thesis by Onur Usta
In Pursuit of Herds or Land? Nomads, Peasants and Pastoral Economies in Anatolia From A Regional Perspective, 1600-1645 (unpublished PhD thesis)
The documentary evidence used in this dissertation has been drawn from the Ottoman court records ... more The documentary evidence used in this dissertation has been drawn from the Ottoman court records and it is complemented by the data from the fiscal registers. This dissertation adopted a case-study approach to allow a deeper insight into the complexities of the rural history of Ottoman Anatolia in the first half of the seventeenth century. These complexities are more related to the methodological approaches rather than the conjuncture. These approaches are based on the adaptation of the purported theories on ‘the general crisis of the seventeenth century’ to Ottoman history. Such misinterpretations put the contention that a set of social, economic and ecological challenges associated with the Little Ice Age put a lot of serious strains on the Ottoman state and society during the seventeenth century. By adopting a critical approach to the arguments of such crisis-based theories that revolve around the Celali rebellions and the phenomenon of the Little Ice Age, this dissertation aims to show through the cases of Aintab, Urfa and Ankara that the countryside of Anatolia was more resilient to the so-called challenges than it seems.
This dissertation examines the economic, demographic and ecological dynamics in rural Anatolia in the period following the Celali rebellions from a regional perspective that takes into consideration the local geographic and climatic characteristics. It focuses on a wide range of topics that include types of farming, rural settlement patterns, change in rural settlements, and agrarian and pastoral trends in the land use forms. It explores the pastoral and agricultural activities of the nomads with the aim of showing the constructive role of nomads in the rural economics.
Türkmen Voyvodası, Tribesmen and the Ottoman State (1590-1690) Usta, Onur. M.A., Department of Hi... more Türkmen Voyvodası, Tribesmen and the Ottoman State (1590-1690) Usta, Onur. M.A., Department of History. Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Oktay Özel. The Turcomans were one of the most dynamic elements in the Ottoman history. The Ottomans had to cope with those forceful nomads, while consolidating their dominance over Anatolia. Although there was a clear tendency towards sedentarization during sixteenth century, a visible revival of nomadism is observed in Anatolia during the seventeenth century. According to the contemporary chronicles, the Turcomans tend to have maintained their dynamism throughout the seventeenth century. On the other hand, in this period the Türkmen voyvodalığı appeared as a new desirable post over which there were great struggles, especially led by the kapıkulu sipahs. The office of the Türkmen voyvodalığı played a key role in many rebellions of the seventeenth century. This thesis attempts to deal with the Türkmen voyvodalığı in the period between 1590-1690. Basing on understanding what the Türkmen voyvodası was, it tries to shed light upon the nomadic groups generally, particulary the Turcomans, in the seventeenth century. ÖZET Türkmen Voyvodası, Aşiretler ve Osmanlı Devleti (1590-1690) Usta, Onur. Yüksek Lisans, Tarih Bölümü. Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Oktay Özel Türkmenler Osmanlı Tarihi'nin en dinamik unsurlarından birisiydiler. Osmanlı'lar egemenliğini Anadolu'ya doğru genişletirken bu çetin göçebelerle uğraşmak zorunda kalmıştı. On altıncı yüzyılda yerleşikleşmeye doğru bir eğilim olsa da, Anadolu'da göçebeliğin on yedinci yüzyıl boyunca gözle görülür biçimde yeniden canlandığı gözlemlenmektedir Dönemin kroniklerine göre, Türkmenler sahip oldukları dinamizmi onyedinci yüzyıl boyunca sürdürmüşe benzemektedirler. Öte yandan, Türkmen voyvodalığı, üzerinde büyük mücadeleler sergilenen, özellikle kapıkulu sipahileri tarafından, dönemin revaçta yeni bir mansıbı olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Türkmen voyvodalığı makamı özellikle onyedinci yüzyılın pek çok ayaklanmasında anahtar role sahiptir. Bu tez 1590 ve 1690 arası bir dönemdeki Türkmen voyvodalığını ele alma çabasıdır. Türkmen voyvodalığının ne olduğunu anlamaya çalışarak, genel olarak onyedinci yüzyıldaki göçebe gruplara özellikle de
Papers by Onur Usta
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 2023
This paper presents a documentary and archaeological study of the watermills in Ottoman Mosul to ... more This paper presents a documentary and archaeological study of the watermills in Ottoman Mosul to gain a political and social-economic understanding of the waterresource management in Mosul and its northeastern hinterland in the early modern period. Watermills are of importance to historians, as the simple buildings equipped with sophisticated hydraulic devices, for teasing out various strands of water-resource management and agricultural economies from a regional and longue-dureé perspective. By synthesizing historical and archaeological methodological approaches, this paper aims to address the questions of what historical legacy of Mosul was left to the Ottoman Empire regarding the water infrastructure, including watermills and irrigation systems, and what contribution the Ottoman administration made to the development of Mosul's water infrastructure. It presents an archaeological examination of a group of milling installations in Wadi Bandawai in the north of Mosul, demonstrating changes in settlement patterns during the long Islamic period, from the 7th to early 20th centuries, and also drawing attention to methodological problems with Islamic and Ottoman archaeology concerning the periodization of material culture.
Mesopotamia Rivista di Archeologia, Epigrafia E Storia Orientale Antica LVI, 2021
Indici storici e abstract sono consultabili sul sito della casa editrice: www.apicelibri.it/colla... more Indici storici e abstract sono consultabili sul sito della casa editrice: www.apicelibri.it/collana/mesopotamia/13 sommario mesopotamia lvi 2021 paola sconzo-Hasan aHmed Qasim, with contributions by moussab al besso-benjamin Glissmann-andrea titolo, Investigating Jubaniyah, a Late Chalcolithic Site on the Upper Tigris River, Kurdistan Region-Iraq.
C. Tonghini, From Edessa to Urfa. The Fortification of the Citadel, Sommmertown, Archaeopress (Oxford), 2021, pp. 13-27.
From Edessa to Urfa: The Fortification of the Citadel (Archaeopress: Oxford) by Prof Cristina Tonghini (University of Ca' Foscari Venice), 2021
This chapter presents a review of the documentary evidence gleaned chiefly from the Ottoman Archi... more This chapter presents a review of the documentary evidence gleaned chiefly from the Ottoman Archives and combined with the witness of contemporary Ottoman historians and travellers' accounts of the military buildings of Urfa in the early modern period. In this chapter, I have attempted to shed light upon the way that the citadel of Urfa functioned during the long Ottoman period using evidence drawn from a variety of miscellaneous archival sources. In doing so, and while focusing on its fortification, I shall present a revised general history of Ottoman Urfa for the pre-Tanzimat period (1839-1876). Methodologically, I have followed a chronological order and thus divided the chapter into four periods including a prelude to the pre-Ottoman period in order to build up a better picture of the complex of the defensive buildings of Urfa in the 400-year Ottoman period (Periods 6-8, Chs 16-18). I shall begin by giving a brief introduction to some of the methodological challenges and limitations encountered while conducting my investigation of the Ottoman Archives of the Turkish Presidency in Istanbul.
ARCHIVUM OTTOMANICUM, 2017
Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden ARCHIVUM OTTOMANICUM concerns itself primarily with Ottoman histo... more Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden ARCHIVUM OTTOMANICUM concerns itself primarily with Ottoman history and Ottoman philology. However, the editors also welcome articles on subjects related to Ottoman studies in the history and culture of Europe, including in particular Danubian Europe, the Black Sea area and the Caucasus, and in the history and culture of the Arab and the Iranian lands, and Byzantium. The journal also aims at publishing unknown texts and materials and presenting them in facsimile.
Mosul (Al-Mawsil in Arabic) is the second largest city of Iraq after Baghdad and a centre of comm... more Mosul (Al-Mawsil in Arabic) is the second largest city of Iraq after Baghdad and a centre of commerce and oil production. It is located in the northwest of Iraq lying on the banks of the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia. It is a very long history of settlement for 8,000 years thanks to its geographic position and agricultural potential. It has become home to countless people of various backgrounds and renowned for being the cradle of empires and civilisations. Despite the recent political disasters, Mosul still keeps its potential for growing again into a thriving regional and interregional centre with its multicultural dynamics. This research project is intended for making a scientific contribution to the future development plans of Mosul. The purpose of this project is to study the land use forms, the development of settlement patterns and irrigation system in the Mosul region between c.1500 AD-c.1580 AD by using a multidisciplinary approach combining archaeological data with the documentary sources based on the Ottoman land-registers. In doing so, it aims to investigate the impact of the Ottoman Empire on the human and natural landscapes of the Mosul region and to understand the evolution of settlement patterns and the utilisation of natural resources, such as soil, water, flora and fauna. It is also one target of this project to extend our knowledge of the historical geography of the Mosul region during the Late Islamic Period far beyond the current literature which suffers from the scantinesses.
Conference Presentations by Onur Usta
ASPECTS OF OTTOMAN ECONOMY AND CULTURE 24th CIEPO Symposium Thessaloniki, 2024
Watermills were buildings equipped with machinery which harnessed hydraulic power to grind grain ... more Watermills were buildings equipped with machinery which harnessed hydraulic power to grind grain into flour. They were widely used across the world, including the Ottoman Empire, from ancient times to the 20th century when electricity and diesel power were not in use. They are of importance to historians in two aspects. Firstly, watermills were built following a communal tradition that was transferred from one generation to another. In this sense, as a complex building harnessing hydraulic power, they were a significant component in Ottoman material culture, which illustrates how the community controlled nature to generate energy. Secondly, watermills were an accurate indicator of the agricultural economy of their region. The cases where many watermills ceased functioning were a clear indication that grain was no longer produced in a region in large quantities compared to previous periods. Conversely, cases in which new watermills were built, and also ruined ones were repaired, rebuilt or renovated, obviously indicate the need for growth in grain production.
One aim of this paper is to examine selected documents from the sharia register of Urfa (Ruhā) in SE Anatolia in 1629-1631 to shed light on the watermills of the region involving issues concerning their ownership, legal status, and mechanical features. The other aim is to reconsider the impact of climate anomalies during the Little Ice Age (circa between the mid-16th and the early 19th centuries) on the regional economies of Ottoman Anatolia in the first half of the 17th century via the case of Urfa. Most of the documents examined in this paper were recorded shortly after the great flood disaster of 1629, which impacted a vast area stretching from SE Anatolia to the Arabian Peninsula. The flood caused severe damage to Urfa and its hinterland to the extent that it was included in Sharia records. Many waqf buildings, including watermills, were destroyed during the flood. Despite this, the watermills were immediately restored or rebuilt by the local population on their initiative, which suggests that the volume of grain production and the needs of the public could not tolerate a setback in the production of flout and hence bread. In this respect, the paper will enable us to consider the capabilities of the community to cope with the effects of climatic catastrophes in the case of Urfa.
Key Words: Watermills, Sharia Court Documents, Material Culture, Flooding, Urfa.
The rural populations of Ottoman Empire showed a striking tendency to change locations frequently... more The rural populations of Ottoman Empire showed a striking tendency to change locations frequently by becoming more mobile from the turn of the seventeenth century onwards. Evidence for an increase in spatial mobility and frequency of relocation in the countryside is provided in the complaints by tax-paying subjects about double-assessment in the tax-registers. In most cases, the reason for the complaints was that the state officials, who were in charge of tax collection, tended to hold the village residents liable to taxes and levies related to other settlements. However, the village residents filed petitions to the central government authorities for the rectification of mistaken assessment about their tax status. The petitions and complaints of village residents in this regard were mainly kept in the registers of finance department orders (maliye ahkam defterleri), but many individual entries from these registers can also be found in the provincial court records. In the context of double-assessment in the tax registers, this paper examines carefully several individual complaints and petitions from the court records of Aintab in the early seventeenth century. It offers a cautious approach, while looking into the statements of the complaint holders; because, considering the spatial mobility of rural populations, even though the villagers claimed that they had no affiliation with the alleged settlements, this did not show the truth at all times. In the case of Aintab, interestingly enough, many people that were identified as village dwellers in the court records appear to have been held liable to certain taxes related to tribal groups. Although their case seems to have been one of the typical misidentifications in rural Anatolia in the seventeenth century, it shows how the mode of life of rural populations oscillated between the nomadism and sedentarism continuum. In this regard, this paper provides new insights into the nature of nomadism in the Ottoman lands via the micro example of Aintab. Furthermore, it aims to shed new light on the situation of rural populations during and after the period of the Celali rebellions in the context of 'crisis' narratives about the demographic history of Ottoman Empire in the seventeenth century. In relation to demographic debates, the Balkan historiography has put forward the contention that a certain proportion of the population switched to nomadism or a more mobile way of life from the turn of the seventeenth century onwards and therefore the sedentary population seems to have declined in the Balkans in the seventeenth
A VIEW THROUGH AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEFINITION FORMS USED IN THE OTTOMAN ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS CONCERNING NOMADIC GROUPS
This paper will review the terms used in the archival documents to define the nomads in a concept... more This paper will review the terms used in the archival documents to define the nomads in a conceptual framework that is formed by the modern anthropological observations regarding nomadism. The Ottoman bureaucracy used a selection of different definitions - like yörük, Türkmân, göçer-evlü, aşiret, tâife, etc. - to refer to the nomadic groups in the official documents of the state. The main issues addressed in this paper are: a) to what extent do these kinds of definitions correspond to the terms of modern anthropology concerning nomadism? Like nomadic herder, peasant pastoralists, etc. a) did these kinds of definitions allow a classification of nomadic groups in terms of economy, way of life, and settlement pattern, etc.?
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thesis by Onur Usta
This dissertation examines the economic, demographic and ecological dynamics in rural Anatolia in the period following the Celali rebellions from a regional perspective that takes into consideration the local geographic and climatic characteristics. It focuses on a wide range of topics that include types of farming, rural settlement patterns, change in rural settlements, and agrarian and pastoral trends in the land use forms. It explores the pastoral and agricultural activities of the nomads with the aim of showing the constructive role of nomads in the rural economics.
Papers by Onur Usta
Conference Presentations by Onur Usta
One aim of this paper is to examine selected documents from the sharia register of Urfa (Ruhā) in SE Anatolia in 1629-1631 to shed light on the watermills of the region involving issues concerning their ownership, legal status, and mechanical features. The other aim is to reconsider the impact of climate anomalies during the Little Ice Age (circa between the mid-16th and the early 19th centuries) on the regional economies of Ottoman Anatolia in the first half of the 17th century via the case of Urfa. Most of the documents examined in this paper were recorded shortly after the great flood disaster of 1629, which impacted a vast area stretching from SE Anatolia to the Arabian Peninsula. The flood caused severe damage to Urfa and its hinterland to the extent that it was included in Sharia records. Many waqf buildings, including watermills, were destroyed during the flood. Despite this, the watermills were immediately restored or rebuilt by the local population on their initiative, which suggests that the volume of grain production and the needs of the public could not tolerate a setback in the production of flout and hence bread. In this respect, the paper will enable us to consider the capabilities of the community to cope with the effects of climatic catastrophes in the case of Urfa.
Key Words: Watermills, Sharia Court Documents, Material Culture, Flooding, Urfa.
Books by Onur Usta
Organizations by Onur Usta
This dissertation examines the economic, demographic and ecological dynamics in rural Anatolia in the period following the Celali rebellions from a regional perspective that takes into consideration the local geographic and climatic characteristics. It focuses on a wide range of topics that include types of farming, rural settlement patterns, change in rural settlements, and agrarian and pastoral trends in the land use forms. It explores the pastoral and agricultural activities of the nomads with the aim of showing the constructive role of nomads in the rural economics.
One aim of this paper is to examine selected documents from the sharia register of Urfa (Ruhā) in SE Anatolia in 1629-1631 to shed light on the watermills of the region involving issues concerning their ownership, legal status, and mechanical features. The other aim is to reconsider the impact of climate anomalies during the Little Ice Age (circa between the mid-16th and the early 19th centuries) on the regional economies of Ottoman Anatolia in the first half of the 17th century via the case of Urfa. Most of the documents examined in this paper were recorded shortly after the great flood disaster of 1629, which impacted a vast area stretching from SE Anatolia to the Arabian Peninsula. The flood caused severe damage to Urfa and its hinterland to the extent that it was included in Sharia records. Many waqf buildings, including watermills, were destroyed during the flood. Despite this, the watermills were immediately restored or rebuilt by the local population on their initiative, which suggests that the volume of grain production and the needs of the public could not tolerate a setback in the production of flout and hence bread. In this respect, the paper will enable us to consider the capabilities of the community to cope with the effects of climatic catastrophes in the case of Urfa.
Key Words: Watermills, Sharia Court Documents, Material Culture, Flooding, Urfa.