Book contents
- Challenging the Caliphate
- The Global Middle East
- Challenging the Caliphate
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Translation, Transliteration and Dates
- Introduction
- Part I The Caliphate and Its Dissenters
- Part II Ottoman Ideological Reactions to Wahhabism and Mahdism in the Age of Steam and Print
- Part III Ottoman Political Measures Targeting Two Rebellious Movements
- 6 Maintaining Public Order: The Surveillance of Mobility
- 7 Censoring the “Pernicious Publications” of Wahhabism and Mahdism
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Maintaining Public Order: The Surveillance of Mobility
from Part III - Ottoman Political Measures Targeting Two Rebellious Movements
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2025
Book contents
- Challenging the Caliphate
- The Global Middle East
- Challenging the Caliphate
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Translation, Transliteration and Dates
- Introduction
- Part I The Caliphate and Its Dissenters
- Part II Ottoman Ideological Reactions to Wahhabism and Mahdism in the Age of Steam and Print
- Part III Ottoman Political Measures Targeting Two Rebellious Movements
- 6 Maintaining Public Order: The Surveillance of Mobility
- 7 Censoring the “Pernicious Publications” of Wahhabism and Mahdism
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 6 focuses on Ottoman political reactions to the two opposition movements. Since the main means of spreading word about them was carried out by missionary activities, this chapter examines how Ottoman rulers reacted to Wahhabis and Mahdists in Ottoman lands. I examine in detail various cases through Ottoman archival materials, classifying them according to region as a means of showcasing the political measures implemented to stop the spread of the two movements in the centres (Istanbul and the Hejaz), in the core regions (Anatolia and Rumelia) and in the periphery (Arab regions, such as Damascus and Baghdad). This chapter shows that the severity of punishments decreased from the centre to the periphery, even though the main concern was maintaining public order in all the territories of the empire. The cases in the chapter also reveal how the telegraph and steamship helped in the central management of all the territories through the responses of the Ottoman rulers in Istanbul to incidents in the periphery.
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- Challenging the CaliphateWahhabism and Mahdism in the Late Ottoman Empire, pp. 207 - 227Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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