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1 - Caravans Exposed

The Management of Insecurity in the Steppe between Baghdad and Damascus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2025

Philippe Pétriat
Affiliation:
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
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Summary

This chapter contrasts with the introduction by focusing on an event that an intersection of different sources (Ottoman, Arabic, English and French sources) document in an exceptional way: the attack of a big caravan on its road from Damascus to Baghdad in 1857. Its aims at plunging readers into the life, business and management of caravans in the mid-nineteenth century – a period that is introduced here as a turning point for life and business in the steppe in the Ottoman realms. Built as an enquiry into the attack and into what the historiography has considered a handicap of overland trade (insecurity) unlike oceanic trade, this chapter illuminates the regional system institutionalised by Bedouin/State/Traders to deal efficiently with insecurity and hazards of caravan trade over long distances.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Last Caravan
Camels, Traders and Markets in the Middle East
, pp. 39 - 72
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Caravans Exposed
  • Philippe Pétriat, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
  • Book: The Last Caravan
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009524537.003
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  • Caravans Exposed
  • Philippe Pétriat, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
  • Book: The Last Caravan
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009524537.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Caravans Exposed
  • Philippe Pétriat, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
  • Book: The Last Caravan
  • Online publication: 09 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009524537.003
Available formats
×