Ottoman Pirates, Ottoman Victims

This chapter chronicles the rise of Ottoman-on-Ottoman maritime violence in the post-1570 period, accounting for its endurance and examining its internal social and political significance for the Ottoman state and its implications for our understanding of Ottoman power and center-periphery relations. Introducing the Ottoman pirate “life cycle,” it explores the connections between “local” and “long-distance” manifestations of piracy and the slippery distinctions between pirate and corsair, positing that Ottoman subjects were the prey that sustained all pirates in the Ottoman Mediterranean and enabled them to expand their operations. Because the Ottoman central administration relied heavily on naval irregulars to safeguard the coasts and provide intelligence on enemy movements, it was forced to balance the demands of law and justice with its security needs and the limits of its political and military capacity.