widespread and comprehensive.
Agoston capably moves from observed fact to deduction, and occasionally
induction, smoothly and without lapsing into generalization. A
combination of footnotes and endnotes would perhaps have added to the
readability, whereas the use of footnotes alone in this volume sometimes
results in the pages of text being half-full of references.

The work moves from studies of the land-based production industries for
guns, to their deployment even within localized navies. Several tables
are usefully provided, although I would have preferred to see totals for
"crew" and then "fighting men" numbers alone, which were not followed by
a third column of "crew plus fighting men," for the third total does not
equal the sum of the two previous ones. The work also moves down into
lighter weapon production such as muskets, but sensibly avoids study of
tactical use. One important achievement is the placement of the Ottoman
Empire and its warfare industry alongside that of other empires of the
sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is sometimes
suggested that following their defeat at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571,
the Ottoman Empire's achievements were largely subsumed beneath other
great centers of power. The author successfully argues that this is more
the product of parochial thinking than of proven scholarship.

Physically Guns for the Sultan is an attractive work, replete with maps,
illustrations, tables, and an elegant dust jacket. The author is
Associate Professor of History in Georgetown University, and overall
this book matches readability with scholarship and usefulness. An
impressive achievement.



Citation: Tom Lewis. "Review of Gabor Agoston, Guns for the Sultan:
Military Power and the Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire," H-War,
H-Net Reviews, December, 2006. URL:
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=305601169492219.