It has often been assumed that the subjects of the Ottoman sultans were unable to travel beyond their localities - since peasants needed the permission of their local administrators before they could legitimately leave their villages. According to this view, only soldiers and members of the governing elite would have been free to travel. However Suraiya Faroqhi's extensive archival research shows that this was not the case. Pious men from all walks of life went on pilgrimage to Mecca, slaves fled from their masters and craftspeople traveled in search of work. Faroqhi shows that even those...
It has often been assumed that the subjects of the Ottoman sultans were unable to travel beyond their localities - since peasants needed the permissio...
