IN SEARCH of a JEWISH COMMUNITY in the EARLY MODERN OTTOMAN EMPIRE: the CASE of EDİRNE JEWS (C
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IN SEARCH OF A JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE EARLY MODERN OTTOMAN EMPIRE: THE CASE OF EDİRNE JEWS (c. 1686- 1750) A Master’s Thesis By GÜRER KARAGEDİKLİ Department of History İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara September 2011 To my brothers, Özer and Bener IN SEARCH OF A JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE EARLY MODERN OTTOMAN EMPIRE: THE CASE OF EDİRNE JEWS (c. 1686- 1750) Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University By GÜRER KARAGEDİKLİ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER of ARTS in THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA SEPTEMBER 2011 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. --------------------------------- (Dr. Eugenia Kermeli) 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. --------------------------------- (Prof. Özer Ergenç) Examining Committee 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. --------------------------------- (Assoc. Prof. Hülya Taş) Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- (Prof. Erdal Erel) Director ABSTRACT IN SEARCH OF A JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE EARLY MODERN OTTOMAN EMPIRE: THE CASE OF EDIRNE JEWS (c. 1686-1750) Karagedikli, Gürer Department of History Supervisor: Dr. Eugenia Kermeli September 2011 This thesis examines the demographic development, geographic distribution, and communal organization of the Edirne Jewish Community from the late seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century by mainly benefitting from Ottoman archival sources and Muslim court records of Edirne. Except some big cities such as Istanbul, Jerusalem, Salonica and Izmir, monographic studies on Ottoman Jews have been rare in Ottoman historiography. These works have either focused on the early periods (Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries) or on the nineteenth century. Ottoman Jews in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, are shortly mentioned within the “decline” paradigm. A monographic study on the Edirne Jewish Community in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has not yet been done. Did the Edirne Jewish Community decline in the eighteenth century? How was its demographic situation and spatial organization in the centuries iii concerned? How did they sustain and develop their relations within the community, and with other groups and the state? The archival materials are the ones drawn upon most heavily in this research. For the demographic situation and the spatial organization of the Edirne Jews, ‘avârız registers, one cizye register, and the census conducted in 1703 have been used. Furthermore, in order to see the neighborhoods where they lived and to analyze their relations with the broader society, court records of Edirne between 1686-1750 concerning Jews were used. Bearing in mind the limits and problems of the sources, I attempted to scrutinize the demographic, spatial, and organzational structure of the Edirne Jewish Community during the late seventeenth and mid-eighteenth centuries. Key Words: Edirne, Jews, Congregations, Edirne Court Records, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. iv ÖZET ERKEN MODERN DÖNEM OSMANLI İMPARATORLUĞU’NDA BİR YAHUDİ CEMAATİNİN İZİNDE: EDİRNE YAHUDİLERİ ÖRNEĞİ (c.1686-1750) Karagedikli, Gürer Tarih Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Dr. Eugenia Kermeli Eylül 2011 Bu çalışma, arşiv kaynakları ve şer’iyye sicilleri temel alınarak, Edirne’de meskûn Yahudi Cemaati’nin XVII. yüzyıl sonundan XVIII. yüzyıl ortalarına kadar olan dönemdeki demografik, mekânsal ve cemaat yapısını incelemektedir. Osmanlı Yahudilerinin şehir bazlı monografik çalışmaları İstanbul, Kudüs, Selânik ve İzmir gibi kimi büyük şehirler dışında pek yapılmamıştır. Bu çalışmalar ise, dönem itibarı ile ya erken dönemlere (XV. ve XVI. yüzyıllar) veyahud XIX. yüzyıla ağırlık vermişlerdir. Yahudilerin XVII. ve XVIII. yüzyıldaki durumları ise daha ziyade ‘gerileme’ paradigması bağlamında ele alınmıştır. Edirne Yahudi Cemaati’nin XVII. ve XVIII. yüzyıllardaki durumunu anlamaya yönelik müstakil bir çalışma ise mevcut değildir. Edirne Yahudi Cemaati gerçekten XVIII. yüzyılda bir gerilemeye mi maruz kalmıştır? Nüfus şekillenmesi, şehirdeki mekânsal vaziyetleri, kendi iç ilişkileri, diğer gruplar ve devletle olan münasebetleri nasıl bir dönüşüme uğramıştır? Çalışmanın kaynaklarının temelini arşiv belgeleri oluşturmaktadır. Edirne Yahudi Cemaati’nin nüfus durumu ve şehir bünyesindeki yerleri için avârız kayıtları, cizye defterleri ve v Edirne nüfus kayıtları kullanılmıştır. Ek olarak, şehirdeki yerlerini daha detaylı tahlil edebilmek, sosyal yaşamdaki yerlerini ve ilişkilerini anlayabilmek için Edirne şer’iyye sicillerinden 1686-1750 arasindaki kayıtlardan Yahudilerle ilgili davalar kullanılmıştır. Kaynakların barındırdığı sorunları ve sınırları da bilerek, Edirne Yahudi Cemaati’nin XVII. yüzyıl sonu ve XVIII. yüzyılın ilk yarısındaki demografik ve mekânsal durumu ile cemaatin organizasyonel yapısı birincil kaynak ağırlıklı bir yöntemle incelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Anahtar kelimeler: Edirne, Yahudiler, cemaatler, şer’iyye sicilleri, XVII. ve XVIII. yüzyıllar. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Eugenia Kermeli. Since I decided to work on this topic as my master’s thesis, she has encouraged me enthusiastically. She not only guided me through her expertise on Islamic Law and non-Muslims in the Ottoman context, but also made me look at my topic in a comparative way by acknowledging Christian communities in the Ottoman Empire. Prof. Özer Ergenç’s office door was (and still is) always open whenever I had a question about Ottoman history. I am deeply grateful to him for sharing his broad knowledge of Ottoman history and for everything he taught me. As for the present thesis, without his close look, some of the objectives this thesis addressed would not have taken place. I also thank Assoc. Prof. Hülya Taş, a member of the examining committee, for reading my thesis carefully and making invaluable comments. I am indebted to Dr. Oktay Özel and Prof. Evgeni Radushev for their kind helps in interpreting some documents I used. They have never hesitated to share. Moreover, I would like to mention Kudret Emiroğlu, who was my first Ottoman Turkish instructor and my bus companion from the Tunus bus stop to Bilkent for nearly two years. The intellectual discussions we had were priceless. My family deserves the utmost gratitude for their endless support throughout my life. Without their support, this thesis would not have been substantiated. I owe special thanks to Donelle McKinley for encouraging me to “do” history. I wish her best of vii luck in her own academic endeavor. I am grateful to Evangelia Kounenou, who has been a patient listener and enduring supporter. I benefited from her non-“social- scientist” opinions considerably. Since I started my academic journey at Bilkent, Nil Erkey Tekgül has always been around me. I am very happy for having a friend with such a big heart. Sarper Yılmaz is another friend of mine who deserves particular appreciation. His friendship means a lot to me. I would also like to thank Aslı Yiğit for helping me to deal with French documents. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................iii-iv ÖZET..........................................................................................................................v-vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................vii-viii TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................ix-x LIST OF TABLES AND MAPS...................................................................................xi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 1.1 Historiography ................................................................................................7-9 1.2 Sources .........................................................................................................9-15 CHAPTER II: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: OTTOMAN EDIRNE AND ITS JEWS.......................................................................................................................16-24 2.1 The Setting: The District (Kaza) of Edirne................................................16-21 2.2 Emergence and Development of the Edirne Jewish Community...............21-24 CHAPTER III: THE MAKING OF THE EDIRNE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES..........................................25-74 3.1 Demographic Data …................................................................................ 25-41 3.2 Jewish Congregations ...............................................................................42-52 3.3 Jewish Space in Edirne vis-à-vis the Ambient Society..............................52-74 CHAPTER IV: COMMUNAL ORGANIZATION OF THE EDIRNE JEWISH COMMUNITY AND ITS LEADERSHIP..............................................................75-96 4.1 The Rabbis..................................................................................................76-82 4.2