Ottoman Empire IV

Istanbul was the largest settlement in the Ottoman Empire, serving as its capital and primary urban center. [Gül_Lamb 2004]

1831 Census: The first official census conducted under Sultan Mahmud II focused primarily on males for military conscription and taxation purposes. [Karpat 1985]

The census (1881–1893) took 10 years to finish. In 1893 the results were compiled and presented. This census is the first modern, general and standardized census accomplished not for taxation nor for military purposes, but to acquire demographic data. [Karpat 1985]

1914 Ottoman census [Karpat 1985]

Large City (e.g., Istanbul, Cairo):
Population: 100,000–1,000,000. City (e.g., Aleppo, Izmir):
Population: 20,000–100,000.
Large Town (e.g., Konya, Edirne):
Population: 5,000–20,000.
Town:
Population: 2,000–5,000.
Village:
Population: 200–2,000.
Hamlet:
Population: <200. [Quataert 2005]

Sheikh-ul-Islam: The highest religious authority
Muftis: Regional jurists interpreting Islamic law
Qadis: Judges enforcing Sharia law in courts
Imams: Leaders of local prayers
Mullahs and Madrasa Teachers: Educators responsible for teaching Islamic principles [Zilfi 1988]

Post Ottoman military reforms: Müşir: Field Marshal (highest rank, equivalent to a commander-in-chief).
Birinci Ferik: Lieutenant General.
Ferik: Major General.
Mirliva: Brigadier General (commander of a brigade or liva).
Miralay: Colonel (commander of a regiment or alay).
Kaymakam: Lieutenant Colonel.
Binbaşı: Major.
Kolağası: Senior Captain.
Yüzbaşı: Captain.
Mülâzım-ı Evvel: First Lieutenant.
Mülâzım-ı Sani: Second Lieutenant.
Çavuş: Sergeant.
Onbaşı: Corporal.
Nefer: Private (lowest rank).
[Uyar_Erickson 2009]

Overall Ruler
Sultan: The supreme ruler of the Ottoman Empire, holding religious and political authority. Provincial/Regional Governors
Vali: Appointed governors overseeing provinces (vilayets). They reported directly to the central government and implemented imperial policies. District Governors
Kaymakam: Administrators responsible for districts (kazas). They acted as intermediaries between the provincial governors and local officials. Town Mayors
Mudir: Officials managing towns (nahiyes), often under the authority of district governors. Village Heads
Muhtar: Elected or appointed leaders of villages, responsible for tax collection, census duties, and maintaining order. [Khoury 2002]

The Nizam troops constituted a professional army. They were not recruited on the basis of universal conscription, but rather in a fashion which is reminiscent of the system introduced by Peter the Great in Russia or the Bunichah system in Persia.2 Governors and notables in Anatolia (not in the Balkans or the Arab provinces) were required to send contingents of peasant boys to Istanbul for training. Those enrolled in the corps remained under arms for an unspecified period. [Zürcher 1998, p. 437] The new army, which was modelled entirely on the earlier Nizam-i-Cedid corps, quickly grew from 1,500 to 27,000 men. The army was organized along European lines, with the basic units being the regiment (tertip, later alay), consisting of three battalions (tabur). Once again, this was a professional army manned by volunteers and peasants recruited by the Sultan’s officials in the provinces [Zürcher 1998, p. 438]

Imams, khatibs (preachers), and muezzins (callers to prayer) served in mosques full-time, leading prayers and providing religious instruction. [Finkel 2007]

In this context, the Mekteb-i Fünûn-ı Harbiyye-i Şâhâne (Turkish Military Academy) was established in 1834 in İstanbul to provide officers for the army, where cadets were given professional military education and training. [İbrahim_Sani_MERT 2019, p. 442]

Bureaucrats were salaried officials, paid in currency or kind by the central government or local administrations. [Finkel 2007]

Bab-ı Ali (Sublime Porte): Bâbıâli, which became the real centre of government. There, too, were the offices of the foreign ministry and the council of state. [webpage_Sublime Porte | Ottoman Empire,...]

The Tanzimat reforms introduced regularized systems for promotions in the military and civil administration, emphasizing performance and qualifications over hereditary privilege. Graduates of the Mekteb-i Mülkiye (School of Civil Administration, established 1859) advanced within the bureaucracy based on examinations and reviews of their performance. [Finkel 2007]

Ottoman Empire relied on salaried officials in the central administration based in Istanbul, such as scribes (katip), finance officers (defterdar), and inspectors (müfettiş). [Finkel 2007]

The Tanzimat reforms introduced regularized systems for promotions in the military and civil administration, emphasizing performance and qualifications over hereditary privilege. Graduates of the Mekteb-i Mülkiye (School of Civil Administration, established 1859) advanced within the bureaucracy based on examinations and reviews of their performance [Finkel 2007]

The Nizamiye Courts were first established in 1864 as a part of the Tanzimat efforts meant to westernize and modernize the Ottoman Empire. During this time period the Khedivial Law School was founded for the sake of training lawyers for the Nizamiye Courts. [Rubin 2011]

The Nizamiye Courts were first established in 1864 as a part of the Tanzimat efforts meant to westernize and modernize the Ottoman Empire. During this time period the Khedivial Law School was founded for the sake of training lawyers for the Nizamiye Courts. [Rubin 2011]

Sharia (Islamic Law): Derived from the Quran, Hadith, and legal interpretations by the ulema. Sharia governed personal status, family law, and religious matters.
Post-Tanzimat Period (1839 onward): The Tanzimat reforms introduced modernized legal codes influenced by European civil law traditions. [Rubin 2011], [Finkel 2007]

The Tanzimat reforms introduced Nizamiye courts (secular courts), which operated in dedicated court buildings, often modeled on European designs. [Rubin 2011]

The Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) in Istanbul: One of the world's oldest and largest covered markets, established in the 15th century. [Finkel 2005]

Irrigation systems, such as canals and aqueducts, were managed by local communities or provincial authorities. [Mikhail 2010]

Large communal granaries were maintained in urban and rural areas to store grain for local populations and military campaigns. The granaries in Istanbul supported the city’s population by regulating the grain supply and preventing shortages. [Finkel 2005]

The Kırkçeşme water supply system was an Ottoman aqueduct system that brought water from the Belgrade Forest, north of Constantinople. While part of this system was restored by Mehmet II, the main features of the Kırkçeşme system were built by Mimar Sinan between 1554 and 1563. [webpage_Kırkçeşme Water System]

Communal buildings such as mosques, caravanserais, and bathhouses (hammams) were integral to Ottoman urban and rural life. [İnalcık 2002]

Valens Aqueduct (Istanbul): Constructed during the Roman period but maintained and expanded by the Ottomans. It supplied water to the city’s reservoirs and fountains. [İnalcık 2002]

Sultan Ahmed Fountain Location: Istanbul, near Hagia Sophia. Purpose: A monumental public fountain designed to symbolize Ottoman benevolence . [İnalcık 2002]

Köprülü Library: founded by Ottoman Grand Vizier Köprülü Mehmed Pasha in 1678. It was the first public library in the Middle East [Oswald 2017], [İnalcık 2002]

Coffeehouses: Centers for storytelling, music, and shadow puppet shows (Karagöz). [İnalcık 2002]

Example : Süleyman’s Road Network (16th Century): Constructed to support Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent's military campaigns, especially in the Balkans and Anatolia. [İnalcık 2002]

Istanbul Port (Constantinople Harbor): The principal port for trade, military activity, and passenger transport in the Ottoman Empir [İnalcık 2002]

Mesopotamian Irrigation Canal, actively maintained throughout the 19th century under Ottoman rule. Supported agriculture by distributing water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to surrounding farmland. [Husain_Husain 2021]

Mostar Bridge (Stari Most), Mostar, Bosnia.Originally built in 1566, actively maintained by the Ottoman administration during the 19th century. [İnalcık 2002]

Küre Copper Mine, Küre, near Kastamonu, Anatolia. [Gü_Kaya 2019]

Sultan Ahmed Mosque, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I [Finkel 2007]

Tomb of Sultan Mahmud II, a tomb built by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid for his father Mahmud II in Istanbul, where other sultans and members of the Ottoman Dynasty were later buried. [Finkel 2005]

While the Ottomans wrote a great deal of prose (especially on history, theology, mysticism, biography, and travel), poetry was the focus of literary thought; hence, the following discussion will confine itself to verse. The forms, genres, and themes of pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Turkish literature—those works written between about 1300 and 1839, the year in which the wide-ranging Tanzimat reforms were begun—were generally derived from those of Persian literature, either directly or through the mediation of Chagatai literature. Anatolia and parts of the Balkans, although increasingly Turkish-speaking, developed a high literary culture of the type known as Persianate. [webpage_Turkish literature | History, Authors,...]

The Ottomans used a version of the Perso-Arabic script until 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet. [webpage_Turkish language | Alphabet, Basics,...]

The Ottoman Empire primarily used Ottoman Turkish, written in a variant of the Arabic script. The Arabic script is an abjad, where vowels are not fully represented, making it partially phonetic. Armenian, Greek, and Latin scripts were present, which are phonetic. [webpage_Turkish language | Alphabet, Basics,...]

Seals: The use of official seals (e.g., the Sultan's tuğra, a calligraphic emblem) was widespread. The tuğra was a combination of calligraphic art and a symbolic signature, but it functioned as a nonwritten identifier rather than a script-based record. [Finkel 2007]

The Ottoman Empire primarily used Ottoman Turkish, written in a variant of the Arabic script. The Arabic script is an abjad, where vowels are not fully represented, making it partially phonetic [webpage_Turkish language | Alphabet, Basics,...]

Trade and Taxation: Informal tallies and counters (e.g., notched sticks, stones, or abacuses) were used in marketplaces and by tax collectors. [Faroqhi_Faroqhi 2013]

Mecmua-i Ulum-i Riyaziye (Collection of Mathematical Sciences) written by Hoca Ishak Efendi. Journals such as "Mecmua-i Fünun" (Journal of Sciences) published articles on mathematics, medicine, and natural sciences. [webpage_Mecmua-i fünūn-i askeriye], [Ferhat_Ozcep 0]

The Quran [Cook 2000]

Tafsir (Quranic Commentary) remained central to Islamic scholarship. Scholars provided new interpretations to address contemporary challenges, such as reconciling Islamic law with the reforms of the Tanzimat era. [Finkel 2007]

Cerrahiyyetü’l-Haniyye" (Imperial Surgery): Written by Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu in the 15th century, it remained a reference for surgical practices into the 19th century, [Quataert 2005]

Works by medieval philosophers like Ghazali and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). "Risale-i Ahlak" (Treatise on Ethics) by Katip Çelebi: Focused on morality and virtue in Islamic life. [Hafez 2021]

Temettuat Defterleri (Tax Registers): Detailed tables of land, crops, and taxable income. Nüfus Defterleri (Population Registers): Comprehensive population lists, including demographic classifications like age, religion, and occupation [Quataert 2005]

Cevdet Pasha’s Tarih-i Cevdet: A multi-volume history blending Islamic and Western approaches, commissioned during the Tanzimat era.
Şânîzâde Mehmed Ataullah Efendi’s Tarih-i Şanizade: Chronicles covering late 18th and early 19th-century events [Faroqhi_Faroqhi 2013]

While the Ottomans wrote a great deal of prose (especially on history, theology, mysticism, biography, and travel), poetry was the focus of literary thought; hence, the following discussion will confine itself to verse. The forms, genres, and themes of pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Turkish literature—those works written between about 1300 and 1839, the year in which the wide-ranging Tanzimat reforms were begun—were generally derived from those of Persian literature, either directly or through the mediation of Chagatai literature. Anatolia and parts of the Balkans, although increasingly Turkish-speaking, developed a high literary culture of the type known as Persianate. [webpage_Turkish literature | History, Authors,...]

The Hijri calendar was the primary calendar used for religious purposes and much of daily life. It determined dates for Islamic rituals like Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, and Eid al-Adha.
In 1840 shortly after the accession to the throne of Sultan Abdülmecid I, as the official calendar for all civic matters and named "Rumi calendar" (literally Roman calendar), was adopted. [webpage_Takvimlerin dönüşümü. Hicri, miladi,...]

Uncoined gold and silver were frequently used in long-distance trade or to settle debts, especially in international transactions where local coins were not accepted. [Pamuk 2003]

The “Kaime-i Nakdiye-i Mutebere” banknotes, which were put into circulation by Sultan Abdülmecit in 1840 and meant “Paper Substitute for Money”, were not “banknotes” but rather “interest-bearing debt instruments” or “treasury bonds”. [webpage_TCMB Sanal Müze], [Pamuk 2003]

These coins formed the first examples of the kuruş, the Ottoman coin that would ground the Ottoman economy for much of the eighteenth century. For the four hundred years before the introduction of the kuruş, the akçe had served as the main monetary unit. But the akçe had been repeatedly debased to the point that it was too small for general use. Along with the kuruş, the Ottoman state issued a full spectrum of silver currency. The kuruş system succeeded in becoming the leading unit of account and means of exchange in the eighteenth-century Ottoman Empire. Some European coins did continue to circulate despite Mustafa II’s ban, but they never again occupied the central role they had once played in the Ottoman economy. [blogPost_The Ottoman Kuruş and Control of...]

Foreign coins, especially those from European nations, circulated extensively. [Pamuk 2003]

Grain, a staple commodity, was often used as a medium of exchange in rural areas. [Quataert 2005]

The Ottoman state maintained treasury rooms (hazine) for storing coins, precious metals, jewels, and other valuables in government buildings like the Topkapı Palace. [Pamuk 2003]

Written contracts, often on parchment or paper, formalized debt agreements in markets and between individuals. Promissory notes (senet) were widely used for commercial credit. [Pamuk 2003]

The Ministry of the Post was established on 23 October 1840. Its duty was to provide postal services for private individuals as well as the government and the first road link went from Istanbul to Edirne. [webpage_Postal service among the Ottomans...]

The Ministry of the Post was established on 23 October 1840. Its duty was to provide postal services for private individuals as well as the government and the first road link went from Istanbul to Edirne. [webpage_Postal service among the Ottomans...]

The earliest postal service in Turkey, that is, in the Ottoman Empire dates from the sixteenth century when Grand Vizier Çelebi Lutfi Pasa (g.v. 1539-1541) organized a relay service on behalf of the government. It was used to transmit the orders of the sultan and return information about what was happening elsewhere in the Empire. This system was not available to the general public who had to rely on caravans, travelers, pilgrims and not too reliable private messenger services. The foreign embassies of Russia, France, Italy, Britain and Austria also had their own postal services under the so-called capitulations which granted foreigners special privileges. Germany, Poland and Romania also maintained post offices. [webpage_Postal service among the Ottomans...]

The Ottoman Empire employed a variety of traditional weight units, which varied regionally. These units were widely used in marketplaces and taxation.
Examples: Okka: The most commonly used unit, approximately 1.282 kilograms.
Dirhem: A smaller unit, approximately 3.2 grams, often used for spices, precious metals, and medicines.
[Faroqhi_Faroqhi 2013]

Examples: Kile: A standard unit for measuring grains, typically about 25-30 liters
Batman: Used for measuring bulk items, often both volume and weight, depending on context. [book_An economic and social history...]

Islamic timekeeping was based on prayer times, which divided the day into segments tied to the position of the sun. This system was widely used in daily life and religious observance. Examples:
Alaturka (Turkish/Islamic Time): The day was divided into 12-hour segments, beginning at sunset, with hours varying in length depending on the season. [Wishnitzer 2015]

Zij Tables: Adapted from earlier Islamic astronomers, these included measurements of celestial movements and calculations for lunar and solar cycles. [Selin 1997]

The Ottoman Empire used several traditional length units:
Arşın: A common unit equivalent to approximately 68 centimeters
Zira: Similar to the arşın, often translated as a "cubit," used in both trade and construction.
Endaze: A smaller unit (about 65 cm), used primarily for measuring cloth. [book_An economic and social history...]

Ishaq Efendi used European sources such as Étienne Bézout’s books while preparing this compendium. This work is accepted as the introduction of modern sciences (such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, mineralogy, botanic, and zoology) cumulatively to the Ottoman literature. It is also important by including the first Turkish article printed on modern chemistry as well as the analytical geometry [Seyhan 2019] Figure 16. An example of measuring the distance between trees RD on the mountain TF from Ishaq Efendi, Vol. 2, picture 53, belongs to p. 76. Quadrant board (rubu tahtası) was of course much more popular than astrolabe since it was a less complicated device. Astrolabes were solely used by scholars while quadrants were used also by common people as a clock. Mostly common quadrants consisted of two faces: rubû’el-müceyyeb or rubû’el-düstûr (sine quadrant) and rubû’el-mukantara (astrolabe-quadrant). Assume that an observer stands on the south pole and there exists a tangent plane on the north pole. The 1/4 of the conical projection of the sky to that mentioned plane is called rubû’el-mukantara. It was used for astronomical calculations such as calculating the Sun’s longitude. The other side namely rubû’el-müceyyeb (sine quadrant) was used for trigonometric calculations. It has two perpendicular scales inserted to the radii of the quadrant. One of these scales is sine line and the other is cosine line, each of these lines degreed till 60˚. [Seyhan 2019]

The Ottoman Empire employed traditional units for measuring land area, particularly in rural and agricultural contexts.
Dönüm: The most common unit, approximately equal to 1,000 square meters (1 decare). Used primarily for agricultural land. Evlek: A smaller unit, often one-fourth of a dönüm, used for subdividing plots. [Faroqhi_Faroqhi 2013]