Global Impact Journal: Historical Studies

The Image of the Ottoman Empire in the Memoirs of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw: A Cultural and Diplomatic Perspective

Sevim Karabela ¸Sermet — 2026-05-01

The memoirs of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw are among the most significant Western sources portraying the Ottoman Empire in the late 16th century. Sent on a diplomatic mission and later taken captive, Wratislaw offers a dual image of the Empire: as a powerful, well-organised state and as a despotic regime evoking fear. His account reveals two contrasting perceptions of the Ottoman court and administration. While their rigid authoritarianism challenged Western admiration for Ottoman governance, it also reinforced existing notions of Oriental despotism. The shifting diplomatic conduct and hostile treatment of the Bohemian delegation further shaped the Ottomans as unreliable and deceptive in Western eyes. Culturally, Wratislaw presents the Ottomans as “the other civilization,” highlighting differences in religion, lifestyle, and social structure. Yet he also acknowledges their hospitality, generosity, and religious tolerance. This study examines how Wratislaw’s personal experiences reflect broader Western imaginations of the Ottoman world. It argues that cultural and diplomatic encounters shaped a complex and often ambivalent image, influenced by both structural dynamics and individual perspectives. Positioned at the intersection of historical sociology and imagology, the article contributes to the understanding of cross-cultural perception in early modern diplomacy.

Spatial Potentials and Functional Continuity/Discontinuity in Ottoman-Turkish Hammams: Historical Peninsula, Istanbul

Gamze Kaymak Heinz — 2026-02-06

An architectural and cultural heritage analysis is performed in this study by systematically examining the social significance of historical hammams in today’s Historical Peninsula of Istanbul, which symbolize washing–cleansing–hygiene activities and also have socialization–entertainment–economic dimensions, as well as reflecting urban development and change. Within this scope, 81 historic hammams listed as cultural heritage sites were researched using a multi-layered dataset that integrates on-site morphological studies and historical maps. The physical and intangible transformations of these hammams are analyzed based on a database of 24 examples documented through in situ observations of hammams still in active use, revealing the effects of changing cultural and historical contexts on these buildings. The other 19 examples, which are not currently operating as hammams but still exist as buildings, are assessed to determine their current purpose or whether they are undergoing restoration. The findings reveal the evolution of hammams and identify dominant architectural typologies, such as double and single hammams. In this paper, a conceptual framework is presented that places the cultural heritage–tourism combination within a broader discussion while also revealing the current state of hammams in the Historical Peninsula of Istanbul, the primary source of their physical and cultural existence and development. This study demonstrates that hammams constitute an important part and provide concrete evidence of regional cultural heritage areas, human–environment interactions, and the spatial representation of urban memory regarding preservation and transmission to future generations.

Non-Alignment from New Delhi to Korea, 1949–1953

David Webster — 2026-05-08

Non-alignment was officially born at a conference in Brijuni, Croatia (then Yugoslavia), in 1956 and then formalized in Belgrade in 1961. Yet its origins go back to the independence struggle of Indonesia in 1945–1949 and especially to diplomacy around the Korean War in 1950–1953. During that conflict, United States unilateralism pushed India, Indonesia, and Burma (now Myanmar) into forming an Asian bloc aligned for diplomatic purposes in the goal of peace. The search for peace in turn formalized a bloc of Asian states that would initiate the Bandung Asian–African conference of 1955 and finally the Non-Aligned Movement. This article explores the emergence of non-alignment in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a conscious rejection of both Cold War alignment and earlier European concepts of neutralism in favour of an “active and independent” non-aligned diplomacy that would lead to the emergence of a bloc of non-aligned states.

Suvarṇabhūmi Convergence Area: Humans, Animals, Artefacts

Chingduang Yurayong — 2026-02-27

In this study, we investigate the Suvarṇabhūmi area, corresponding to central–southern Mainland Southeast Asia. We test the hypothesis that this region, located to the south of the Himalayan foothills, can be characterised as a convergence zone in which diverse entities involving humans, animals, and artefacts have significantly diverged from their related counterparts outside the area. We argue that this process of convergence was facilitated by the Maritime Silk Road trade networks, which were particularly active between the 3rd century BCE and the 9th century CE. Comparative data are derived from multiple scientific disciplines, including linguistic typology, onomastics, epigraphy, archaeology, and evolutionary biology. This includes typological features of language, toponyms, inscriptions, glass bead chemistry and related material culture, and phylogenetic data from patterns of endemism to illustrate parallel convergence scenarios observed for each data type. The results reveal recurring patterns of convergence. Linguistic, technological, and biological entities tend to diverge from their original forms and realign with predominant regional types when entering the Suvarṇabhūmi area. The spread of Indic and Sinitic linguistic and cultural elements, the adaptation and development of Brāhmī scripts into distinct local forms, the secondary manufacturing of glass beads, and unique genetic lineages in mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and plants all point to the region’s role as a dynamic interaction sphere. We argue that Suvarṇabhūmi functions as an ecological system, in which trajectories of convergence are notable across a number of individual aspects of cultural and biological diversity. Altogether, these components have contributed to shaping the region’s distinctive natural and cultural history.

At the Heart of the Medieval Catalan Navy: The Inhabitants of Castelló d’Empúries in Service of James II of Aragon in Sicily, an Example from the Late 13th Century (The Battle of Cape Orlando, 1299)

Josep Maria Gironella Granés — 2026-02-03

This article presents some information about the participation of nearly one hundred inhabitants of Castelló d’Empúries (currently located in the Alt Empordà region, province of Girona, in the northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula) in the Battle of Cape Orlando (coast of Sicily), which in 1299 pitted the fleets of James II of Aragon against those of his brother Frederick III of Sicily. The article provides the names of the participants and discusses several issues related to their involvement in this expedition. It also offers relevant information about the participation of the town’s inhabitants in other military ventures and about the commercial navy of the Empordà region during the same period.