This book explores the transformation of the state in Wallachia, an Ottoman tributary principality, between 1740 and 1800, by focusing on three administrative techniques: regulations, paperwork (registers, identification certificates), and weights and measures. The implementation by the central power of regulations, bookkeeping, certificates and standard units of measurement was not smooth, but they nevertheless herald the beginning of the struggle against localism and of the efforts to extend the boundaries of legitimate state action. The book challenges the (mostly Romanian) historiography of the Phanariot period which has portrayed the state in the traditional fashion as institutions exerting a set of responsibilities and has insisted almost exclusively on its extractive function and abusive character. Instead, a study of how this state functioned and how its means to interact with the subjects changed in the second half of the eighteenth century is presented. Rethinking the problem of the state in eighteenth-century Wallachia, traditionally regarded as a mere instrument of Ottoman domination, it argues that it was precisely during this time that the bases of modern statehood were laid in a context defined by imperial rivalries (Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian) in the region.
The author also explor
This book explores the transformation of the state in Wallachia, an Ottoman tributary principality, between 1740 and 1800, by focusing on three administrative techniques: regulations, paperwork (registers, identification certificates), and weights and measures. The implementation by the central power of regulations, bookkeeping, certificates and standard units of measurement was not smooth, but they nevertheless herald the beginning of the struggle against localism and of the efforts to extend the boundaries of legitimate state action. The book challenges the (mostly Romanian) historiography of the Phanariot period which has portrayed the state in the traditional fashion as institutions exerting a set of responsibilities and has insisted almost exclusively on its extractive function and abusive character. Instead, a study of how this state functioned and how its means to interact with the subjects changed in the second half of the eighteenth century is presented. Rethinking the problem of the state in eighteenth-century Wallachia, traditionally regarded as a mere instrument of Ottoman domination, it argues that it was precisely during this time that the bases of modern statehood were laid in a context defined by imperial rivalries (Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian) in the region.
The author also explores the concept of early-modern state formation, arguing that this took place in Wallachia in the absence of preparation for war (as a tributary principality under the Ottoman domination it lacked a proper army). It emphasizes instead the dynamics of administrative extension triggered by fiscal and agrarian crises and attempts to streamline the administration. Acknowledging the role of informal networks in state formation and the importance of deconstructing the coherence of the state, proposed by recent studies, the book argues that we need, nevertheless, to ask how the effect of state coherence and fixity is produced.
es the concept of early-modern state formation, arguing that this took place in Wallachia in the absence of preparation for war (as a tributary principality under the Ottoman domination it lacked a proper army). It emphasizes instead the dynamics of administrative extension triggered by fiscal and agrarian crises and attempts to streamline the administration. Acknowledging the role of informal networks in state formation and the importance of deconstructing the coherence of the state, proposed by recent studies, the book argues that we need, nevertheless, to ask how the effect of state coherence and fixity is produced.
