Research Findings in Ottoman and Iranian Studies in Morocco

Academics at Middle Eastern universities have taken interest in the Ottoman period as part of the history of their countries, which were controlled by the Sublime Porte for four centuries. Scholars in the Maghreb, meanwhile, have focused on the various periods of national history – Ottoman control of their countries vacillated between direct rule and “autonomy” – and have largely overlooked the history of the Ottoman presence save for on the margins or while invoking local triumphs. The issue that has attracted researchers’ attention is Moroccan-Ottoman relations – which was a Mashreqi-European field par excellence in the 1970s. This would become the first Moroccan foray into Ottoman studies, especially after the establishment of the Unit of Morocco and the Arab-Islamic World 1900-1950, a training and research unit at Université Mohammed V. This paper explores the phases through which this new field has been institutionalized and explores various Ottoman and Iranian Studies scholarship at several levels. It further seeks to assess the value of these fields.

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Academics at Middle Eastern universities have taken interest in the Ottoman period as part of the history of their countries, which were controlled by the Sublime Porte for four centuries. Scholars in the Maghreb, meanwhile, have focused on the various periods of national history – Ottoman control of their countries vacillated between direct rule and “autonomy” – and have largely overlooked the history of the Ottoman presence save for on the margins or while invoking local triumphs. The issue that has attracted researchers’ attention is Moroccan-Ottoman relations – which was a Mashreqi-European field par excellence in the 1970s. This would become the first Moroccan foray into Ottoman studies, especially after the establishment of the Unit of Morocco and the Arab-Islamic World 1900-1950, a training and research unit at Université Mohammed V. This paper explores the phases through which this new field has been institutionalized and explores various Ottoman and Iranian Studies scholarship at several levels. It further seeks to assess the value of these fields.

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