Proceedings of the International Congress on The Maghreb and The Western Mediterranean in the Ottoman Era Rabat, 12-14 November 2009

This book resulted from the congress which was organized jointly by the Royal Institute for the History of Morocco (IRRHM, Rabat) and IRCICA with the collaboration of the Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Mohammed V University, in Rabat. Its theme, with geographical focus on “The Maghreb and Western Mediterranean” and historical reference to the Ottoman period, brought into scope a multitude of issues of the sea and the land, travels and trade, political rivalries, economic competition, dynasties and legal systems. Relations between the states and societies around the Mediterranean, developmentof technology, arts andculture, andthe external andthe internal factors always atplay in this zoneof crossings, all came intothe analysis. Thus the congress covereda wide rangeof subjects. The session theme “DiscoveringThe Other” was addressed with studieson geographers andtravelers with regard to how peoples of the Maghreb and the Ottoman world came to know each other through these sources. Among the texts studied were the works of illustrious Ottoman scientists-geographers such as Piri Reis and Katip Çelebi about Morocco and the writings emanating from Moroccan ambassadorial missions and Moroccan travelers about Ottoman lands. Two sessions were devoted to the theme “Maghrebians and Ottomans”, dealing with a wide gamut of cases of unity and conflict, cooperation and competition, perception and treatment. Another session was devoted to the theme of economy and architecture, with references to European trade in the region, Ottoman legislation on trade, infrastructural developments and mutual influences between Ottoman and Maghrebian architectural styles and elements. The session on “Western Mediterranean between Confrontation and Communication” addressed several specific subjects, including navies, slavery, and pilgrimage routes, while the session titled “Between Localism and Centralism”discussedchallengingtopics in the contextof relationsbetween the Ottoman State andthe regions then falling within andoutside its realm. As to the theme “Maghreb in World History”, it highlighted diverse cases and channels of diplomatic relations within the region placing them in the