In pursuit of social cohesion and harmony in urban space:the external and internal dynamics of neighborhoods in early eighteenth-century Ottoman Istanbul
In modern cities, neighborhoods are mostly seen as a part of urban planning. Modern
people are identified with ID numbers and there are many apparatuses which watch
them from mobile phones to social media in their everyday lives. In the early modern
world, however, the social aspects of the neighborhood fulfilled the same role. There
was a heightened awareness of being a neighborhood resident and the neighborhood
watch as the most effective tool for social control. This awareness and sense of
belonging brought with them an increased accountability and responsibility among
the dwellers to one another. In this thesis, I will analyze some neighborhood-related
cases from various Istanbul court records of the very early eighteenth century, which
was one of the most turbulent periods of the imperial capital in terms of military
failures, social unrest, natural disasters, and so on. On the basis of these court records
and other official and non-official primary sources, I will try to explore the role of the
community-based neighborhood structure in maintaining social control and order in
Istanbul. In doing so, I will consider both the external (state-based) factors and
internal (neighborhood-based) factors. The findings and/or non-findings of this study
offer an opportunity for both horizontal and vertical comparison of early eighteenth
century Istanbul neighborhoods with the neighborhoods of its contemporaries as
well as the earlier times.Abstract ...................................................................................................................... iv
Öz ................................................................................................................................ vi
Dedication .................................................................................................................. viii
Preface ......................................................................................................................... ix
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... x
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................... xiii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................ xv
List of Figures ............................................................................................................. xvi
CHAPTERS
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Subject and Research Questions ............................................................... 4
1.2 Sources ...................................................................................................... 7
1.3 Outline ...................................................................................................... 12
2. Historiography of Ottoman Urban and Neighborhood-Related Social History
Studies ........................................................................................................................ 14
2.1 Islamic City ............................................................................................... 16
2.2 Historiography of Urban History in Ottoman History Studies ................. 23
2.3 Review of Neighborhood and Neighborhood-related Social History Studies
in Ottoman Context ....................................................................................... 28
2.4 The Historiography of Sijill-based Studies ............................................... 36
3. Historical Context of the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries ........ 40
3.1 Wars, Frontiers, and Military Balance ...................................................... 41
3.2 Changing Economic Balance .................................................................... 47
3.3 Social Unrest and Population Movements .............................................. 50
3.4. Janissary Rebellions and Edirne Vak’ası .................................................. 58
4. Neighborhood as a Unit of Analysis ...................................................................... 65
4.1 What Is a Neighborhood? ........................................................................ 66
4.2 Debates on Neighborhoods from a Sociological and Historical Perspective
Especially for the Early Modern Ottoman Context ........................................ 70
4.3 The General Features of Neighborhoods in Eighteenth-Century Istanbul
........................................................................................................................ 83
5. Pursuit of Social Cohesion in Neighborhoods of Eighteenth-Century Ottoman
Istanbul: Social Conflict and Harmony ..................................................................... 108
5.1 Collectivity within a Neighborhood ....................................................... 111
5.2 Neighborhood Watch as a Means of Social Harmony and Conflict ....... 114
5.3 Social Control or Social Order? .............................................................. 120
5.4 Social Control Mechanisms in Cities of Ottoman .................................. 124
5.4.1 Warning and Condemnation .................................................. 125
5.4.2 Sulh .......................................................................................... 127
5.4.3 Applying to Court .................................................................... 128
5.4.4 Neighborhood Raid ................................................................. 129
5.4.5 Hüsn-i hâl (Good Conduct) or Su-i hâl (Bad Conduct) ............. 131
5.4.6 The Surety System (Kefalet bin-Nefs) ..................................... 137
5.4.7 Expulsion from Neighborhood ................................................ 153
6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 173
Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 179
Appendices
A. A newspaper clipping from 1994 about the neighborhood of Kuzguncuk .......... 211
B. A very vivid depiction of a neighborhood raid under the leadership of an imam in
the eighteenth century on the house of a prostitute .............................................. 212
C. The original version of the edict ordering the bail survey and exile of mischievous
people who did not have a guarantor, which was cited in the beginning of the fifth
chapter ..................................................................................................................... 216
D. The original version of the edict ordering the bail survey and exile of mischievous
people who did not have a guarantor, which was cited in the beginning of the fifth
chapter ..................................................................................................................... 217
E. The original version of the edict ordering the bail survey and exile of mischievous
people who did not have a guarantor, which was cited in the beginning of the fifth
chapter ..................................................................................................................... 218
F. Istanbul Bab Court Records No.86, 39/2b ............................................................ 219
Table 1.1. Istanbul Court Records Examined Through This Thesis between 1700-1706
...................................................................................................................................... 7
Table 4.1. Population Size of the Largest European Cities in 1700............................ 86
Table 4.2. The graph of the origins of the names of Istanbul neighborhoods in the
sixteenth century ....................................................................................................... 89
Table 4.3. The Names of the Neighborhoods mentioned in Istanbul Court Records ....
.................................................................................................................................... 8
