1- Haghia Eirene.

In the first courtyard, this 6th-century Byzantine church was never converted into a mosque—although used as a weapons arsenal in Ottoman times – and presumably part of the same
complex as Haghia Sophia. Unfortunately you’re only likely to see the inside during rare concerts during the Istanbul Music Festival in summer, during which performers use the original five rows of built-in seats hugging the apse, above which is an 8th-century black mosaic cross on the wall.@10 min.

2- Cellat Çe@mesi (Fountain of the Executioner).
It looks like a disused water-fountain, but this is where, back in the 16th century, the executioner would
clean his sword and hands after a public execution, before re-entering the palace. @10 mins.
Probably Istanbul’s most famous attraction, this huge palace complex was built by Mehmet II in 1478 at Sarayburnu, astrategic point overlooking the Bosphorus. Central to the Ottoman Sultans for almost 400 years, it housed several thousand people, a city within a city. The stone pavilions echoed tents of nomadic Ottomans, containing the residence, offices, seat of government and solders’ training ground. In turn, new sultans made their own additions to the palace. Below are some of my highlights from the vast collections, and with grounds covering over 80,000m2of courtyards, kiosks and exhibitions, count on several hours for a visit. Peruse the first courtyard’s attractions before entering the main entrance.
START: Tram to Sultanahmet.

3- Café.

Stock up on bottled water or refresh yourself before your palace visit on the relaxing terrace, with a choc-ice and coffee—ata fraction of the cost of snacks inside the palace grounds. $.

4- Bab-us Selam (Gate of Salutations).

With distinctive twin conical towers, this leads to the second courtyard, where all visitors had to dismount, as only the sultan could ride through on horseback. It was also known as kapi araligi, where high officialswho had displeased the Sultan were arrested and choked to death. On a more cheery note, before you take your bags through the X-ray machines to the second courtyard, look up at the superbly ornate gold painted ceiling. @10 min.

5- Harem.

A highlight of any palace visit (see below, Life of a Concubine) and worth the extra ticket, only a fraction of the Harem’s rooms are open to the public. Your journey into the ‘forbidden’ quarter, in the third courtyard, begins at the colonnaded Corridor of Concubines with black-and-white patterned cobbles lined with marble counters where plates of food were laid out. You’ll gasp at the opulence
of the Imperial Hall, complete with crystal chandelier and Sultan’s sofa, where he entertained his best buddies. The Sultan’s apartments and marble hamam, enclosed behind a golden door – allegedly for his own safety – contrast sharply with the more modest living quarters of the concubines and eunuchs. But the prize woman, the Valide Sultan (Sultan’s mum) enjoyed five-star living quarters, where her devoted son visited her every morning. @45 mins.
The cobbled Courtyard of the Concubines.

6- Konyali.

The palace’s only restaurant is pricey, although the traditional Turkish dishes are good. The adjacent courtyard’s café is slightly cheaper with the same superb Bosphorus view. 0212 513 9696. $$.

7- Palace Kitchens.

In contrast to the lavish Treasury or the Throne Room, this is one of my favorites. Heard the phrase ‘An army marches on its stomach’? Every soldier, and in this case sultan, needed feeding, so this was the working room of the palace, where food was prepared by a few hundred staff (12 just to prepare food for the sultan) to feed about 5,000 people each day. The domed stone ceilings are wonderful, as are the display cabinets of silverware and crystal, with plates of Chinese celadon favored by the sultans because, allegedly, it changed color when in contact with poison. Paranoid, them? @20 min.

8-Royal Carriages.
Slightly more glamorous than today’s buses, peer behind the glass window to see 19th-century state carriages for Abdulaziz (1830–1876), made in Vienna. Close by is a scaled-down model of the entire palace and its surrounds, which might help in your navigation.@15 min.

9- Treasury.

Most visitors queue for a glimpse of the famous Topkapi Daggerfrom 1741, (made even more famous thanks to the 1964 film Topkapi) encrusted with diamonds and huge emeralds. Made for the Shah of Persia, in appreciation of his gift of the Nadir Shah throne in the fourth hall, he was assassinated before he had chance to receive it so, you guessed it, Mahmud I (1696–1754) kept it for himself. If the eye-popping emeralds aren’t enough, take a look at the 84- carat Spoonmaker’s Diamond; the background to its name is a little hazy, but it may have been found by a scrap merchant who was given
three spoons in return. You’ll also see jeweled golden candlesticks, sent as a gift to the tomb of Mohammed, but returned to Constantinople after the evacuation of Medina in World War I. @30 min.
The Royal Kitchens.

It’s a Concubine’s Life
Although ‘harem’ might conjure up images of Oriental debauchery, it literally means ‘forbidden’, referring to the private quarters for the palace’s women. Life in this 300-room complex was no picnic; girls and young women were brought from all corners of the Ottoman Empire, living a mundane existence, working as servants, sleeping in dormitories and learning the ways of the palace.
The only other people allowed in the harem were the sultan and his sons, plus hundreds of eunuch slaves (castrated boys), many from Ethiopia and Sudan, to guard the women. Favored girls were
‘trained’ as wives or concubines for the sultans by the Valide Sultan (the sultan’s mother, who really ruled the roost) and, ideally, bearing them sons. The harem’s history (some of it apocryphal) is littered
with tales of dastardly power games, drowning and poisoning galore, involving a cast of thousands.

Topkapi Palace: Practical Matters
Babihumayun Caddesi. y0212 512 0480. www.topkapisarayi.gov.tr.
Tram: Sultanahmet. Wed–Sun 9am–5pm (winter); 9am–7pm (summer); tickets 10 YTL. Perennially busy, especially in summer and at weekends, beat the crowds by getting there at opening time or, in
summer, late afternoons. Buy separate tickets for the Harem 10 TL near its entrance (9am–4pm year-round), and separate audio guides for the palace and harem in many languages. Tip: If you’re getting a taxi to the palace, ask the driver for “Topkapi Sarayi”. If you just say “Topkapi”, unscrupulous drivers might take you to the unrelated area of Topkapi!

1. [Atik Defter 14].
2. See Alan Duben and Cem Behar ƒstanbul Households: Marriage, Family and Fertility, 1880–1940, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 189–193.
3. Stanford J. Shaw “The Population of Istanbul in the 19th Century,” International Journal of Middle-Eastern Studies, 10, 1979, pp. 265–277.
4. “Esami-i mahallât,…” 1877. In this listing Kasap ƒlyas is cited as Mahalle-i Kasap ƒlyas kurb-ü iskele-i Davutpaœa (the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle near the Davutpaœa wharf).
5. To calculate median and mean ages, the ages stated in the census in lunar years (Hegirian calendar) had to be converted to solar years (Gregorian calendar).
6. Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households,pp. 49–50.
7. We have assumed that the person ranked first in the ordering of the household members in the census documents was the head of that household.
8. State Institute of Statistics 1990 Population Census, Social and Economic Characteristics, Ankara, 1993.
9. Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households,pp. 48ff.
10. Ibid., p. 59.
11. Ibid., p. 59.
12. Behar “Polygyny in Istanbul (1885–1926),” Middle Eastern Studies, London, 27/3, 1991, pp. 477–486.
13. Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households, p. 126.
14. Shaw “Population of Istanbul in the 19th Century,” pp. 265–277.
15. For the details of the classification, see Peter Laslett “Family and Household as Work Group and Kin Group: Areas of Traditional Europe Compared,” in Richard Wall, Jean Robin, and Peter Laslett (eds.) Family Forms in Historic Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pp. 513–563. On household types in the whole of Istanbul during the 1885 census, see Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households, pp. 48–69.
16. On slavery and slave trade in the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the nineteenth century see Ehud R. Toledano The Ottoman Slave Trade and Its Suppression, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1982; and Hakan Erdem Slavery and its Demise in the Ottoman Empire, 1800–1909, London, Macmillan, 1996. This last work provides a large number of insights into the social status of slaves and slavery in the late Ottoman Empire.
17. For more details on these communities of black female manumitted slaves in Istanbul see Erdem Slavery and Its Demise in the Ottoman Empire.
18. Ibid.
19. Toledano Ottoman Slave Trade and Its Suppression.
20. [D3/pp. 1–23].
21. “.. . tabaka-yı ulyâda üç bab oda ve bir kiler ve bir abdesthane ve kenif ve bir sofa ve vüstada üç bab oda ve bir abdesthane ve kenif ve bir sofa ve süflâda bir matbah ve bir kenif ve bir kömürlük ve selâmlık tâbir olunan mahalde ulyâda bir bab oda ve abdesthane ve vüstada bir bab oda ve abdesthane ve bir kenif ve bir ahır ve bir-i ma ve bir miktar bahçe ve sokak kapılarını müœtemil bir bab mülk konak….” [ISA-DM], 8/110, p. 2a, 1 Jumada II 1261, [June 7, 1845].
22. “. . .fevkânî iki bab oda ve sofa ve tahtânî iki bab oda ve hamam ve berber ma’ dükkân….” [ISA-DM], 8/120, p. 3a, 6 Shaban 1270 [May 4, 1854].
23. 1907 Census Roster for the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle [Eski Esas 23].
24. [D3/pp. 1–26].
25. The last entry by his own hand in the muhtar’s notebooks is dated from November 1903 [D3/p. 126]. Subsequent entries are by another hand. In 1907 Osman Efendi had already passed away, and the new census entries mention his daughter as “daughter of the late Osman Efendi.” We have accepted 1904 as the probable year of his death.
26. For more details on the history of these two dervish lodges, see the two entries by Baha Tanman “Bekâr bey tekkesi,” and “Taœçı tekkesi,” in Dünden Bugüne Istanbul Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of Istanbul yesterday and today), Istanbul, Tarih Vakfı Yayınları, 1995, Vols. 2 and 7.
27. See Klaus Kreiser “Medresen und Derwischkonvente in ƒstanbul: Quantitative Aspekte,” Economie et Sociétés dans l’Empire Ottoman, Paris, Editions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1983, pp. 109–127.
28. See Mübahat S. Kütüko™lu “1869’da faal ƒstanbul Medreseleri” (The Istanbul medreses active in 1869), ƒstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Tarih Enstitüsü Dergisi, 7–8, 1977, pp. 277–393.
29. See Sedat Kumbaracılar “ƒlk kız Okullarımız nasıl kuruldu?” (How were our first schools for girls founded?), Hayat Tarih Mecmuası, 4, May 1969, pp. 77–83.
30. See Mehmet Ö. Alkan Tanzimattan Cumhuriyete Modernleœme Sürecinde E™itim ƒstatistikleri, 1839–1924 (Educational statistics in the modernization process from the Tanzimat to the republic, 1839–1924), Ankara, State Institute of Statistics (Historical Statistics Series, Vol. 6), 2000, p. 55.
31. Maps drawn in 1913–1914 by the Deutsches Syndikat für Stadtebauliche Arbeiten in der Türkei—Konstantinopel, Istanbul, Istanbul Municipality Atatürk Library, Maps Section [912–563 IST, L/5, 1913–1914].
32. See Zeynep Çelik The Remaking of Istanbul—Portrait of an Ottoman City in the Nineteenth Century, Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1986.
33. Interview conducted on July 29, 1995.
34. [D3/pp. 1—26].
35. See Alkan Tanzimattan Cumhuriyete Modernleœme Sürecinde E™itim ƒstatistikleri, p. 56.
36. See Ziya Kazıcı “1093(1682) Yılında çeœitlerine göre ƒstanbul’da dükkânlar” (Different types of shops in Istanbul in 1093–1682), Tarih Boyunca ƒstanbul Semineri—Bildiriler, ƒstanbul, ƒstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi, 1979, pp. 239–279.
37. Vakfiyeler—X.
38. The warehouse for straw is described as follows: “… bir taraftan beygir hanı, bir taraftan Hacı Ahmed’in kömür mahzeni, cidar-ı hısn ve tarik-i ‘amm ile mahdûd bir bâb samanhane….” [ƒSA-DM 8/5, p. 27a].
39. “.. . bir bâb menzil ve tahtında bir bâb keresteci dükkânı,…” Vakfiyeler—X.
40. “.. . fi’l-asl keresteci dükkânı elyevm ifrazdan bâkî kalan saman ma™azası,…” Vakfiyeler—X.
41. “…Davudpaœa ƒskelesinde eksik çeki taœıyla odun satan gidiler,…” Hayati Develi (ed.) XVIII. Yüzyıl Istanbul Hayatına dair Risale-i Garibe (A strange tract on life in Istanbul in the eighteenth century), Istanbul, Kitabevi, 1998, p. 23.
42. [ISA-DM 8/141], pp. 23a and 128a. There is another instance of a street being identified by reference to its inhabitants in the late nineteenth century. In a court case dating from 1879 a street in the mahalle was referred to as the street of the Arabs (arablar soka™ı), probably because a number of the manumitted female black slaves were living in it.
43. [ISA-DM 8/154], p. 3a.
44. “…Davudpaœa ƒskelesinde Kömürcüler yangın,…” Osman Nuri Ergin Mecelle-i Umûr-u Belediye, Vol. 3, Istanbul, 1995, p. 1228.
45. Interview conducted on July 29, 1995.
46. Interview conducted on December 2, 1994.
47. Interview conducted on September 11, 1994.
48. “Davud Paœa ƒskelesi kurbünde Kasap ƒlyas mahallesi muhtarı.”
49. Two regulations were issued on the matter, in 1883 and in 1902. For more details on the late Ottoman population registration schemes and the information contained therein see Behar “The 1300 (a.h.) and 1322 (a.h.) Tahrirs as Sources for Ottoman Historical demography,” Istanbul, Bo™aziçi University Research Papers, 1985; Behar “Sources pour la Démographie Historique de l’Empire Ottoman: les Tahrir de 1885 et 1907,” Population (Paris), 53/1–2, 1998, pp. 161–181.
50. “. . . Hamam Odaları—18—Piyade Nizamiye otuz beœinci alayın dördüncü taburunun kâtibi Mehmet Tevfik efendinin hemœiresi Vahide hanım dul olup ve maiœeti olmayıp œayan-ı rahmet bulundu™u….” [D3/p. 7].
51. “. . . Samatya Caddesi 53—.. . Fidan kalfa bint-i Abdullah, mevlidi 1250, nâmizaç olup hastahaneye….” [D3/p. 21].
52. “.. . Saide hanımın biraderi ƒsmail Zühdü efendi’den ki ikinci ordu, onbeœinci alay ikinci nizamiye taburu ikinci bölük mülâzım-ı evvelidir, sipariœ-i maaœı vardır….” [D2/p. 78b].
53. “.. . Samatya Caddesi 5—Gümrük kolcusu Mehmet a™a’ya tekaüt maaœı yüz kırk dört kuruœ olarak tahsis olunmuœtur.. . .” [D2/p. 15b].
54. “.. . Bab-ı seraskerî ketebesinden müteveffa Halim efendi zevcesi Hafize Resmiye hanım elyevm berhayat ve ere varmamıœtır….” [D3/p. 86].
55. “.. . Kola™ası ƒbrahim ¥em’i efendinin eski mühr-ü zatisi zayi olup elyevm ittihaz etmiœ idü™ü mührü mühr-ü zatisi olup emniyet sandı™ında olan emanetini ahz edece™ini….” [D2/p. 25b].
56. “… âdil ve makbûlü’œ-œehadet idü™ü….” [D2/p. 4a].
57. “… ehl-i ırz gürûhundan idü™ü….” [D2/p. 46a].
58. “Mekteb -i idadi-yi tıbbiye-i œâhâne birinci senesi œâkirdanından Hayri, müddet-i mezuniyetinde pederinin yanında beytutet edece™i….” [D2/p. 20b].
59. “… kat’iyen fera™ ile muamele –i lâzımesinin icrası zımnında….” [D2/p. 5b].
60. “… ƒskele 42—Süleyman a™a iœbu ma™azayı Nisan 1306 iptidasına kadar Nikola veled-i Mihale sekiz yüz kuruœa icar edip dört yüzü peœinen bakiyesi ¥ubat iptidasında alınacaktır….” [D2/p. 49a].
61. “… Helvacı 8—Astarcı Mehmed efendi zevcesi Fatma bint-i Abdullah’ın dört taksit senevî yüz kuruœ faizli esham-i cedidesi oldu™u….” [D2/p. 52a].
62. The literacy rate for adult males was around 25 percent in late nineteenthand early twentieth-century Istanbul. We have reached this estimate by using declared occupations as a proxy for literacy. No literacy rate can be calculated for females, though, very few having any declared occupation in the Ottoman censuses. The literacy rate for adult males in the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle was probably slightly lower than that for Istanbul as a whole.
63. [D3/pp. 1–23].
64. Interview conducted on July 29, 1995.

1. Halil ƒnalcık and Donald Quataert An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 793–795.
2. Ibid., p. 787.
3. Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffmann, and Bruce Masters The Ottoman City between East and West—Aleppo, Izmir and Istanbul, Cambridge, Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1999.
4. For some precise instances see ƒlber Ortaylı Osmanlı Toplumunda Aile (The family in Ottoman society), Istanbul, Pan Yayıncılık, 2000.
5. See Musa Çadırcı “Tanzimat döneminde çıkarılan men-i mürur ve pasaport nizamnameleri” (The passport and certificate of passage regulations issued in the Tanzimat period), Türk Tarih Kurumu—Belgeler, 15, 1993, pp. 169–183.
6. Ibid., pp. 170–171.
7. See Cem Behar Osmanlı ƒmparatorlu™unun ve Türkiye’nin Nüfusu, 1500–1927 (The population of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey), Ankara, Devlet Istatistik Enstitüsü Yayınları, 1996.
8. Alan Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households—Marriage, Family and Fertility in Istanbul, 1880–1940, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 24–25.
9. See Behar “Fruit Vendors and Civil Servants—A Social and Demographic Portrait of a Neighborhood Community in Intramural ƒstanbul, the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle in 1885,” Bo™aziçi Journal, Vol. 11/1–2, 1997, pp. 5–32.
10. Duben and Behar, ƒstanbul Households, p. 24.
11. Census rosters for the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle in 1885 and 1907, Fatih Nüfus Müdürlü™ü [Atik Defter 14] and [Eski Esas 23].
12. The Ottoman Province (vilâyet) of Mamuretülâziz, whose administrative center was the city of Harput, comprised parts of the present-day Turkish provinces of Sivas, Malatya, Elazı™, and Erzincan.
13. Behar “Fruit Vendors and Civil Servants,” p. 16.
14. Mehmed Süreyya Sicill-i Osmani, yahut Tezkire-i meœâhir-i Osmaniye, Istanbul, Matbaa-yı Amire, Vol. 4, 1893, pp. 446–447.
15. Ayvansarayî Hâfız Hüseyin Efendi Hadikat’ül Cevami’, Istanbul, 1864; also in Ömer Lütfü Barkan and Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları Tahrir defteri-1546, ƒstanbul, ƒstanbul Fetih Cemiyeti 3 1970, p. 351.
16. Abdüsselâm Uluçam “Arapkirdeki mimari anıtların bugünkü durumu” (The present situation of the architectural monuments of Arapkir), Battal Gazi ve Malatya çevresi Halk Kültürü Sempozyumu Bildirileri, Malatya, Turkey, ƒnönü Üniversitesi, 1986, pp. 140–147.
17. Mehmed Süreyya Sicill-i Osmani, yahut Tezkire-i meœâhir-i Osmaniye, ƒstanbul, Matbaa-yı Amire, 1893, Vol. 3/246, Vol. 1/152, Vol. 4/479.
18. “Ispanakçıbaœı veresesi arsası” is mentioned as a neighboring property in the relevant court case [ISA-DM, 8/50, p. 56b].
19. “ .. .Vilâyet-i Anadoluda A™ın kazasına tabi Pezenka(?) nâm karye ahâlisinden olup Kasap ƒlyas mahallesinde sâkin iken bundan akdem vefat eden Kömürcü Hüseyin beœe bin Abdullah.. . .” [ISA-DM, 8/6, p. 71a].
20. [ISA-DM, 8/20, p. 3b].
21. “…vilâyet-i Anadolu’da Arapkir kazasına tâbî Bostancık nâm karye ahâlisinden olup Davudpaœa ƒskelesinde Kasap ƒlyas mahallesinde sâkin Kara Ahmed bin Mehmed…yine karye-i mezbure ahâlisinden ƒbrahim Beœe bin Abdurrahman. …” [ISA-DM, 8/20, p. 3b].
22. [ISA-DM, 8/40, p. 44b; 8/90, p. 7a; 8/120, p. 48b; 8/140, p. 53a; 8/148, p. 87a; 8/170, p. 27a].
23. Vital Cuinet La Turquie d’Asie—Géographie Administrative, Paris, Ernest Leroux, 1892, Vol. 2, pp. 315–404 (see pp. 357–361 on Arapkir).
24. ƒbrahim Alaattin Gövsa Türk Meœhurları Ansiklopedisi (Encyclopedia of famous Turks), Istanbul, Yedigün Matbaası, 1945–1946; Ahmet Nezih Galitekin “ƒsmail Saib Sencer,” Müteferrika, 4, 1994, pp. 137–144.
25. Charles Issawi The Economic History of Turkey, 1800–1914, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1980, p. 35.
26. Donald Quataert “The Age of Reforms, 1812–1914,” in Halil Inalcık and Donald Quataert (eds.) An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 759–947.
27. See Cuinet Turquie d’Asie, p. 345.
28. Ekrem Yalçınkaya Muhtasar Malatya Tarih ve Co™rafyası (A short history and geography of Malatya), Istanbul, Cumhuriyet Matbaası, 1940, p. 38. On the decline of the cotton manufactures of Arapkir, see Fikri Yücel Arapgir Tarihi (History of Arapkir), Arapkir Matbaası, Arapkir, 1967, pp. 46–48.
29. Vital Cuinet Turquie d’Asie, p. 332.
30. [ISA-DM, 8/90, p. 7a].
31. For similar contemporary insertion mechanisms in Istanbul, see Sema Erder Istanbula bir kent kondu: Ümraniye, Istanbul, Iletiœim Yayınları, 1996; Erder “Where Do You Hail From?—Localism and Networks in Istanbul,” in C. Keyder (ed.) Istanbul between the Local and the Global, London, Rowman and Littlefield, 2000, pp. 161–173.
32. See, for instance, Quataert Social Disintegration and Popular Resistance in the Ottoman Empire, 1882–1908, New York, 1983.
33. Cuinet Turquie d’Asie, Vol. 2, pp. 359, 361, 363, 367, 372.
34. So were two muhtars (a father and his son) of the neighboring Kürkçübaœı mahalle, which is also part of the Davudpaœa District.
35. Interview conducted on August 12, 1994.
36. Interview conducted on July 29, 1995.
37. Interview conducted on December 2, 1994.
38. [D2/p. 2–8].
39. How this Yeœilin Mehmed Efendi came to build and own such a large number of houses on a plot of land practically abandoned but still apparently legally belonging to the heirs of the Ispanakçızâde family is something that the local records do not reveal. Still, this informal local housing market in the Virane functioned unimpeded for long decades, until the Cerrahpaœa Hospital took over the land in the
second half of the twentieth century (see the Epilogue).
40. Interview conducted on August 2, 1994.
41. Harold Lubell The Informal Sector in the 1980s and 1990s, Paris, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Centre Studies, Paris 1991.
42. Robert Mantran ƒstanbul dans la Seconde moitié du XVIIème siècle—Essai d’Histoire Institutionnelle, Economique et Sociale, Paris, Librairie Adrien Maisonneuve, 1962.
43. See Gabriel Baer “The Administrative, Economic, and Social Functions of Turkish Guilds,” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 1/1970, 28–50; and Engin Deniz Akarlı “Gedik: Implements, Mastership, Shop Usufruct and Monopoly among Istanbul Artisans, 1750–1850,” Wissenschaftskolleg Jahrbuch, Berlin, 1986, pp. 225–231.
44. Lubell Informal Sector in the 1980s and 1990s, p. 17.
45. Mantran Istanbul dans la seconde moitié du XVIIème siecle.
46. “.. . gümrük ketebesinden….”
47. “.. . telgrafhane ketebesinden….”
48. Quataert “The Age of Reforms, 1812–1914,” in Inalcık and Quataert Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, particularly pp. 897–898.
49. Suraiya Faroqhi “Crisis and Change, 1590–1699,” in ibid., pp. 595–598.
50. The birth, death, and marriage records in the muhtar’s notebooks cannot be used as sources of demographic information. The muhtar’s registration rate for births and deaths in Kasap ƒlyas does not seem to have exceeded 10 percent during this period.
51. On late Ottoman demographic registration procedures and their failure see Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households, pp. 15–20.
52. “Sicill-i Nüfus Nizamnamesi” (Regulation on population registers), 1883, Düstur- Zeyl II, pp. 3–8, 15–24.
53. Musa Çadırcı “Tanzimat Döneminde çıkarılan men’-i mürur ve pasaport nizamnameleri.”
54. [D2/pp. 106–108]
55. “… Kasımpaœa’da Sahhaf Muhiddin mahallesinden nakil….”
56. “…Molla Gürani kurbünde Seyyid Ömer mahallesinde bir numaradan nakil….”
57. “… Yedi nüfus Kürkçübaœı mahallesi Langa caddesi 156 numaradan nakil….”
58. . . . Cumartesi Pazarı kurbünde Hacı Piri mahallesinin 22 numarasından nakil. .. .”
59. The 251 mahalles of Istanbul are listed in an official document intended for use in the 1877 parliamentary elections. “Esâmi-i Mahallât,” in ƒœbu 1294 senesi Saferinin 22sinde ve Mart ibtidasında…mebusların suret-i intihabına dair beyannamedir, Istanbul, Matbaa-yı Amire, 1293(1876).
60. For surprisingly similar contemporary urban insertion mechanisms in Istanbul, see Erder “Where Do You Hail From?”
61. Literate or not, most people in Istanbul had their personal seals that they used for stamping, in lieu of signing, all official documents. The seal was strictly personal and its authenticity, too, had to be certified by the muhtar, if necessary.
62. The pusula given by the muhtar to the person who left the neighborhood often contained a brief physical description of the (male) person (“…short, dark hair, brown eyes, fair skin, white beard etc….”).
63. [D3/pp. 7–23].
64. For more details on the types of coffeehouses in Istanbul in the nineteenth century and their various social and cultural functions, see François Georgeon “Les cafés à Istanbul à la fin de l’Empire Ottoman,” in Helene Desmet-Gregoire and François Georgeon Cafés d’Orient revisités, Paris, Editions du CNRS, 1997, pp. 39– 79. On the social functions of coffeehouses in contemporary Istanbul shantytowns and their role on the local labor market see Erder “Where Do You Hail From?”
65. [Atik Defter 14, various pp.]
66. See S. E. Eisenstadt and L. Roniger Patrons, Clients and Friends, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1984.
67. [D2/p. 53b].
68. [D2/p. 54a].
69. “… altı sene evvel memleketinden gelmiœ bilâ kayd ƒzmire. ..” [D2/p. 55b].
70. “… üç sene akdem gelip tezkere-i mecidisi zayi.. . .” [D2/p. 57a].

1. For an approximate list of the imams of the Kasap ƒlyas mosque from the middle of the seventeenth to the middle of the nineteenth centuries, see the appendix.
2. See Osman Nuri Ergin Türkiyede ¥ehircili™in Tarihî Inkiœafı (The historical development of urbanism in Turkey), Istanbul, 1936. Also, Musa Çadırcı “Türkiye’de Muhtarlık teœkilâtının kurulması üzerine bir inceleme” (An inquiry into the establishment of the Muhtars’ organization in Turkey), Belleten, 1970, pp. 409–420; Ilber Ortaylı Tanzimattan Cumhuriyete Yerel Yönetim Gelene™i (The tradition of local administration from the Tanzimat to the republic), Istanbul, Hil Yayın, 1985.
3. See Çadırcı “Türkiye’de Muhtarlık teœkilâtının kurulması üzerine bir inceleme.” (An Essay on the establishment of the Muhtar’s organization in Turkey), Belleten, 1970, pp. 409–420.
4. Çadırcı Tanzimat Döneminde Anadolu Kentlerinin Sosyal ve Ekonomik Yapıları (The social and economic structure of Anatolian towns in the Tanzimat period), Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1991.
5. See Vakfiyeler I–X.
6. For avârız, see chapter 1.
7. Vakfiyeler—X, Folio 2.
8. Vakfiyeler—VI. (“…her ne bina ve ihdas ederse vakf-i œerife ait olmak üzere….”)
9. Vakfiyeler—VIII. (“… icare-i muaccelesine mahsub….”)
10. Vakfiyeler—IV. (“.. . her ne bina ve ihdas ederse arsası vakıf, binası mülk olmak üzere….)”
11. Ahmet Akgündüz ƒslam Hukukunda ve Osmanlı Tatbikatında Vakıf Müessesesi (The Vakıf institution—Islamic law and Ottoman practice), Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1988; Mehmet ƒpœirli “Arœiv Belgelerine göre Istanbul Vakıf Evleri—Müœtemilât, Tamirat, Kira, Satıœ” (The Istanbul vakıf houses according to archival documents—Extensions, repair, rents and sales), in Tarih Boyunca ƒstanbul Semineri—Bildiriler, Istanbul, ƒstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Basimevi, 1989, pp. 183–196.
12. Vakfiyeler—VIII.
13. Vakfiyeler—V.
14. One kuruœ was equal to 120 akçes.
15. See Akgündüz “ƒslam Hukukunda” and Ipœirli “Arœiv Belgelerine gore.”
16. Vakfiyeler—I .
17. See Ipœirli “Arœiv Belgelerine gore.”
18. See ¥evket Pamuk “Money in the Ottoman Empire, 1326–1914,” in Halil ƒnalcık and Donald Quataert (eds.) An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 947–985; ¥evket Pamuk, “En büyük ta™œiœ ve 1844 tarihli Tashih i sikke ƒœlemi” (The greatest debasement and the coin correction operation of 1844), Toplumsal Tarih, 13, January 1995, pp. 12–15; ¥evket Pamuk 500 Years of Prices and Wages in Istanbul and Other Cities, Ankara, State Institute of Statistics, 2000.
19. (“.. . bahçe derûnunda bir bâb oda ve köœk ve zulle ve bi’r-i ma ve matbah ve kenif ve havz ve eœcâr-ı müsmire ve cevânib-i erbaasında taœ dıvar… .”) Vakfiyeler—V.
20. (“…Beher œehr altmıœ akçe icareli bahçeye mutasarrıf olan Es-seyyid Aziz Mahmud Efendi mutasarrıf oldu™u bahçeyi bin kuruœ bedel-i makbuz üzere ƒsmail A™a’nın zevcesi Fatma Hatun binti Hasan’a fera™ ve kasr-ı yed edip tevliyetim hasebiyle izin verilip defter-i vakfa kaydolundu. . .”), Vakfiyeler—V, ff.4.
21. For more details on the means of circumventing the Islamic prohibition on interest used in the Ottoman Empire, see Murat Çızakça A History of Philanthropic Foundations: The Islamic World from the Seventh Century to the Present, ƒstanbul, Bo™aziçi University Press, 2000.
22. “.. . beher œehr otuz akçe ile mutasarrıf oldu™um bahçeyi hüsn-ü rızam ile nısfını kerimem Hatice Huriye Hatun binti Aziz Mahmud Efendi ve nısf-ı âherini dahi damadım Ahmet bey bin Elhac ƒbrahim Efendi’ye nısfiyet üzere tasarruflarına izin verilip defter-i vakfa kaydolundu. ..” (Vakfiyeler—V, p. 4).
23. See Akgündüz “ƒslam Hukukunda.”
24. “ … talibine arz olunup,. . .” and “.. . daha ziyâde bahâ ile talib-i âhari zuhur eylemeyip.. . .” (Vakfiyeler—I, X).
25. “.. . sûk-u sultanide müzayede olunup ra™bet-ün nâs bilkülliye münkati’ olduktan sonra. .. ,” or “. . .sûk-u sultanide ba’d-el mezâd. . ..”
26. “.. . ebniye ve sukûfa vukuf ve œuûru olan cemm-i gafir ihbar etme™in.. . .”
27. Vakfiyeler—IV, p. 2. “.. . Beher œehr on akçe icareli mukataa-yı zemin olan bahçeyi hüsn-ü rızamla nısfını kerimem Hatice Huriye Hanıma ve nısf-ı âharını damadım Ahmed bey bin elhac Ibrahim efendi’ye ferâ™at ve kasr-ı yed etmemle tasarruflarına izin verilip defter-i vakfa kaydolundu.. ..”
28. 1885 census and population roster for the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle, Fatih District [Atik Defter 14, folio 73].
29. Vakfiyeler—VII, p. 4.
30. This set of really exceptional documents (three thick notebooks, henceforward to be referred to as [D1], [D2], and [D3]) having belonged to the successive imams and the muhtars of Kasap ƒlyas, are now part of a private collection. They contain property listings and some partial population counts in the mahalle, as well as various other entries. There are also markings on the in-migrants and out-migrants to and from the neighborhood. These quite detailed, though certainly not exhaustive,
diaries cover the events of the period between 1864 and 1907, with a particular emphasis on the years from 1883 to 1905, when Osman Efendi was muhtar of Kasap ƒlyas.
31. See Çadırcı “Türkiye’de Muhtarlık teœkilâtının kurulması üzerine bir inceleme” p. 411.
32. See Çadırcı “Tanzimat döneminde çıkarılan men’-i mürur ve pasaport nizamnameleri” (The prohibition of passage and passport regulations issued during the Tanzimat period), Türk Tarih Kurumu—Belgeler, 15/19, 1993, pp. 169–183.
33. “Samatya Caddesi 12, Çengi arsası yirmi senedir sahibi zuhur etmedi™i gibi sahibi malum dahi olmadı™ından karakolhane ittihaz olunması ihtimaline mebni nizamen lâzım olan muamelesinin icrası için ahâlinin mühürleriyle beraber ilmühaber verilmiœtir, 22 Mart 1305” [D2/35b].
34. For more details on these late Ottoman censuses, the population rosters they contributed to establish, as well as on the modes of registration and their consequences, see Cem Behar “Sources pour la démographie historique de l’Empire Ottoman: les Tahrir de 1885 et 1907,” Population (Paris), 53/1–2, January–April 1998, pp. 161–181.
35. For a thorough review of Ottoman/Islamic marriage law and practices, see Halil Cin Islâm ve Osmanlı Hukukunda Evlenme (Marriage in Islamic and Ottoman law), Ankara, Ankara Üniversitesi Ilahiyat Fakültesi, 1974; and Mehmet Akif Aydın Islam-Osmanlı Aile Hukuku (Islamic/Ottoman family law), Istanbul, Marmara Üniversitesi Ilahiyat Fakültesi, 1985.
36. On the marriage procedures in late Ottoman Istanbul, and particularly on the various issues raised by these marriage permissions, the izinnames, see Alan Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households: Marriage, Family and Fertility, 1880–1940, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, pp. 107–121.
37. “… Helvacı 25—Ömer Raœit bin Hüseyin teehhül edece™inden mani-i œer’isi yoktur.. ..” [D2/52a].
38. “… Kerimem Fatma’nın hiç bir kimseye niœanlı olmayıp ve hiç bir gûnâ manii œer’isi olmadı™ı, œayet bir gûnâ mani-i œer’isi zuhur ederse mes’uliyeti bana ait idü™ü iœbu mahalle œerh ve temhir kılındı. Adliye hademelerinden Ismail Hakkı….” [D2/ p. 46a].
39. “… Mezburenin mani-i œer’isi olmadı™ına dair Rıza bey’in senedi vardır.. . .” [D3/p. 52a].
40. “Zevcenin mani-i œer’isi olmadı™ına Dizdariye mahallesinden ilmühaber ve mezkûr ¥eyh Halil Efendi ve kahveci Hasan ve muhallebici Kadri’nin œehadetleriyle sabittir.. ..” [D3/p. 52].
41. “Cami-i ¥erifin üçyüz dört senesi Martından ¥ubatına kadar mahiyelerimi tamamen aldı™ımı mübeyyin iœbu mahalle temhir eyledim. 27 Mart 1304. ƒmza: müezzin Ahmet (mühür).” [D2/p. 24a].
42. “Üçyüz yedi senesi maaœımı Hoca efendi yedinden tamamen ahz eyledim. 1 Mart 1307.” [D2/p. 24a].
43. See Ortaylı Tanzimattan Cumhuriyete yerel yönetim gelene™i.
44. “…Mahmiye-i Istanbul’da Davudpaœa iskelesi kurbünde Kasap Ilyas mahallesinde vaki.. . bir taraftan imam Mustafa Efendi menzili ve bir taraftan Ahmet efendi menzili ve bir taraftan Atıf Efendi vakfından menzil ve bir taraftan tarik-i ‘amm ile mahdûd…bir bâb arsa. . ..” Vakfiyeler—IV.
45. “.. . Mahmiye-i Istanbul’da Kasap Ilyas mahallesinde. .. bir taraftan Ibrahim A™a menzili ve bir taraftan Halifezâde Mustafa Efendi menzili ve bir taraftan helvacı Ahmet arsası ve taraf-ı rabii tarik-i ‘amm ile mahdûd terbi’an iki yüz ondört zira’ arsada… . 9 Muharram 1217 [May 5, 1802],” Istanbul ¥er’iye Sicilleri Arœivi (The Istanbul Religious Courts’ archives)—Davudpaœa Mahkemesi [ISA-DM], 8/40, p. 11a.
46. Vakfiyeler—I–X.
47. Istanbul ¥er’iye Sicilleri Arœivi [ISA-DM], 8/1 p. 36b; 8/1 p. 73b; 8/4 p. 31b; 8/5 p. 27a; 8/6 p. 60a; 8/6 p. 71b; etc.
48. [ISA-DM], 8/40, p. 11a, 9 Muharram 1217 [May 5, 1802].
49. [ISA-DM], 8/1, p. 75a, 17 Jumada I 1197 [April 20, 1783].
50. [ISA-DM], 8/3, p. 55b, 17 Shawwal 1198 [August 30, 1784].
51. [ISA-DM], 8/5, p. 52b, 11 Dhu’l Ka’ada 1199 [September 15, 1785].
52. [ISA-DM], 8/6, p. 82a, 11 Shawwal 1200 [August 2, 1786].
53. Vakfiyeler—IV.
54. [ISA-DM], 8/4 p. 31b; 8/5 p. 52b; 8/5 p. 55a; 8/6 p. 56b; 8/6 p. 60a;
8/6 p. 82b; 8/40 p. 11a; 8/50 p. 56b .
55. [ISA-DM], 8/4 p. 31b; ; ; ; ; 8/5 p. 52b; 8/5 p. 55a; 8/6 p. 56b; 8/6 p. 60a; 8/6 p. 82b; 8/40 p. 11a; 8/50 p. 56b.
56. “.. . Fevkânî üç bâb oda ve bir sofa ve ma™sel ve tahtında bir kenif ve abdesthane ve kömürlük ve bi’r-i mâ, avlu ve sokak kapısını müœtemil bir bâb menzil.. . .” [ISA-DM], 8/5 p. 55a.
57. [ISA-DM], 8/1 p. 36b; 8/6 p. 56b; 8/120 p. 3a; etc.
58. Behar “Fruit Vendors and Civil Servants: A Social and Demographic Portrait of a Neighborhood Community in Intramural ƒstanbul, the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle in 1885,” Bo™aziçi Journal, 11/1–2, 1997, pp. 5–32.
59. Ibid., pp. 8–9.
60. In 1885, 873,575 inhabitants were counted in Istanbul, according to the officially published figures. For longer time series on the population of the capital-city of the Ottoman Empire, see Behar Osmanlı ƒmparatorlu™unun ve Türkiye’nin Nüfusu: 1500–1927 (The population of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey), Ankara, State Institute of Statistics (Historical Statistics Series, Vol. 2), 1996.
61. In September 2001.
62. Edmondo de Amicis Constantinople (1874), Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1993, p. 281.
63. On the vegetable gardens within the walled city of Istanbul, and for maps of these gardens toward the end of the nineteenth century, see Reœat Ekrem Koçu “Bostan,” in Istanbul Ansiklopedisi, Vol. 6, Istanbul, 1963, pp. 2971–2973.
64. Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi Ondokuzuncu Asırda ƒstanbul Haritası (An Istanbul map in the nineteenth century), ƒstanbul, Istanbul Fetih Cemiyeti, 1978.
65. [ISA-DM], 8/140 p. 65a; 8/141 p. 22b; 8/148 p. 87; 8/154 p. 3a; 8/176 p. 30; etc.
66. [ [[ [[ISA-DM], 8/1 p. 36b; 8/6 p. 34b; 8/6 p. 36b.
67. Boza is a very popular Turkish soft drink made of fermented millet.
68. Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households.
69. Vakfiyeler—I–X.
70. Vakfiyeler—I, p. 2–3.
71. Vakfiyeler—VI.
72. Vakfiyeler—X.
73. [ISA-DM] 8/5 p. 4b; 8/5 p. 52b; 8/6 p. 52a; 8/10 p. 54b; 8/70 p. 8b; 8/80 p. 20a; 8/90 p. 7a; etc.
74. [ISA-DM] 8/5 p. 28a; 8/9 p. 13b; 8/50 p. 31a; 8/110 p. 2a; etc.
75. [ISA-DM] 8/50 p. 59a.
76. [ISA-DM] 8/90 p. 7a.
77. On the evolution of the burials and burial grounds within the city of Istanbul, see Nicolas Vatin “L’inhumation intramuros à Istanbul à l’époque ottomane,” in Gilles Veinstein (ed.) Les Ottomans et la Mort, Leiden, Netherlands, Brill, 1996, pp. 157–175. For the relevant Ottoman government order, see Vak’anüvis Ahmet Lütfî Efendi Tarihi, Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu, Vol. 11, 1989, p. 30.
78. On the matter of Ottoman tombstones considered as historical sources, see Hans-Peter Lacqueur “Grabsteine als Quelle zur osmanischen Geschichte—Möglichkeiten und Probleme,” Osmanlı Araœtırmaları, 3, Istanbul, 1982, pp. 21–44.
79. “Kasap ƒlyas mahallesi sakinlerinden ve ¥ehremânetinde mahallât odası mukayyidi Ahmet Vehbi Efendi. Ruhuna Fatiha 1276.”
80. Vakfiyeler—X, p. 2. Neither the religious community to which this person (named as “David, son of Gabriel” in the records) belonged, nor whether he effectively resided in the neighborhood is specified in the relevant vakıf documents.
81. [ISA-DM] 8/50 p. 43a; 8/80 p. 20a.

1. See Ömer Lütfü Barkan and Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları Tahrir defteri—953(1546) Tarihli, ƒstanbul, ƒstanbul Fetih Cemiyeti, 1970 (see pp. 351–355 for the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle).
2. Of these fourteen mahalles only three have survived to this day: Davud Paœa, Kürkçübaœı, and Kasap ƒlyas. Another two (Hubyar and Abacızâde) still existed before the municipal reform of the 1920s. The remaining nine had totally disappeared before the nineteenth century.
3. For more details on the various local pious foundations of Kasap ƒlyas, see Cem Behar “Kasap ƒlyas Mahallesi: Istanbul’un bir Mahallesinin Sosyal ve Demografik Portresi, 1546–1885” (The Kasap ƒlyas mahalle: a social and demographic portrait of an Istanbul neighborhood, 1546–1885), Istanbul Araœtırmaları, 4, Winter 1998, pp. 7–110.
4. A double hamam has two separate entrances, a double tepidarium, and a double sudatorium and is open to both men and women. The single hamam was used by men and women either on alternate days or at different hours of the day.
5. See Ayverdi Fatih Devri Sonlarında ƒstanbul Mahalleleri, ¥ehrin ƒskânı ve Nüfusu (The Istanbul neighborhoods, the settlements, and the population of the city at the end of the era of the conqueror), Ankara, Vakıflar Umum Müdürlü™ü, 1958.
6. Robert Mayer Byzantion, Konstantinoupolis, ƒstanbul—Eine Genetische Stadtgeographie, Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Vienna, and Leipzig, 1943. Alexander van Millingen identifies the Byzantine Agios Emilianos gate with the Ottoman Davudpaœa gate. See Byzantine Constantinople: The Walls of the City and Adjoining Historical Sites, London, John Murray, 1899.
7. Mayer, Byzantion, Konstantinoupolis; Alfons Maria Schneider “Onbeœinci Yüzyılda ƒstanbul’un Nüfusu” (The population of Istanbul in the fiifteenth century), Belleten, 1952, pp. 35–50; Ali Saim Ülgen Constantinople During the Era of Mohammed the Conqueror, 1453–1481, Ankara, Publication of the General Direction of Pious Foundations, 1939.
8. For details on the methods of construction and the semiological content of these early Istanbul maps, see Ian R. Manners “Constructing the Image of a City: The Representation of Constantinople in Christopher Buondelmonti’s Liber Insularum Archipelago,” Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 87 (1), 1997, pp. 73–102. For their significance as a document on the topographical distribution of settlements, mosques, churches, and mahalles in early Ottoman Istanbul, see Çi™dem
Kafesçio™lu The Ottoman Capital in the Making: the Reconstruction of Constantinople in the Fifteenth Century, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University, 1996.
9. Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi Fatih Devri Sonlarında.
10. Barkan Süleymaniye Camii ve ƒmareti ƒnœaatı (1550–1557) (The building of the Süleymaniye mosque and imaret [1550–1557]), Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Vol. 1 (1972) and Vol. 2 (1979).
11. Barkan and Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları Tahrir Defteri (see pp. 351–355 for the pious foundations of the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle).
12. Two dervish lodges in the neighborhood were founded in the second half of the eighteenth century.
13. On the Islamic Law of Foundations and its implementation in the Ottoman Empire, see Ahmet Akgündüz ƒslam Hukukunda ve Osmanlı Tatbikatında Vakıf Müessesesi (The vakıf institution in Islamic law and Ottoman legal practice), Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1988.
14. For the—still valid—official mahalle boundaries in intramural Istanbul see Osman Nuri Ergin Istanbul ¥ehir Rehberi (Istanbul city guide), 1934.
15. See Maurice M. Cerassi Osmanlı Kenti—Osmanlı ƒmparatorlu™unda 18. Ve 19. Yüzyıllarda Kent Uygarlı™ı ve Mimarisi (The Ottoman city—Urban civilization and architecture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), Istanbul, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, 1999.
16. See Wolfgang Müller-Wiener Die Hafen von Byzantion, Konstantinupolis, Istanbul, Darmstadt, Germany, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag, 1994.
17. See Barkan and Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları, p. 353. As stated in the deed of trust, a warehouse/shop for wood and timber in the vicinity of the Davudpaœa wharf (dükkân-ı haœœâb der kurb-ü iskele-i Davudpaœa) was donated by one “Mahmud, the son of Abdullah,” in 1511.
18. For the geographic location of the various commercial urban functions in the seventeenth century, see Robert Mantran ƒstanbul dans la Seconde Moitié du XVIIe¯me Siècle—Essai d’Histoire Institutionnelle, Economique et Sociale, Paris, Librairie Adrien Maisonneuve, 1962.
19. The most important of these is certainly Cengiz Orhonlu “Istanbul’da Kayıkçılık ve Kayık ƒœletmecili™i” (Boatsmen and boat management in Istanbul), in Salih Ozbaran (ed.) Osmanlı ƒmparatorlu™unda ¥ehircilik ve Ulaœım Üzerine Araœtırmalar (Research on urbanism and transportation in the Ottoman Empire), Izmir, Turkey, Ege University Publications, 1984.
20. See Ismail Hakkı Uzunçarœılı Osmanlı Tarihi (History of the Ottoman Empire), Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1988b.
21. Barkan and Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları, p. 378.
22. See Vakfiyeler—I–X.
23. Reœat Ekrem Koçu “Davudpaœa,” in ƒstanbul Ansiklopedisi, 1966, Vol. 8, pp. 4289–4314.
24. See Van Millingen Byzantine Constantinople.
25. Barkan and Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları, pp. 353–354.
26. Here is the typical description of a house situated in the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle and donated by a deed of trust dated from 1506: “…a tahtânî house in the aforesaid mahalle with two entrances (bâbs), stables (ahurs), an oven or kiln (furun), a water well (bir-i mâ), a small garden (ba™çe), and latrines (kenif), all surrounded by a wall (muhavvata) and bounded by the properties of Hacı ƒbrahim and that of Ahmet and also by the public thoroughfare (tarik-i âmm).” See Barkan and Ayverdi, Istanbul Vakıfları,p. 352, vakıf numbered 2075.
27. For more details on the house descriptions and the uses to which these houses were put in the vakıfs of Istanbul, see Mehmet ƒpœirli “Arœiv Belgelerine göre ƒstanbul Vakıf Evleri—Müœtemilât, Tamirat, Kira, Satıœ” (The Istanbul vakıf houses according to archival documents—Extensions, repair, rents, and sales), in Tarih Boyunca Istanbul Semineri-Bildiriler, ƒstanbul, ƒstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi, 1989, pp. 183–196.
28. Taht and fevk being both words of Arabic origin, the first meaning “below, under, lower,” and the second “over, above.”
29. See, for instance, Tülay Reyhanlı ƒngiliz Gezginlerine göre Onaltıncı Yüzyılda Istanbul’da Hayat (Life in Istanbul in the sixteenth century according to English travelers), Ankara, Ministry of Culture Publications, 1983.
30. Barkan and Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları, p. XI.
31. Ibid., p. 354.
32. That mode of construction is in fact well-known in many parts of Anatolia. The material used in filling the space between the supporting beams may have varied geographically and with time. Straw, mud, stones, and various types of bricks might have been used. This technique of construction is generally called hımıœ.
33. See Mustafa Cezar Osmanlı Devrinde ƒstanbul Yapılarında Tahribat Yapan Yangınlar ve Tabii Afetler (Fires and other natural disasters in Ottoman times—Destructions caused to buildings in Istanbul), ƒstanbul, 1963.
34. See Ahmet Refik Hicrî Onbirinci Asırda Istanbul Hayatı (Life in Istanbul in the eleventh century after the Hegira), Istanbul, 1930.
35. Gabriel Antoine Olivier Voyage dans l’Empire Othoman, l’Egypte et la Perse, Paris, H. Agasse, 1802, Vol. 1.
36. Barkan and Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları, p. 355. The deed of trust specifies that this particular bostan was contiguous to yet another vegetable garden that belonged to a non-Muslim (bostan-ı zımmî) and to the city walls (cidar-ı kal’a ile mahdud).
37. Vakfiyeler—X.
38. This fountain was listed as being a new fountain in front of the Davudpaœa wharf market (Çeœme-i nev der nezd-i çarœu-yı iskele-yi Davudpaœa). See Kâzım Çeçen Mimar Sinan ve Kırkçeœme Tesisleri (Sinan the architect and the Kırkçeœme establishment), Istanbul, 1988, p. 168. For the problem of drinking water provision in Istanbul after the Turkish conquest, see Sadi Nazım Nirven Fatih II. Sultan Mehmed Devri Türk Su Medeniyeti (Turkish water and civilization in the epoch of Sultan Mehmed
II the Conqueror), ƒstanbul, 1953.
39. See Mayer Byzantion, Konstantinoupolis, ƒstanbul.
40. See Cengiz Orhonlu Osmanlı ƒmparatorlu™unda (see pp. 27–66 on road pavement and pavement workers).
41. Uzunçarœılı Osmanlı Tarihi, p. 226.
42. A tekke was a dervish convent belonging to a sufi order. The tekkes might or might not have contained permanent inmates.
43. It must be stressed again at this point that it is utterly impossible to reconstitute with any degree of precision the street plan of the sixteenth-century Kasap ƒlyas mahalle, or that of any neighborhood within the old city of Istanbul, for that matter.
..
..
It is probable that none of the sixteenth-century Kasap ƒlyas “streets” kept their initial location or their itinerary in subsequent centuries, with one single exception: Kasap ƒlyas’ “high street.”
44. For a thorough discussion of those legal opinions, see Rhoads Murphey “Communal Living in Ottoman Istanbul—Searching for the Foundations of an Urban Tradition,” Journal of Urban History, 16/2, February 1990, pp. 115–131.
45. See Barkan and Ayverdi, Istanbul Vakıfları, p. 345.
46. Boza is a traditional Turkish drink, consumed mostly in winter, and made of mortared and slightly fermented barley
47. See Ayverdi Fatih Devri Sonlarında.
48. Evliya Çelebi Seyahatname, Istanbul, 1996, Vol. 1; Eremya Çelebi Kömürcüyan ƒstanbul Tarihi-XVII. Asırda ƒstanbul (The history of Istanbul—Istanbul in the seventeenth century), ƒstanbul, Eren Yayıncılık, 1988.
49. See Münir Aktepe “Onyedinci Asra ait Istanbul kazası Avârız Defteri” (A seventeenth century Avârız register for the district of Istanbul), Istanbul Enstitüsü Dergisi, 3, 1957, pp. 109–139.
50. The term avârız is the plural of ârıza, meaning “accident” or “occasional, unexpected occurrence.”
51. For a compendium of figures and estimates of the population of the Ottoman Empire and its various provinces, see Behar Osmanlı ƒmparatorlu™u ve Türkiye’nin Nüfusu (1500–1927) (The population of the Ottoman Empire and of Turkey), Ankara, State Institute of Statistics (Historical Statistics Series, Vol. 2), 1996.
52. Stanford J. Shaw “The Population of ƒstanbul in the Nineteenth Century,” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 10, 1979, pp. 265–277.
53. On the 1885 population of Kasap ƒlyas, see Behar “Fruit Vendors and Civil Servants—A Social and Demographic Portrait of a Neighborhood Community in Intramural ƒstanbul: the Kasap ƒlyas Mahalle in 1885,” Bo™aziçi Journal, 11/1–2, 1997, pp. 5–32.
54. Derviœ Mustafa Efendi 1782 Yılı Yangınları—Harîk Risalesi (The fires of 1782—The fire epistle), Istanbul, IletiœimYayınları, 1994.
55. That is the only manner in which the topographical location of each piece of real estate in Istanbul could have been defined, before the establishment of a cadastral land survey in the middle of the nineteenth century. The name of the neighborhood plus that of a well-known landmark (a mosque, a city gate, a market, etc.) and the names of the owners of the bordering properties were sufficient indica-
tors defining and locating a house or a plot of land in Istanbul.
56. See, for instance, Kömürcüyan ƒstanbul Tarihi-XVII. Asırda ƒstanbul (The history of Istanbul—Istanbul in the seventeenth century), Istanbul, Eren Yayıncılık, 1988; P. Incicyan Onsekizinci Asırda ƒstanbul (Istanbul in the eighteenth century), ƒstanbul, ƒstanbul Fetih Cemiyeti Yayınları, 1976; Sarraf Sarkis Hovhannesyan Payitaht Istanbul’un Tarihçesi (A brief history of the imperial capital Istanbul), Istanbul, Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 1996.
57. Barkan Süleymaniye Camii ve ƒmareti ƒnœaatı.
58. Hatun, simply meaning “lady,” was then an honorific title given to women of some age who commanded general respect.
59. See Mayer Byzantion, Konstantinoupolis, ƒstanbul; also, Celal Esad [Arseven] Eski ƒstanbul Abidat ve Mebanisi—¥ehrin Tesisinden Osmanlı Fethine Kadar (Buildings and monuments of old Istanbul—From its foundation to the Ottoman conquest), ƒstanbul, Muhtar Halit Kütüphanesi, 1922.
60. This name never became an official street name. When the streets of Istanbul received official names in the 1860s, it was baptized Samatya Avenue (Samatya Caddesi), referring to one of the districts through which it passes. Unpleasant memories linked to the Janissary Corps, as well as the desire to “modernize” might have played a role in the elimination of this name, although it had roots in the people’s daily life, reflected a social and political reality, and had been used for centuries.
61. See, for instance, Osman Nuri Ergin Mecelle-i Umûr-u Belediye, Istanbul, Vol. 2, 1995, pp. 794–795.
62. The Kazlıçeœme area remained a tannery center in Istanbul until well into the 1990s.
63. Hovhannesyan Payitaht Istanbul’un Tarihçesi, p. 31.
64. For more details on the butchers’ daily procession and on the ritual associated with the distribution of meat to the Janissary companies stationed in the Etmeydanı barracks, see Uzunçarœılı Osmanlı Devlet Teœkilatından Kapıkulu Ocakları—Acemi Oca™ı ve Yeniçeri Oca™ı, Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1988, pp. 241ff.
65. Kalfa (literally, substitute, or helper) was a title given to senior female officials of the harem in the Imperial Palace.
66. Ahmet Efendi Üçüncü Selim’in sır kâtibi Ahmet Efendi tarafindan tutulan Ruzname (Diary kept by Ahmet Efendi Selim the Third’s confident), Ankara, Türk Tarih Kurumu, 1993, p. 201.
67. Idem, p. 217.
68. For a detailed listing of the various fires in Ottoman Istanbul, see Mustafa Cezar Osmanlı Devrinde Istanbul Yapılarında Tahribat yapan Yangınlar ve Tabii Afetler (Fires and other natural disasters in Ottoman times—Destructions caused to buildings in Istanbul), Istanbul, 1963. On the network of amateur fire brigades that were set up in Istanbul in the nineteenth century, see Reœat Ekrem Koçu Yangın var. . . Istanbul Tulumbacıları (Fire!…The Istanbul voluntary fire brigades), Istanbul, Ana Yayınevi, 1981.
69. See Cezar Osmanlı Devrinde and Koçu Yangın Var.
70. Cezar Osmanlı Devrinde, p. 17.
71. Vakfiyeler—I.
72. Derviœ Mustafa Efendi 1782 Yılı Yangınları—Harîk Risalesi (The fires of 1782—The fire epistle), Istanbul, IletiœimYayınları, 1994, p. 60.
73. See Uzunçarœlı “ƒstanbul ve Bilâd-ı Selâse Denilen Eyüp, Galata ve Üsküdar Kadılıkları,” Istanbul Enstitüsü Dergisi, 3 1957, pp. 25–52.
74. The fire of 1782 was a disaster for historiographers, too, for it destroyed a rich archival collection. The Davudpaœa Religious Court was one of the oldest in Istanbul and used to work under the direction of a naib, a representative of the kadı of Istanbul. The inhabitants of the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle usually went to this religious court for their lawsuits and legal records. The Davudpaœa Court of Justice used to operate in a wooden house abutting on the Davudpaœa mosque itself. The 1782 fire completely destroyed this house and an archive with about three centuries of court records on the Davudpaœa District were turned to ashes. The first record of the new series is dated 1 Zilhicce 1196 a.h. (November 7, 1782).
75. Archives of the Religious Courts of Istanbul—Davudpaœa Court (Istanbul ¥er’iye Sicilleri Arœivi—Davudpaœa Mahkemesi) [ISA-DM 8/1 p. 37a; 8/1 p. 73b; 8/1 p. 75a; 8/5 p. 52b; 8/6 p. 82a; etc].
76. Vakfiyeler—IV and VI.
77. Vakfiyeler—VI.
78. A zira’ or zira’-yı mimari (architectural zira’ ), was equal to about 75 centimeters.

1. Tin Polein/Istanbul is, etymologically, the city. Similarly, Cairo is still today often called umm’ad-dunia (mother of the world), and the glorious Isfahan was celebrated in rhyme, as Isfahan/Nisf-jihan (Isfahan/half the world).
2.  In many Ottoman biographical dictionaries, only those born within the triangular walled inner city of Istanbul were ever granted the posthumous honor of being qualified as urban (œehrî). See, for instance, Mehmed Süreyya Sicill-i Osmani, yahud Tezkire-i Meœâhir-i Osmaniye, ƒstanbul, Matbaa-yı Amire, 1890–1899. Even those born in the nearby boroughs of Istanbul were considered slightly “provincial.”
3. For a large collection of Ottoman demographic data and various population estimates for Ottoman and early republican Istanbul, see Cem Behar Osmanlı ƒmparatorlu™unun ve Istanbul’un nüfusu (1500–1927) (The population of the Ottoman Empire and of Istanbul (1500–1927), Ankara, Turkey, State Institute of Statistics (Historical Statistics Series, Vol. 2), 1996.
4. See Alan Duben and Behar ƒstanbul Households—Marriage, Family and Fertility, 1880–1940, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, p. 30.
5. Suraiya Faroqhi’s work on Ankara and Kayseri in the seventeenth century, and André Raymond’s books on Arab cities in the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries are a case in point.
6. A semt is, etymologically, a “direction,” a “location,” or an “address.”
7. See Helene Desmet-Grégoire and François Georgeon (eds.) Cafés d’Orient Revisités, Paris, CNRS Editions, 1997.
8. For a recent instance, see Edhem Eldem “Istanbul. From Imperial to Peripheralized Capital,” in Edhem Eldem, Daniel Goffmann, and Bruce Masters The Ottoman City Between East and West—Aleppo, Izmir and Istanbul, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1999, 135–206.
9. For a solid and detailed exposition of the canonical model of the “Islamic city” and of its various offshoots, see “Introduction: Was There an Ottoman City?” in ibid., pp. 1–18. A scathing deconstruction of the idea of the Islamic city is provided by Janet L. Abu-Lughod in “The Islamic City—Historic Myth, Islamic Essence and Contemporary Relevance,” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies,
19, 1987, pp. 155–176.
10. S. M. Stern “The Constitution of the Islamic City,” in A. H. Hourani and Stern The Islamic City—A Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1970, pp. 25–50.
11. Gustav E. von Grunebaum “The Structure of the Muslim Town,” in Islam—Essays in the Nature and the Growth of a Cultural Tradition, Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 1961, pp. 141–159.
12. See, for instance, William Marçais “L’Islamisme et la vie urbaine,” Comptes—rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres,” Paris, January 1928, pp. 86–100. Georges Marçais “La Conception des Villes dans l’Islam,” Revue d’Alger, 2, 1945, pp. 517–533.
13. Ira M. Lapidus Middle Eastern Cities, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1969; Lapidus “The Evolution of Muslim Urban Society,” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 15, 1973, pp. 21–50.
14. Lapidus “Evolution of Muslim Urban Society,” p. 48.
15. For Ottoman crafts and guilds, the best review and summary of the literature is in Halil Inalcık and Donald Quataert (eds.) An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire (1300–1914), Cambridge, 1994.
16. The first of these kadı injunctions dates from as early as November 1578. See Ahmet Refik Altınay Onaltıncı Asırda Istanbul Hayatı, Istanbul, 1935, pp. 144–145.
17. Ömer Lütfi Barkan and Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları Tahrir Defteri—953 (1546), ƒstanbul, ƒstanbul Fetih Cemiyeti, 1970.
18. Ibid.
19. Ayverdi Ondokuzuncu Asırda Istanbul Haritası (A map of Istanbul in the nineteenth century), ƒstanbul, ƒstanbul Fetih Cemiyeti, 1978.
20. Cem Behar “Fruit Vendors and Civil Servants—A Social and Demographic Portrait of a Neighborhood Community in Intra-mural Istanbul: the Kasap ƒlyas Mahalle in 1885,” Bo™aziçi Journal, 11/1–2, 1997, pp. 5–32.
21. For a very thorough discussion of the historiography and the basic problematics of mahalle formation, definition, and composition in early Ottoman Istanbul, see Çi™dem Kafesçio™lu The Ottoman Capital in the Making: The Reconstruction of Constantinople in the Fifteenth Century, unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University, 1996, especially pp. 284 et seq.
22. Barkan and Ayverdi Istanbul Vakıfları Tahrir Defteri.
23. Ayvansarayî Hafız Hüseyin Hadikatü’l-Cevâmi, Istanbul, Matba’a-yı Amire, 1281(1865).
24. Esâmi’-i Mahallât, in Mebusların Suret-i ƒntihabına dair Beyannamedir, Istanbul, Matba’a-yı Amire, 1877; Mahallât Esamisi, Istanbul, Arœak Garoyan Matbaası, 1913; Istanbul ve Bilâd-ı selâsede kâin mahallât ve kurrânın hurûf-u hecâ tertibiyle esâmi. . . . Istanbul, Matba’a-yı Amire, 1922. Kasap ƒlyas mahalle, however, appears in all of these lists and there is no solid evidence for thinking that its approximate borders have changed to a considerable degree over time.
25. For a thorough listing of the various fires and other natural catastrophies that plagued Ottoman Istanbul, see Mustafa Cezar Osmanlı Devrinde Istanbul Yapılarında Tahribat Yapan Yangınlar ve Tabii Afetler, Istanbul, Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi, 1963. New street-grids appeared after many of the nineteenth-century fires. See Zeynep Çelik The Remaking of Istanbul—A Portrait of an Ottoman City in the Nineteenth Cen- tury, Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1986.
26. A han was a “trade center,” in most cases a rectangular one- or two-story structure with a central courtyard and a number of shops or warehouses around it.
27. For the details on Servi Mescidi and on the court case involved, see Osman Nuri Ergin Mecelle-i Umûr-ı Belediye, Istanbul, 1995, Vol. 7, pp. 3689–3690; for the eventual disappearance of the Servi Mescidi mahalle, see also Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi Fatih Devri sonlarında ƒstanbul mahalleleri, ¥ehrin iskânı ve nüfusu, Ankara, Vakıflar Umum Müdürlü™ü, 1958.
28. A defterdar was a bookkeeper as well as a tax assessor for the public treasury.
29. The avârız tax was a tax collected in Ottoman urban centers at irregular intervals on special occasions when the treasury was in dire need of funds. The lumpsum tax was apportioned essentially on a geographic basis.
30. Ayvansarayî Hâfız Hüseyin Hadikat’ül- Cevâmi’, Istanbul, Matbaa-yı Amire, 1281 (1865).
31. Reœat Ekrem Koçu ƒstanbul Ansiklopedisi, Istanbul, 1966, Vol. 8, pp. 4289–4314 (articles on Davud Paœa).
32. See Cem Behar “Kasap ƒlyas Mahallesi, Istanbul’un bir Mahallesinin sosyal ve  demografik portresi: 1546–1885,” Istanbul Araœtırmaları, 4, Winter 1998, p. 27.
33. See Suraiya Faroqhi Men of Modest Substance—House Owners and House Property in Seventeenth Century Ankara and Kayseri, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1987.
34. Behar “Fruit Vendors and Civil Servants.
35. Fifteenth- and sixteenth-century examples of a mahalle embedded in another mahalle do exist. See Ayverdi Fatih Devri Sonlarında Istanbul Mahalleleri.
36. See Heath Lowry “The Ottoman Tahrir Defterleri as a Source for Social and Economic History: Pitfalls and Limitations,” Türkische Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte von 1071 bis 1920, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1995, pp. 183–196. These defters are of good informational value as far as agricultural output and trade, and the relationship of Anatolian towns with their hinterland are concerned. For a good discussion of the problems involved in using exclusively Tapu-tahrir defters see also Amy Singer Palestinian Peasants and Ottoman Officials: Rural Administration Around Sixteenth Century,
Jerusalem, Cambridge, 1994.
37. For a detailed survey of the history and the methodology of these late Ottoman censuses and on the rich informative content of the original census documents, see Cem Behar “The 1300 (1885) and 1322 (1907) Tahrirs as Sources for Ottoman Historical Demography,” Bo™aziçi University Research Papers, Istanbul, 1985; Behar “Sources pour la Démographie historique de l’Empire Ottoman—Les Tahrirs (Dénombrements) de 1885 et 1907,” Population, Paris, 1/2, 1998, pp. 161–178; see also Behar “Qui
Compte?—Recensements et Statistiques Démographiques dans l’Empire Ottoman, du XVIe au Xxe siècles,” Histoire et Mesure, 13-1/2, 1998, pp. 135–146.
38. The personal and household information in the main rosters of these two censuses (the so-called Esas Defters) were used for the first time by Alan Duben and Cem Behar in ƒstanbul Households—Marriage, Family and Fertility 1880–1940, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991. Previously, historians who had used these census documents had based their conclusions almost exclusively on the district and provincial totals.
39. For a detailed and nuanced survey and evaluation of the very few available Ottoman first-person narrative texts (a small number of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century personal diaries, some personal account books, a couple of dream-logs, some private personal letters, a few autobiographical sketches, etc.), see Cemal Kafadar “Self and Others: The Diary of a Dervish in Seventeenth Century Istanbul and FirstPerson Narratives in Ottoman Literature,” Studia Islamica, 69, 1989, pp. 121–150.