DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF NORTH-EASTERN BULGARIA: A CASE STUDY ON NİĞBOLU SANDJAK (1479-1483) A Master’s Thesis By NURAY OCAKLI DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA JULY 2006 DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF NORTH-EASTERN BULGARIA: A CASE STUDY ON NİĞBOLU SANDJAK (1479-1483) The Institute of Economic and Social Sciences of Bilkent University By NURAY OCAKLI In Partial Fullfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BILKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA July 2006 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. Prof. Dr. Halil İnalcık Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. Asst. Prof. Dr. Evgeny Radushev Examining Comitee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. Asst. Prof. Dr. Hasan Ünal Examining Comitee Member Approval of the Institute of Economic and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF NORTH-EASTERN BULGARIA: A CASE STUDY ON NİĞBOLU SANDJAK (1479-1483) Nuray Ocaklı M.A., Department of History Supervisor: Halil İnalcık June 2006 This thesis examines demographic structure and settlement patterns of Niğbolu Sandjak in the the last two decades of the fifteenth century. Seen through the data provided by the Ottoman tax and population censuses (tahrir defterleri), the research shows the demographic movements of native Christians in the sandjak and new settlers coming from the Asia Minor. The thesis examines the presence of Turkic people in the region from 5th century to the end of the 15th century. Based on the two 15th century icmâl defters of Niğbolu Sandjak, this study focuses on recovery of pre-Ottoman settlemets and establishment of new Turkish settlements. Also this study criticizes the catastroph theory of Hristo Gandev who developed one of the leading demographic theories of Marxist Balkan historiography. The information we get from the icmâl defters does not consistant with Gandev’s Catastrophy Theory. Following the conquest of the region, neither a quick Turkification nor a mass-Islamization was happened in the sandjak but iii the secure and peacefull environment provided the infrastructure of these Islamizationa and Turkification processes for the sixteenth century. Keywords: Niğbolu, demography, settlement, icmâl defterleri, Catastrophe Theory, yörük, mezraa. iv ÖZET KUZEY-DOĞU BULGARISTAN’IN DEMOGRAFİK YAPISI VE YERLEŞİM DÜZENİ: NİĞBOLU SACAĞI (1479-1483) Nuray Ocaklı Yüksek Lisans Tarih Bölümü Tez Danışmanı:Halil İnalcık Haziran 2006 Bu çalışma 15.yy’ın sonunda Niğbolu Sancağı’ndaki demografik yapıyı ve yerleşim düzenini incelemektedir. Araştırmamız bölgedeki Türkleşme ve İslamlaşma sürecinin başlangıcı sayılan bu dönemde, Osmanlı tımar kayıtlarını içeren iki icmâl defterinden elde edilen bilgiler işiğinda, bölgede beşinci yüzyıla kadar giden Türk varlığından başlayarak onbeşinci yüzyılın sonunda Osmanlı öncesi yerleşimlerin fetihten sonra nasıl tekrar canlandığı ve yeni Türk yerleşimlerinin nasıl olustuğu üzerinde yoğunlaşmakta, sancakta yaşayan yerli Hristiyan halkın nüfus hareketlerini ve Anadolu’dan bölgeye göçen Türklerin durumunu incelemektedir. Aynı zamanda bu çalışma Marksist Balkan historiografisinin önde gelen teorisyenlerinden Hristo Gandev’in Katastrof teorisini eleştirmektedir.İncelenen icmâl defterleri göstermektedir ki bölgenin fethini izleyen dönemde ne ani bir Türkleşme ne de toplu bir İslamlaşma görülmüstür. Fetih sonrasında v bölgede sağlanan istikrar ve güven ortamı on altıncı yüzyılda ivme kazanacak olan bu süreclere zemin hazırlamıstır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Niğbolu, demografi, yerleşim, icmâl defterleri, Katastrof Teorisi, yörük, mezraa. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to God for everything giving me to start and complete this study. I am gratefull to a number of people for their assistance and support in different stages of this study. Working with Professor İnalcık who is the dean of Ottoman studies has been a dream for me since the beginning of my graduate years in Bilkent University. I would like to thank Professor İnalcık whom I am very indepted for supervising the thesis and for letting me take benefit from his deep knowledge of Ottoman History. Then, I wish to thank Professor Radushev who thought me defterology, siyakat and Ottoman Balkans and he helped me in each stage of my study. Also I am very gratefull to all of the professors in the department who shared their knowledge with us. Also I would like to thank to professor Hasan Ünal to read my thesis and be one of the examining comitee member in my defense. Finally special thanks must go to my family, my beloved husband Sait and my litte son Mehmet Berke. Without your constant support, love, cheer and smile, it would be impossible to deal with the hard times and complete this study. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE..................................................................i APPROVAL PAGE.........................................................ii ABSTRACT.....................................................................iii ÖZET................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................v TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................vi FIGURES..........................................................................vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...............................1 CHAPTER TWO: DEMOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF NORTH- EASTERN BULGARIA 2.1. Pre-Ottoman Turkish Settlement in North-Eastern Bulgaria 2.1.1. Bulgars................................................15 2.1.2. Kumans, Uz, Pecheneks, Tatars..........19 2.1.3. Gagauzes.................................................25 CHAPTER THREE: OTTOMAN RULE IN THE BALKANS 3.1. Pre-Ottoman Political Conditions.....................32 3.2. Pre-Ottoman Demographic Conditions and Settlement Policies in the Region...............35 3.3. Ottoman Conquest............................................39 3.4. Turkish Setlement and the New Administrative System in the Ottoman Balkans.......................46 viii CHAPTER FOUR: SETTLEMENT AND POPULATION IN THE OTTOMAN VILAYET OF NIĞBOLU....................................................58 4.1. Ottoman Sandjak of Niğbolu...............................61 4.2. Ottoman Social, Economic, and Military System in the Sandjak..........................................64 CHAPTER FIVE: POPULATION AND SETTLEMNTS IN THE EARLIEST OTTOMAN REGISTERS OF THE NIĞBOLU SANDJAK................................................72 5.1. Bulgarian Historiography and Catastrophe Theory.................................................................73 5.2. Settlement and Population in the Sandjak: A General Look to the Registers.........................82 5.3. Population of Town, Village and Mezraa Settlements.............................................90 5.4. Timars in the Registers.......................................101 5.5. Yörüks................................................................110 5.6. Villages...............................................................110 5.7. Bogomils.............................................................114 CONCLUSION.....................................................................117 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................119 APPENDIX A: Glossory................................................................................127 APPENDIX B: Map1: Lofça and İvraca Kazas...............................................131 APPENDIX C: Map 2: Tırnovi-Şumnu-Çernovi..............................................132 ix APPENDIX D List of Mezraas:.......................................................................133 APPENDIX E: Table of Demographic and Financial data of Villages............134 APPENDIX F: List of Villages.........................................................................135 x LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: Population Trend in Niğbolu (1479-1483).......79 FIGURE 2: Muslims and Christians in Niğbolu...................80 FIGURE 3: Profile of Town Population……………………81 FIGURE 4: Town Population in Total Population………….82 FIGURE 5: Village Population in Total Population………..84 FIGURE 6: Profile of Mixed Village Population…………...85 FIGURE 7: Pure Turkish Settlements………………………86 FIGURE 8: Population Profile of Pure Turkish Population…87 FIGURE 9: Population of Others……………………………91 TABLE 1: Deportations from the Sandjak…………………...98 xi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Ottomans considered the Balkan region in the south of the Danube as the area of their sovereignity since the reign of the Bayezid I. Successors of the Bayezid I kept the Danube as the northern border of the Ottoman lands in the Balkans. Murad II was clearly following this notion when he obtained the commitment from Hungarians not to cross the Danube in the treaty he made with them in 1444.1 In the reign of Murad I (1362-89), the lands of the Ottoman Balkans emerged as a separate military and administrative region under the rule of a Beylerbeyi. Mass immigration and settlement of Turks, especially nomads, to the newly conquered Balkan lands occurred especially in the 14th century but the immigration wave