Middle East History Glossary

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'ayb

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shame in arabic. What women should yell at men to stop them harrassing them. Implies their mother will beat them if they were to find out.

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Alawites

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Group in the mountains behind the coast of Syria who were probably broken off from Shiites but are regarded by other Muslims as non-Muslim because they regard Ali as God. Rulers of Syria since 1970 have come from Alawites

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Ali

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nephew and son-in-law of the Prophet who some Muslims thought should be caliph after Uthman, but was assassinated before issues were resolved. Seen by later shiites as the first imam and leader of the muslim community

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Balkans

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Mainly Christian area in southeastern Europe controlled by the Ottomans but in the 1800s and 1900s seething with Nationalist fervor

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bey

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High ottoman official title, lower than Pasha, but also goes after the person's name, like Usman Bey

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caliph

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From Arabic khalifa, meaning successor to the prophet. Office persisted as sole leadership of the Islamic world through 945, when Turkish generals controlled the government. But the caliph retained some religious authority after, and later rulers and leaders have claimed title.

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Committee of Union and Progress

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The Young Turks' political aperatus, trying to modernize the ottoman empire.

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Crimean War

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1853-56. Ottomans, British, French vs Russia. Push back Russia temporarily from encroaching on ottomans, but exposes Ottoman's weakness and lack of modernization

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dhimmi

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Protected minority under Islamic Law, includes Christians, Jews, and anyone with organized religion, but not Muslim schismatics

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eunuch

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castrated male as ottoman slave, used for both harem administration and military administration. These slaves were supposed to be loyal only to the sultan since they had and could have no families to promote. African eunuchs were beneath European eunuchs

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Gallipoli Campaign

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Attempt by the Allies in World War I to invade Turkey and take Istanbul using Australian and New Zeland troops but ultimately fails.

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Hafez al-Assad

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President of Syria to 2000, Air force general involved in coup against the government, Batthist killed 20,000 in 1979, 1982 trying to make alliances with other minorities. son now rules

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imam

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Prayer leader, but to Shiites the infallible head of the Islamic comunity descending from Ali

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Iran nuclear deal 2014

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Deal between the European Union the US and Iran that Iran would not enrich uranium up to weapons grade in exchange for some lifting of economic sanctions. Deal is to be policed by increased inspections

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Janissaries

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Yeni Cheri, "new troops" in Turkish. Christian children were recruited from the Balkans, converted to Islam, and trained as a fighting force, slaves loyal only to the sultan in the 1400s. By 1800s they became a reactionary political group

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Kurds

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Indo-European speaking country and mountain folk who are mostly sunnite, they live in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey and have been used by each country's enemies against the countries. Nationalism has rarely been acknowledged despite now being perhaps 20 million strong

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Levant

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eastern coast of the Mediterranean

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Mahdi

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Right Guided caliph expected to appear at the end of time to reform Islam and the world

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mandate

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supposedly temporary colonies given to European nations after World War I, carving up the Middle East and preparing each colony for eventual indiependence, 1919 - 1946

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middle east

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region in western Asia, also including North Africa, Southern Europe defined but cultures but without clear borders

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millet

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Ottoman term for religious group given local authority, but under Ottomans, not all such groups were recognized and in Persian and Turkish the term has come to mean "the nation"

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Modern

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1500-now

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Muhammad Ali

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Ruler of egypt from 1805 to his death in 1849. Albanian general under the Ottomans, asserted Egypt's fiscal and administrative independence and initiated far reaching top down reforms, his descendants ruled egypt until 1945

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Napoleon

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french general who invaded and tried to reogranize Egypt from 1798-1800 later french emperor. Brough first printing press to the Middle East and used it for Propaganda.

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Nasser

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Gamel Abd-el-Nassel, 1918-70 president of Egypt and influential embodiment of Arab nationalism even outside of Egypt

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orthodox

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In greek, right teaching, among muslims the term refers to Sunnites. Among christians its Greek and Orthodox churches

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Ottomans

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turkish speaking dynasty that ruled the central Middle East form 1350s to 1918

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Palestine

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Area in the Central Levant, name derives from on of the Sea Peoples of the 1200's BCE, and was used by romans for the whole area from Sinai to Damascus. Later general term for the British mandate in the Levant, divided after 1948 with Israel, another under recognized group lives here

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pasha

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highest ottoman official title. used by moth military and civilians. goes after the person's name as in Gordon Pasha

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Pillars of Islam

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Witness

Alms

Prayer

Fasting

Pilgrimage

Shiites add:

Forbidding the bad

Recommending the good

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proteskia

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Hebrew for protection, influence of who you know to advance you in society and life

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Safavids

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persian dynasty whose leaders claimed religious authority and forced conversion to Shiism, ruling from 1500 to 1722, suceeded by outsiders from Afghanistan

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Shariah

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the path or islamic law derived from teh REvelation and the precedents of the Prophet and his Companions

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Ariel Sharon

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Israeli politician and war hero and possible war criminal.

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Shii

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people of the party (shia) of Ali, who did not accept outcome of first civil war and believe ali should have been caliph. Trace righteous authority through Ali's descedants but differ on how many imams there were. Shiites are majority in Iraq and Iran

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sultan

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means power, term for king or ruler of Ottomans and other states, has no religious meaning

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Sunni

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Orthodox muslims who accepted outcome of first civil war and see oral traditions as right basis of actions. The majorite of world's muslims

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tanzimat

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reorganizaiton name of the top down reform movement instituted by the Ottomans in teh 1800s

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ulama

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islamic shcolars, includes preachers, judges, teachers, scholars

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Uniates

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refers to christian groups who allied with roman catholics during and after the Crusades. Usually said services in local language

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Waqf

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pious endowment exempt from taxes used to support schools, tombs, hospitals

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wusta

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influence in arabic, people who can help you do stuff, considered unfair but indispensible

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young Turks

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military leaders who deposed the Ottoman sultan and institued a three-man dictortorship devoted to modernization of military.