Table Of ContentSelim III, Social Control and Policing in Istanbul
at the End of the Eighteenth Century
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The Ottoman Empire
and its Heritage
Politics, Society and Economy
Edited by
Suraiya Faroqhi, Halil İnalcık and Boğaç Ergene
Advisory Board
Fikret Adanir – Antonis Anastasopoulos – Idris Bostan
Palmira Brummett – Amnon Cohen – Jane Hathaway
Klaus Kreiser – Hans Georg Majer – Ahmet Yaşar Ocak
Abdeljelil Temimi – Gilles Veinstein†
VOLUME 56
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/oeh
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Selim III, Social Control and
Policing in Istanbul at the End of
the Eighteenth Century
Between Crisis and Order
By
Betül Başaran
LEIDEN | BOSTON
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Cover illustration: Sultan Selim III; by Konstantin Kapıdağlı, 1803. Istanbul, Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi, 17/30
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Başaran, Betül.
Selim III, social control and policing in Istanbul at the end of the eighteenth century : between crisis and
order / by Betül Başaran.
pages cm. -- (The Ottoman Empire and its heritage ; v. 56)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-24607-2 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-27455-6 (e-book) 1. Turkey--History--
Selim III, 1789-1807. 2. Police--Turkey--Istanbul--History--18th century. 3. Internal security--Turkey--
Istanbul--History--18th century. 4. Istanbul (Turkey)--Social life and customs--18th century. I. Title.
DR559.B37 2014
949.61'8015--dc23
2014014944
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ISSN 1380-6076
ISBN 978-90-04-24607-2 (hardback)
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of Tables ix
List of Maps x
List of Illustrations xi
Note on Transliteration and Translation xii
Abbreviations xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 The Eighteenth Century: Defining the Crisis 13
Rebellion, Migration and Fear of Crime in the “Well-Protected” City 15
Migration and Public Order 25
Customary State Policies and Mechanisms of Control 33
Maintaining Order in the City: Urban Police and Law Enforcement
Agencies 40
Istanbul’s Economy and Population at the End of the Eighteenth
Century 56
Natural Disasters and Epidemics 62
Provisioning the City 66
3 Wartime Crisis and the New Order: The Policing
of Istanbul, 1789–92 72
Accession of the “Reformist” Sultan 75
Defining the New Order 77
Life in Istanbul and the Demand for Order 82
“A Sweet Fountain is Always Crowded” 93
Investigations and Surveillance of the Population 95
Legal Theory and the Justice of the Sultan 98
4 The Inspection Registers of 1791–93 106
Observations on the Kefālet Registers 110
Exploration of the Register Using Correspondence Analysis 117
Economic Activity in Intra Muros Istanbul According
to the Register 126
Janissaries, Immigrant Networks, and the Inspectors 133
About Coffeehouses and Janissaries 148
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vi contents
Ethnic and Religious Divisions in the Marketplace according
to the Inspection Register of 1792 158
From Mechūlü’l-Ahvāl to Maʿlūmü’l-Ahvāl: Kefālet in the Registers 161
5 “We Have No Security”: Public Order in the Neighborhood 168
Approaching the Court Records 169
Public Order in the Neighborhood 172
The Courts and Their Proceedings 178
Dīvān-i Hümāyūn as Court of Appeal 184
Public Order in the Court Records 187
6 Concluding Remarks 214
Appendix 4.1: List of shops and trades in the southern Golden Horn
in 1792 221
Appendix 4.2: Distribution of inns according to location in the southern
Golden Horn 224
Bibliography 230
Index 261
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Acknowledgments
I am grateful for many people and institutions for their support for my project,
which has been in the making for years. Numerous events unfolded between
the completion of my dissertation work at the University of Chicago and the
preparation of this manuscript, not all of them fortunate: dramatic social and
political changes in Turkey, the loss of beloved family members, pregnancy
and the joy of our son Derya, the tenure battle, the tragedy of the Van earth-
quake during my sabbatical leave in Istanbul, and far too many moving boxes
and international flights. My family and friends, especially my parents Yıldız
and Turgut Başaran, my brother Murat, and Dan Meckel, my friend and part-
ner, supported me through all of these events. My late grandparents, Yüksel
and Mithat Özsoy, showered me with their constant love until the day they
left this world. Derya brought joy into my life, even in the darkest moments,
and the Chesapeake Bay inspired me, even when it was the Aegean that I
longed for.
I am thankful for Holly A. Shissler’s consistent support and friendship since
my days in Chicago. Engin Akarlı has mentored and nurtured me every step of
the way, and I am grateful for his intellectual generosity and kindness. His
sense of the fun of working with Ottoman sources has been a source of inspira-
tion and made learning from him a pleasure since my graduate school days.
Jeff Hammond and Engin Akarlı both read the manuscript and gave me valu-
able feedback. I thank them, the anonymous reviewers, and the editors of the
series The Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage for their constructive suggestions.
My sincere thanks go to Suraiya Faroqhi who has patiently read and com-
mented on many versions of the manuscript over the past several years. A spe-
cial thank you to Valerie J. Turner for her meticulous work during the editing,
indexing, and proofreading stages of the preparations for publication. I also
thank my student assistant Sam Cameron for her help with the preparation of
the manuscript.
I received funding from various institutions for the project since the com-
pletion of my dissertation. A number of Faculty Development Grants from St.
Mary’s College of Maryland helped me with research at the Ottoman Archives,
and a generous sabbatical grant from the Institute of Turkish Studies allowed
me to spend a semester in Istanbul for follow-up research and writing. During
this time, Murat Güvenç and his team at the Urban Studies Research Centre of
Şehir University provided me with much-needed support and encouragement
for my Correspondence Analysis “apprenticeship” in their offices. The archival
information I gathered was analyzed using the STRATA software, developed by
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viii acknowledgments
M. Güvenç and S. Yıldırım. Ebru Şener produced all of the maps and graphics
in the book. I cannot thank Özlem Çaykent enough for her friendship and for
reorienting me to life in Istanbul. I must also thank the staff at the Başbakanlık
Archives and the Islamic Research Institute (ISAM), and many friends and col-
leagues for sharing inspiring conversations ranging from childcare to all things
Ottoman over many cups of tea. That was, no doubt, the most fun part of the
long journey.
My deepest thanks go to Dan for his support and companionship for over a
decade now; it is thanks to him that I can say I have a second home in the
United States.
Note: The final stages of the preparation of the manuscript coincided with the
protests that started around Gezi Park, Istanbul in late May and June 2013 and
quickly escalated into mass anti-government demonstrations, bringing together
many discontented groups in different parts of the country. The disproportion-
ate use of force by the police against the demonstrators continued despite
domestic and international criticism. I was deeply struck by the comments of
the authorities who repeatedly scapegoated marginal groups, making use of
the concepts of public good, disruption of public order, mischief, and evildo-
ers; notions I explore in this book in the context of the late eighteenth century.
As the surveillance and persecution of critics from all walks of life intensified,
almost as if to set an example to others, I found myself thinking of the kind of
“fear” that the systematic policing and surveillance measures of the nineteenth
century must have instilled in Istanbul’s residents. This legacy and its implica-
tions unquestionably call for further exploration at a time when we are wit-
nessing alarming restrictions on civil society under governments whose leaders
frequently resort to the rhetoric of preserving public order, as we have seen in
the case of the Gezi Park events. With that in mind, I dedicate this book to the
Gezi Park protesters and the spirit of peaceful resistance.
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List of Tables
table caption
2.1 Population of inner Istanbul in 1829 58
2.2 Bachelors in inner Istanbul in 1829 59
2.3 Population of inner Istanbul in 1830 59
2.4 Muslim inn dwellers/bachelors in greater Istanbul in 1830 59
2.5 Population of greater Istanbul in 1829 63
2.6 Estimated population of greater Istanbul at the end of the eighteenth
century based on the 1829 census ratios 63
4.1 Bertin graphic based on the distribution of titles in the register 119
4.2 Distribution of titles in the register 120
4.3 Commercial Activity Profiles with Distinctive Locations: Permuted
Correspondence Table (%) 128
4.4 Key for representation of locations 128
4.5 Locations with Distinctive Commercial Activity Profiles: Permuted
Correspondence Table (%) 129
4.6 Key for representation of commercial activity profiles 129
4.7 Distribution of bachelors’ chambers, rental rooms, and inns 137
4.8 Distribution of titles among coffeehouse owners with military
affiliation 151
4.9 Distribution of titles among coffeehouse owners without military
affiliation 151
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List of Maps
map caption
4.1 Distribution of commercial activity 130
4.2 Distribution of shops by location 131
4.3 Dot density map of shops 132
4.4 Bachelors’ chambers, rental rooms, and inns in intra muros Istanbul 136
4.5 Major towns sending migrants to Istanbul 138
4.6 Regional distribution of coffeehouses 159
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