Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Note on transliteration; List of abbreviations; Map; Introduction; Part I. The Community: Learning and Leadership: 1. The community of learning: concept and organization; 2. Leadership in the age of multiple centers; 3. Monopolization of leadership in Najaf; 4. Diffusion, centralization and politicization; 5. Determinants of status and leadership; Part II. The 'Ulama' Between the Ottomans and Qajars: 6. The shrine cities, the Mamluks and Iran; 7. The 'ulama' and the reassertion of direct Ottoman control; 8. The 'ulama' and Ottoman centralization policy; 9. The changing political triangle, 1875–1904; Conclusion; Appendix; Notes; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Promotional Information

Explores the social and political dynamics of nineteenth-century Shi'ism and through this sheds light on modern debates.

Reviews

"Litvak has made an important and original contribution to our understanding of nineteenth-century Iraqi Shi'ism, and alo to the relations of the shrine cities with both Istanbul and Tehran...I learned a great deal from this balanced, nuanced, and carefully argued book." MESA Bulletin, Peter Sluglett, University of Utah