Transottomanica: Eastern European-Ottoman-Persian Mobility Dynamics
To date, social and (trans)cultural ties between Russia, Poland-Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire and Persia from the early modern period to the beginning of the twentieth century have not been the subject of systematic historical study. The historical societies of the above-mentioned regions developed relationships that evolved and interconnected over centuries. The program will focus on the “transottoman” ties and communication practices which emerged as a consequence of mobility between these dominions and which have not previously become visible in studies of individual regions or bilateral relations. This approach promises to change our understanding of globalised European and Asian histories in a transcontinental context. Instead of constructing “one” new region, our “post-area studies” approach allows us to focus on several different contexts and fields of social interaction with different spatial and social ranges unified by the lens of mobility: Our focus will be on reciprocal processes of migration, knowledge circulation (travelling concepts), travel, trade and mobility of entire societies between Muscovy and then the tsarist empire, Poland-Lithuania, the Ottoman Empire and Persia. Since we are exploring undiscovered terrain, we will first carry out basic research. On the basis of these findings we will then develop suitable methodological tools for a new theory design that will take into account the specific requirements of our subject of research.