Cihannüma: Tarih ve Coğrafya Araştırmaları Dergisi

1-31

Authors: Vehbi Günay

Court registers (şer‘iye sicilleri or şer‘iye defterleri) consist of records on various issues kept by the Ottoman kadis who functioned as the representatives of the state, local administrators and judges. Court registers thus occupy a very privileged and important position among the Ottoman archival materials. Shedding light upon various domains thanks to the diversity of the documents they contain and serving as the principal sources, these sicils encompass invaluable information as to the socio-economic history of the Ottoman provinces. Located to the east of present-day Greek Macedonia and in the vicinity of the Thermaic Gulf, Karaferye (Béroia/Véria) was a district (kaza) that lived under Ottoman rule for more than five centuries. Characterized by the coexistence of various ethnic and religious groups, the town enjoyed significant potential in terms of production and economic dynamism. Thus, it is extremely important to appraise the existence of locally-produced documents as well as their contents in order to shed further light upon the Ottoman past of the town. So far a total of 140 defters pertaining the court records of Karaferye district have been identified; 127 in Greece and 13 in Turkey. In terms of periodicity, the defters reflect an uneven distribution, with 43 belonging to the 17th century, 67 to the 18th century and 30 to the 19th century. The corpus in question dates from the year 1602 to 1891. With thousands of documents consisting of more than 12 thousand pages, the Karaferye court registers indeed amounts to a colossal collection. Further studies drawing upon these defters, which are largely in good state, with most of the documents keeping their original quality, will not only constitute a valuable source for local history research at the district level, but also contain substantial information for inquiries into Ottoman history based upon survey and sampling methods. The present study attempts to compile all available information about these registers found in the two countries, presents an overview and finally provides an overall catalogue.

75-94

Authors: Metin Ziya Köse

In this study which is built on the Galata Sheria Registers, small but effective early modern age Christian ( Catholic) state representatives’ activities are tried to put forward by focusing on the tracks of Dubrovnikians in Istanbul at the 17th century. Dubrovnik particularly established more serious ties with Balkans after it went under the rule of Ottoman at 15th century; basically it established commercial relations with other regions of Ottoman Empire. This city state’s relations with Ottomans were not only economic but also politic and diplomatic. Even though the Balkans were more considered by the Dubrovnik patricians, Istanbul, the capital city, was pretty significant for the relations which established with a great empire. The administration understood the role of diplomats and the necessity of having a Dubrovnik diplomatic chancery at the capital to take commercial measures, to prevent unfavorable situations and particularly to follow merchants settled at Ottoman cities. Even though it did not have permanent embassies as a tributary state, Dubrovnik temporary ambassadors who used to come capital to deliver the tribute money to treasure, would not hold back to interfere in dynamic diplomatic relations, they would negotiate with other state ambassadors. Furthermore ambassador assistants, dragoman, young dragoman candidates and other ambassador staff would take part at the matters about Dubrovnik. Except these staff, Dubrovnikian merchants would have been in İstanbul, live in Galata and sign commercial treaties.

123-162

Authors: Aysel Yıldız

The Machin Defeat (9 July 1791) was the last phase of 1787-92 Russo-Ottoman War. Due to a minor strategic mistake, the Ottoman forces at Machin, unable to stop a Russian military unit attacking Machin, began to run away from the battlefield. The consequent panic of the fugitives became endemic in the whole army, spreading to the rest of the soldiery-first to the janissaries in the entrenchments, then to the armorers and the artillerymen. The historical importance of the Machin defeat does not lie however in the fugitives and their plunders, but rather in the subsequent developments. Following the defeat, the commanders, viziers as well as the civil elite of the imperial camp submitted a petition to Selim III, requesting him to make an urgent armistice with the Russian government. This unexpected decision taken unanimously by the civil and military elite of the imperial camp had initially infuriated the Sultan who later approved the request. Consequently, a grand council has been held in Istanbul to discuss the final conditions for peace with Russia. Thanks to various archival materials, it is possible to follow the echoes of the Machin defeat and petitions in the capital. More importantly, the minutes of the council provide a chance to become acquainted with the debates over this defeat and the accusations directed towards the commanders as well as soldiers of the janissary army. The Machin defeat also prepared a solid ground for the implementation of reform program (Nizam-ı Cedid) under the initiative of Selim III and his bureaucrats. Indeed, the advocates of the Selimian reforms later made frequent references to the Machin defeat and these petitions of the elite of imperial camp underlying the unwillingness of the military elite to fight with the enemy- with the specific purpose legitimizing implementation of these reforms.

177-188

Authors: Laurance Lockhart (trans. İlker Külbilge)

Translation

211-227

Authors: Nejdet Bilgi

Pligarism

231-234

Authors: Zarife Deveci Albayrak

Maria Pia Pedani, Doğu’nun Kapısı Venedik, İtalyancadan Çev. Gökçen Karaca Şahin, Küre Yayınları, İstanbul 2012, 336 sayfa (Metin+23 resim+Zeyil ile birlikte), ISBN: 978-605-5383-52-7