This book proposes a study of the old regime forms of Ottoman municipal urban governance that were progressively built between the 15th and the 18th c. on the basis of various heritages (Byzantine, Medieval Islamic, Seljukid, Sassanid, medieval Ottoman) as well as an interpretation of the reforms of the Tanzimat era under the light of this re-evaluation of the previous system. This allows the author to propose innovative ideas on the very nature of civic life, social organization and modernity in the Islamic world. The research is based on original archives from Istanbul (BOA) and various cities of the Empire, from Aleppo to Tunis, Thessaloniki to Alexandria or Damascus and Cairo to Tripoli. Cet ouvrage est consacre a l'etude des racines et des caracteristiques de la gouvernance urbaine dans l'empire ottoman. Il demontre comment s'est developpee sur la base de differents heritages (Byzantin, Islamique medieval, Seljukide, Sassanide et Ottoman medieval) a partir du XVe siecle une forme municipale d'ancien regime et etudie sa transformation durant les reformes de l'ere des Tanzimat au XIXe siecle. L'auteure propose ainsi des interpretations innovantes quant a la dimension civique de la vie urbaine, l'organisation sociale et l'impact ambigu avec la modernite dans un contexte islamique. L'etude s'appuie sur des archives inedites trouvees a Istanbul (BOA) et dans des villes comme Alep, Tunis, Thessalonique, Alexandrie, Damas, Le Caire et Tripoli