Damascus Merchants and Trade in the Transition to Capitalism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9639006 |
|---|---|
| Authors | James A Reilly (University of Toronto), James Reilly (0000-0002-2355-3535, University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-27 |
| Publication date | 1992-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-4107 • E-ISSN: 2292-8502 |
| Publisher | University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3138/cjh.27.1.1 |
| OpenAlex | W2559811634 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The article examines how merchants of Damascus responded to and took advantage of Syria’s integration into the world economy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It argues that merchants used the transition to capitalism that accompanies integration to bolster their economic position and extend their markets. By 1914 some merchants formed the nucleus of a manufacturing bourgeoisie. The Damascus case is relevant to the ongoing discussion in Fertile Crescent studies regarding interactions between the world economy and regional economies, including merchants' roles. The first section examines the city’s regional trade prior to and during the initial stages of Syria’s opening to cheap industrial manufactures, particularly textiles. The importance to merchants of overland caravan routes for disseminating European manufactures is emphasized. Initially at least, new products reached markets through old commercial channels. The second section explores shifts in the pattern of Damascene trade that accompanied the opening of the Suez Canal and the growth of steamship transportation. Caravan routes lost their former importance, and merchants shifted their activities to the sea trade with Alexandria and Izmir via Beirut. Whereas in earlier times the most important Damascene merchants had Iraqi connections, by the end of the nineteenth century they had Egyptian and Anatolian connections instead. The third section discusses particular merchant families, classifying them according to their interests: regional trade, European trade, manufacturing and trade, agriculture and trade. The final section looks at political and organizational expressions of merchant interests in the last years of Ottoman rule, and suggests a connection between merchant class fractions and the emergence of bourgeois values among some of the literate public. Sources include consular and travelers’ reports, literary works and biographical dictionaries
Bourgeoisie · Capitalism · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Political science · Politics · Position (finance) · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 1996 - 2020 (25) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |