{"product_id":"9780791487266","title":"The Nature of the Early Ottoman State","description":"Drawing on surviving documents from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, The Nature of the Early Ottoman State provides a revisionist approach to the study of the formative years of the Ottoman Empire. Challenging the predominant view that a desire to spread Islam accounted for Ottoman success during the fourteenth-century advance into Southeastern Europe, Lowry argues that the primary motivation was a desire for booty and slaves. The early Ottomans were a plundering confederacy, open to anyone (Muslim or Christian) who could meaningfully contribute to this goal. It was this lack of a strict religious orthodoxy, and a willingness to preserve local customs and practices, that allowed the Ottomans to gain and maintain support. Later accounts were written to buttress what had become the self-image of the dynasty following its incorporation of the heartland of the Islamic world in the sixteenth century.","brand":"State University of New York Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47127603446000,"sku":"9780791487266","price":31.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780791487266_p0.jpg?v=1763667771","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780791487266","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}