Demirel, Ömer. Osmanlı Vakıf-Şehir
İlişkisine Bir Örnek: Sivas Şehir Hayatında Vakıfların Rolü. Ankara: Türk
Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 2000, 220pp.
ABSTRACT
An Example
of Ottoman Endowment-City Relationship: The Role of Endowments in Sivas
Osmanlı Vakıf-Şehir İlişkisine Bir Örnek: Sivas Şehir Hayatında
Vakıfların Rolü
In this book
Ömer Demiral studies the role of vakfs (religious endowments) in the
settlement, Islamisation and reconstruction of the city of Sivas. It depicts a
typical Anatolian city which was also an old, important Seljuk centre.
According to the author, the vakfs were one of the first institutions to
influence the establishment and reconstruction of the city after its
destruction by Timur Leng. The author discusses the physical, economic, and
demographic changes along with cultural manifestations which have been influenced
by the vakfs.There have been many studies conducted on Ottoman vakfs
in general; however, this study fills a gap by unravelling the influence of
foundations on the economic, political, topographical and cultural structure of
the city.
The author
has chosen Sivas as a typical town in Middle and Eastern Anatolia. He limits
his time frame to 1700-1850, but also refers to vakfs that had already
been founded by that period and were still functioning.
The author
explains how the endowments influenced the physical structure of the city as
neighbourhoods developed around small mosques, and dervish lodges. The city
grew as governors established larger vakfs. The author identifies 70
names referring to neighbourhoods and 130 mosques. He concludes that although
only a small number of vakf estates have survived from the Seljuk
period, these are the largest and richest vakfs in the area.
Demirel also
refers to the economic organisation of vakfs, their sources, their legal
standing and their administration. He provides a ratio of Muslim and non-Muslim
endowments and vakfs founded by women. He includes photos and
neighbourhood plans from 1500 onwards along with the testament of prominent
people.
Detailed
information is not provided on vakfs established by Bektashis. Archival
evidence is presented and the incomes of vakfs are simply compared to
one another: issues such as the income distribution between vakfs are
not critically analysed. It is likely that the omission of such issues results
from the fact that the author has not had access to all the relevant archival
material.
Özge Soylu Bozdağ and Ecehan Koç
