How did the late Ottoman Empire grapple with the challenge of modernity and survive? Rejecting explanations based on the concept of an ""Islamic empire,"" or the tired paradigm of the ""Eastern Question,"" the author argues that far richer insights can be gained by focusing on imperial ideology and drawing out the striking similarities between the Ottoman and other late legitimist empires like Russia, Austria and Japan. The author traces the Ottoman state's pursuit of legitimation in public ceremonial; in the iconography of buildings, music, the honors system or the language of the chancery; in its proto-nationalist reformulation of Islamic legal practices; in its efforts to inculcate, through an expanded education system; and in the efforts of the Ottoman elite to present a ""civilized"" image abroad.

Selim Deringil is Professor of History at Bogaziçi University, Istanbul.