Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Translation and Transliteration
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Caravans Exposed
- 2 The Political Economy of a Regional Trade in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century (1850s–1900s)
- 3 Caravan Business in the Age of Steam Ships and Railways
- 4 Crossing Borders
- 5 The End of Caravans (1930–1950s)
- 6 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - Caravans Exposed
The Management of Insecurity in the Steppe between Baghdad and Damascus
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 January 2025
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Translation and Transliteration
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Caravans Exposed
- 2 The Political Economy of a Regional Trade in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century (1850s–1900s)
- 3 Caravan Business in the Age of Steam Ships and Railways
- 4 Crossing Borders
- 5 The End of Caravans (1930–1950s)
- 6 Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
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 CaravanCamels, Traders and Markets in the Middle East, pp. 39 - 72Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025