THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS

ON ISLAMIC CIVILISATION
IN THE BALKANS

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
1-5 NOVEMBER 2006

ABSTRACTS
2
 CONTENTS

THE BATHHOUSE OF ŞEMSEDDIN AHMET BEY IN KOSOVA-PRIZREN

Hakkı Acun ........................................................................................................................ 11
LATE OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION IN ADAKALE AND
THE AID EXTENDED TO THE PEOPLE OF ADAKALE
H. Yıldırım Ağanoğlu ........................................................................................................ 12
BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN TURKISH MINORITY SCHOOLS IN WESTERN THRACE
İbrahim Kelağa Ahmet...................................................................................................... 12
THE ROLE OF THE OTTOMAN MILLET SYSTEM IN THE
FORMATION OF ETHNIC IDENTITIES IN THE BALKANS
Hatice Akın-Hatice Çetin .................................................................................................. 14
THE OFFICE OF THE MÜFTÜ AS PART OF THE OTTOMAN HERITAGE
AMONG THE TURKS OF ROMANIA
Ali Aksu .............................................................................................................................. 15
GYPSIES IN THE BALKANS DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
İsmail Altınöz..................................................................................................................... 16
THE PROFESSIONAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE
CITY CENTER OF VARNA IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Sema Altunan .................................................................................................................... 17
OTTOMAN BUREAUCRATS OF ROMANIAN ORIGIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
OTTOMAN BUREAUCRACY ACCORDING TO THE SICILL-I AHVAL DEFTERS
Ayten Ardel ........................................................................................................................ 18
AN ESSAY ON THE COMPARISON OF VAKFIYE RECORDS
WITH THE WORKS IN KOSOVO DATING FROM THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
Esma Arıcan ...................................................................................................................... 19
THE ROLE OF ROMANIA IN THE ORGANIZATION OF
THE WALLACHIANS AS A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
Ali Arslan ........................................................................................................................... 19
OTTOMAN ULEMA IN THE LATE PERIOD IN MACEDONIA
Muhammed Aruçi.............................................................................................................. 20
SOME ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE OTTOMANS-WALLACHIA AND
MOLDAVIA ACCORDING TO THE AHKAM DEFTERI DATING
FROM THE SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Mesut Aydıner ................................................................................................................... 21
TURKISH FASHION IN EUROPE
Fatma Ayhan ..................................................................................................................... 22
HUMAN, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL STRUCTURE OF ELBASAN
IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY IN THE LIGHT OF COURT RECORDS
Mehmet Aykaç ................................................................................................................... 23

3
BOOKS, JOURNALS AND NEWSPAPERS WHICH WERE PRINTED IN THE PRINTING
HOUSE OF THE DANUBE PROVINCE AS PART OF THE OTTOMAN HERITAGE
Halil Bal ............................................................................................................................. 23
OTTOMAN WRITTEN CULTURAL AND ARCHIVAL HERITAGE IN ALBANIA:
PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
Mustafa Balcı
Yüksel Özgen...................................................................................................................... 24
BIRD HOUSES IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE DURING THE
OTTOMAN EMPIRE (EDIRNE- KIRKLARELI-TEKIRDAG)
H. Örcün Barışta ............................................................................................................... 25
THE ROLE OF OTTOMAN AKINCI FAMILIES IN BALKAN HISTORY
Fahameddin Başar ............................................................................................................ 26
TURKISH CULTURAL MEMORY IN THE BALKANS:
IRONIC ACCOUNTS OF THE MIGRATION TO ANATOLIA
Vehbi Başer ........................................................................................................................ 27
IMPORTANCE OF OTTOMAN ARCHIVES FOR RESEARCHES RELATED
TO ROMANIAN HISTORY
Önder Bayır ....................................................................................................................... 28
OTTOMAN VAKIFS IN RUSÇUK
Meral Bayrak (Ferlibaş)
Meryem Kaçan Erdoğan................................................................................................... 28
TRACING THE OTTOMAN CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE REGION OF SMOLYAN
Yordanka Bibina-Kalina Peeva ........................................................................................ 29
AHMED DJEWDET PAHSA AND HIS MISSION TO RUMELI
Mustafa Bilge..................................................................................................................... 30
MUSLIM ALBANIAN NATIONALIST INTELLECTUALS IN AN ERA OF
CONFLICTING AND INTERCEPTING COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES (1878-1912)
AND THEIR ISLAMIC IMPRINT ON INDEPENDENT ALBANIA UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY
Bülent Bilmez ..................................................................................................................... 31
BALKAN CITY OR OTTOMAN CITY? A STUDY ON THE MODELS OF
URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN OTTOMAN UPPER THRACE 15TH – 17TH C.
Grigor Boykov ................................................................................................................... 32
TURKISH PRESENCE IN ROMANIA FROM THE PAST UP TO TODAY
Giray Saynur Bozkurt ....................................................................................................... 33
THE HAYATIYE BRANCH OF HALVETI RELIGIOUS ORDER
AND HAYATI DERVISH LODGES IN MACEDONIA
Taxhidin Bytyqi ................................................................................................................. 34
EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN MOSTAR DURING THE 16TH CENTURY
Hatica Car-Drnda ............................................................................................................. 34

4
THE FORTRESS OF BELGRADE AND THE TRACES OF TURKS IN BELGRADE
Sibel Ceylan-Volkan Marttin ............................................................................................ 35
THE OTTOMAN LEGACY ON THE DANUBE: ADA KALE DURING THE ROMANIAN PERIOD
Otilia Craioveanu .............................................................................................................. 36
DOOR KNOBS-HANDLES OF PRIZREN
Halit Çal ............................................................................................................................. 37
POPULATION MOVEMENTS DURING THE PERIOD OF 1877-1914
AS A FACTOR INFLUENCING THE RELATIONS AMONG THE BALKAN STATES
Gülfettin Çelik .................................................................................................................... 38
AN EXPERIENCE OF COEXISTENCE IN THE BALKANS: THE CASE OF RUSÇUK (1650-1700)
Kâmil Çolak
Numan Elibol..................................................................................................................... 38
THE ASSISTANCE OF THE ROMANIAN SALIB-I AHMER (RED CROSS) SOCIETY TO
THE TURKS AND ITS JOINT WORK WITH HILAL-I AHMER (RED CRESCENT)
SOCIETY DURING THE BALKAN WARS
Oya Dağlar ........................................................................................................................ 40
THE APPROACH OF YILDIZ NEWSPAPER (KAZAN) TO THE PEOPLE IN THE BALKANS
FOLLOWING THE EVENTS IN THE BALKANS (1906-1910)
Hasan Demiroğlu .............................................................................................................. 40
ORADEA BEYLIK AND ITS CONQUEST BY THE HABSUBURG EMPIRE:
SOME CONSIDERATIONS ON THE MANUSCRIPT OF HENRIC CHRISTOPHOR
SCHWEGLER, THE TRANSLATOR OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY IN 1693
Marius Diaconescu ............................................................................................................ 41
TRADITIONAL TURKISH ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM IN MACEDONIA
AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WIDER CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE BALKANS
Valentino Dimitrovski ....................................................................................................... 42
OTTOMAN DECORATIVE TILES DISCOVERIES IN
ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIGGINGS FROM BRAILA
Niculina Dinu..................................................................................................................... 42
URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN ALBANIA DURING THE
OTTOMAN PERIOD AND ITS PRESENT DAY LEGACY
Merita Dollma ................................................................................................................... 43
THE SETTLEMENT OF EMIGRANTS IN THE PROVINCE OF SILISTRE
DURING THE TANZIMAT PERIOD
Ayla Efe .............................................................................................................................. 44
THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ATTITUDE OF THE OTTOMAN STATE
IN THE FORMATION OF THE BALKAN NATION STATES
Cezmi Eraslan.................................................................................................................... 45
THE TEKKES AND ZAVIYES IN SARAJEVO
H. Mustafa Eravcı ............................................................................................................. 46

5
THE IMMIGRANTS FROM CAUCASIA IN THE BALKANS
Mesut Erşan....................................................................................................................... 46
LIBRARIES AS THE OTTOMAN-ISLAMIC LEGACY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Sabaheta Gačanin ............................................................................................................. 47
MILLET SYSTEM IN THE BALKANS AND THE CULTURAL UNITY
Agop Garabedian
Rumiana Komsalova......................................................................................................... 48
EDUCATIONAL AND CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES OF
HATIPZADE YAHYA PAŞA IN RUMELIA
Mustafa Güler.................................................................................................................... 49
THE EFFECTS OF WAR AND MIGRATION ON THE SETTLEMENTS IN BULGARIA
Mehmet Hacısalihoğlu ...................................................................................................... 49
THE CITY OF FILIBE (PLOVDIV) FROM THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY: POPULATION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Neriman Ersoy Hacısalihoğlu .......................................................................................... 51
THE SETTLEMENT OF ARABS IN DOBRUCA IN MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY
Yusuf Halaçoğlu ................................................................................................................ 52
OTTOMAN MANASTIR VERSUS CONTEMPORARY MACEDONIAN BITOLA:
A HISTORICAL SURVEY
Mesut Idriz......................................................................................................................... 52
THE MOSQUE WITH THE EARLIEST DATE IN DOBRUCA IN THE BALKANS:
DERVIŞ BEY MOSQUE
Mehmet Zeki İbrahimgil.................................................................................................... 53
THE CAMPAIGN WAY IN THE WARS OF OTTOMAN -POLAND AND
THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE RIVER DANUBE (17TH C.)
Mehmet İnbaşı ................................................................................................................... 54
THE POPULATION, PROFESSIONAL AND RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF
THE TOWN OF SARI SALTUK, BABADAĞ AND ITS VICINITIES
Kemal H. Karpat ............................................................................................................... 55
THE OTTOMAN EVKAF (1566-1617) IN KARITENA
Levent Kayapınar.............................................................................................................. 55
CALLIGRAPHERS FROM RUMELIA AND BALKAN COUNTRIES
IN THE OTTOMAN ART OF CALLIGRAPHY
Hilal Kazan ........................................................................................................................ 56
MEHMED ALI PAŞA’S KÜLLIYE IN KAVALA IN THE LIGHT OF HIS VAKFIYE
Süleyman Kızıltoprak........................................................................................................ 57
AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE OLD ISLAMIC WORLD - DABARSKO POLJE - 1458/2006
THE RISE AND FALL OF ISLAM AND ISLAMIC CULTURE IN A HERCEGOVINAN -DALMATIAN
AND MONTENEGRIN BORDER AREA
Machiel Kiel ....................................................................................................................... 58

6
GAZIS AND DERVISHES. THE MIHALOĞULLARI FAMILY: GAZI WARRIORS AND PATRONS OF
DERVISH HOSPICES
Mariya Kiprovska ............................................................................................................. 59
ATHENS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AS REFLECTED IN THE AHKAM DEFTERS
Gülçin Tunalı Koç .............................................................................................................. 61
CONTEMPORARY CONDITIONS AND THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF
THE RELIGIOUS GROUPS –SURVIVALS OF THE OTTOMAN TRADITION IN MACEDONIA
Elizabeta Koneska ............................................................................................................. 61
OTTOMAN CLOCK TOWERS IN BULGARIA
Neval Konuk ...................................................................................................................... 62
MUSLIMS OF LEHISTAN: LEGACY OF THE OTTOMAN-KIPCHAK-
POLISH-LITHUANIAN RELATIONSHIP (1390-1990 CE/793-1410 AH)
Ataullah Bogdan Kopanski ............................................................................................... 63
OTTOMAN HERITAGE IN A MILITARY CAMP IN THE BALKANS
Osman Köksal .................................................................................................................... 64
CLASSICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF THE OTTOMAN ERA IN ELBASANI
Yusuf Küçükdağ................................................................................................................. 65
THE TRACES OF OTTOMAN MYSTICISM IN THE BALKANS (NINETEENTH CENTURY)
SEYYID MUHAMMED NURÜ’L-ARABI, ABDÜRRAHIM B. ALI FEDAI PRIZRENI
AND HACI HULUSI MAKSUD PIRIŞTINEVI
İbrahim Maraş .................................................................................................................. 65
THE OTTOMAN LEGACY IN EUROPE: OLD CLICHÉS, NEW SOURCES, NEW APPROACHES
Mihai Maxim ..................................................................................................................... 66
INFLUENCE OF RUMELI A‘YÂNS ON ROMANIAN HISTORY: THE CASE OF PAZVANDOĞLU
OSMAN AĞA AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Akitsu Mayuzumi ........................................................................................................... 66
THE OLDEST OTTOMAN-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS
IN THE REGION OF KERÇOVA
Feti Mehdiu ........................................................................................................................ 68
“SHERH RAHATI AL-KULUB” OF PIR MUHAMMED EFENDI FROM PRISHTINA
–A UNIQUE WORK/MANUSCRIPT IN KOSOVA ARCHIVES
Sadik Mehmeti ................................................................................................................... 68
THE OTTOMAN LEGACY IN THE RAILROADS OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
Peter Mentzel ..................................................................................................................... 69
THE COMMERCIAL SCHOOL OF ROMANIA IN SALONICA DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
Özcan Mert ........................................................................................................................ 70
LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ACCORDING TO THE LAND
REGISTRY DEFTERS LOCATED AT THE GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF ARCHIVES IN ALBANIA
Entela Muco ....................................................................................................................... 70

7
UNE CURIOSITE NUMISMATIQUE: DES EMISSIONS EN CUIVRE DE
BAYEZID IER AVEC CONTREMARQUES
Eugen Nicolae .................................................................................................................... 71
THE WHITE GROUND CHINTAMANI RUGS IN TRANSYLVANIA
Sumiyo Okumura .............................................................................................................. 71
TAHRIR DEFTERS OF THE SANCAK OF BOSNIA
Hatice Oruç........................................................................................................................ 73
THE WORKS CONSTRUCTED BY MUSTAFA AĞA IN ATHENS, GREECE
Mustafa Özer ..................................................................................................................... 74
THE RELIGIOUS ORDER OF RAMAZANILIK IN THE BALKANS
ACCORDING TO ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS
Mehmet Cemal Öztürk....................................................................................................... 75
OTTOMAN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN THE BALKANS: PAST AND FUTURE
Amir Pašić .......................................................................................................................... 75
THE OTTOMAN MOSQUE IN MACEDONIA
(FROM THE END OF THE FOURTEENTH UNTIL THE END OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY)
Zoran Pavlov ..................................................................................................................... 77
BETWEEN THE SULTAN AND THE KING: MUSLIM COMMUNITY
IN DOBROUDJA AS AN OTTOMAN LEGACY FOR THE ROMANIAN STATE
Silvana Rachieru ............................................................................................................... 77
A READING PROVINCIAL SOCIETY: BOOKLOVERS
AMONG THE MUSLIM POPULATION OF RUSÇUK (1695-1786)
Orlin Sabev ........................................................................................................................ 78
THE EFFECT OF RUMELIAN RAILWAYS IN TERMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY
Yuko Saito .......................................................................................................................... 79
AGAIN ON THE ‘CHRONICLE OF THE TURKISH SULTANS’
Dean Sakel ......................................................................................................................... 80
THE CEREMONY HELD ON THE 10TH OF MUHARREM AMONG THE RIFAIS IN THE BALKANS
Hasan Sevil ........................................................................................................................ 80
THE MOSQUES OF THE FIFTEENTH AND THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY IN PRISHTINA
(HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND ARCHITECTONIC VALUES)
Ramadan Shkodra ............................................................................................................ 81
HISTORICAL FACTS AND NATIONAL TRADITION
Ramiza Smajic ................................................................................................................... 82
OTTOMAN LEGACY IN GREECE: THE QUESTION OF
TURKISH PROPERTY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Nurdan Şafak .................................................................................................................... 82
TOMBSTONES AS PART OF THE OTTOMAN LEGACY IN THE BALKANS :
EPITAPHIC EXAMPLES FROM THE EASTERN RHODOPE MOUNTAINS
Aziz Nazmi Shakir ............................................................................................................. 83

8
A TOMB IN THE ALADJA MOSQUE, AS PART OF THE
OTTOMAN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA (SKOPJE)
Aneta Tanevska ................................................................................................................. 83
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE CITY OF MAÇIN
IN MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY
Arzu Terzi........................................................................................................................... 85
THE BALKAN OR EAST EUROPEAN MUSLIMS IN THE AGE OF GLOBALISATION:
SQUEEZED BETWEEN THE EUROPE AND THE MUSLIM WORLD
Nuri Tınaz .......................................................................................................................... 85
FORMATION OF THE BAZAAR IN BALKAN CITIES DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD
Mehmet Tunçel .................................................................................................................. 86
WHERE THE MEMORIES OF FORTY YEARS ARE TRANSFORMED: THE COFFEE HOUSES
Osman Tutal ...................................................................................................................... 87
NORTH-WEST BORDER OF THE OTTOMANS: A NEW SOURCE ON THE OTTOMAN
MONUMENTS IN HUNGARY AND SLOVAKIA: JACOB TOLLIUS FROM HOLLAND
Mehmet Tütüncü................................................................................................................ 88
LA PENETRATION DES MONNAIES OTTOMANES DANS LES
PAYS ROUMAINS AUX XVIIE-XVIIIE SIECLES
Aurel Vîlcu ......................................................................................................................... 88
TURCOLOGICAL STUDIES IN POLAND AND THE STUDIES ON
OTTOMAN HERITAGE IN THE LIGHT OF TURCOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN KRAKOW
Halil İbrahim Yakar.......................................................................................................... 89
THE PAINFUL OTTOMAN LEGACY OF POPULATION: TURKISH IMMIGRANTS FROM
ROMANIA FROM THE OTTOMAN UNTIL THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD
Kemal Yakut....................................................................................................................... 90
THE CHARITABLE WORKS BUILT BY THE AYAN OF VIDIN PAZVANDOĞLU OSMAN AĞA
Ahmet Yaramış .................................................................................................................. 91
THE ROLE OF OTTOMANS IN THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGES
OF THE TURKISH CLANS (PECHENEG, UZ, KUMAN) IN THE BALKANS
Mualla Uydu Yücel ............................................................................................................ 92
SA’DIYYE AND SA’DI DERVISH LODGES IN THE BALKANS
Hür Mahmut Yücer ............................................................................................................ 92
SUFISM IN ALBANIA
Ali Akbar Ziaee .................................................................................................................. 93
THE RELATION BETWEEN MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL HERITAGE OF
OTTOMAN PERIOD BOSNIA – SOME REMARKS
Ahmed Zildzic .................................................................................................................... 94
OTTOMAN COINS - PART OF PEOPLES' JEWELRY
Dragica Zivkova ................................................................................................................ 94

9
10
 THE BATHHOUSE OF ŞEMSEDDİN AHMET BEY IN KOSOVA-PRIZREN
Hakkı Acun

Kosova, which covers an area of 11.000 square kilometers, is situated in south

eastern Yugoslavia. It consists of two big plains surrounded by mountains on both
sides. Following the disintegration of Yugoslavia as a result of the civil was that
took place in 1990s it was separated in 1999 with the aim of founding an
independent state. At present, Kosova is protected by the soldiers of 36 states
(KFOR) and administered by the UN (United Nations). The Turkish Battalion
Force in Kosova, which is situated in Sultan Murat Barracks in northwestern
Prizren, assures the security of part of Prizren and the area of Dragas.

Prizren is the second biggest city of Kosova. It is situated at the skirts of Şar
Mountains. The city resembles Bursa and Manisa in that it leans against the
mountains and was founded at the skirts of the fortress. Following the war in
1999, the population of the city rose to 200.000 including those who fled. This
city, which was the cultural and commercial center of Kosova, was the capital of
Serbia in the fourteenth century. It was conquered by Mehmed II’s commander
Evrenos Bey oğlu Ahmet Bey on 21 June 1455 and remained under Ottoman
sovereignty until 31 October 1912. In this period the city gained its Turkish
identity with its mosques, dervish lodges, tombs, caravanserais and bathhouses.

The bathhouse, which is the subject of this paper, is situated in Körağa

Neighborhood in the northwest of the city near Cuma Mosque which was a
converted church (Bogorodiça Levişka Church). The bathhouse, which is used as a
museum today, is known as Şemseddin Ahmed Bey’s vakıf according to its vakfiye
located at the General Directorate of Vakıfs. Till now, the publications about this
bathhouse described it as having a single division. However, the research on this
building and its restitution plan indicate that in fact it was a public bath with two
divisions- one for men and one for women. This paper aims to prove that the
bathhouse in question was a çifte hamam, i.e. it had two divisions, on the basis of
the relevant drawings, documents, information and photographs. The
publications mention the çifte hamams in Kosova as Priştine Mehmed II and
Prizren Mehmet Paşa bathhouses. This study adds another edifice to these public
baths. Thus, the number of çifte hamams in Kosova rises to three.

11
LATE OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION IN ADAKALE AND THE AID EXTENDED
TO THE PEOPLE OF ADAKALE

H. Yıldırım Ağanoğlu

Adakale, which is an island on the river Danube, remained attached to the

Ottoman administration legally until the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey
although the Ottomans lost all of the land in the region because its name was not
mentioned in the Treaty of Berlin. Occasionally, the island was occupied by
Austrian and Romanian soldiers. The Ottoman Embassy in Vienna carried out the
relations of the island with the Ottoman State. According to the Ottoman State,
the emigration of the people who lived in the island and who consisted completely
of Turks was not considered proper. The people who lived in the island had the
right to participate in the elections that took place in Istanbul. The Ottoman State
also extended assistance regularly to the people of the island during the floods
that took place from time to time, the poor people and the school and mosque in
the island. This paper aims to examine the subject in the light of the present
documents.

BILINGUAL EDUCATION IN TURKISH MINORITY SCHOOLS

IN WESTERN THRACE

İbrahim Kelağa Ahmet

The educational system of minorities which is applied in the Turkish schools of

Western Thrace are regulated with international agreements, bilateral treaties, the
constitution which is at the disposal of Greek internal law, laws, decree laws and
circulars to which Greece is subjected. While international agreements and
bilateral treaties determine the framework, subjects mainly related to application
are organized by laws, decrees and circulars. Numerous arrangements were made
about the education of minorities from 1923 till the present day but it is difficult to
say that the balance that was established by the Treaty of Lausanne has been
protected. Since the reciprocity clause was adopted regarding the rights of
minorities, due to the decrease in the number of the Greek population in Istanbul
Greece limited the personal freedom and the rights of the minorities that arose
from minorities’ law.

12
The legal status of bilingual minority schools has a sui generis nature. This is
because in some cases legal arrangements consider the minority schools as state
schools; while other legal arrangements include these schools under the
administration of private schools. Consequently, the legal status of minority
schools contains both the elements of private schools and state schools. Minority
schools are considered in the status of private schools regarding the procedures
but they are under the definite control of the state. The right to found a minority
school in the true sense of the word in line with the rights provided by the Treaty
of Lausanne was not put into practice till now.

The minority students in Western Thrace are free to make a choice between
minority schools where education is carried out bilingually and state schools in
which the language of education is Greek. (Tsitselikés-Baltsiotés, 2001, p. 55). In
practice, the greatest majority send their children to bilingual minority schools.
Turkish is used as an educational language only in bilingual minority schools in
the area. At present, Turkish is used even as a foreign language neither in primary
schools of the state where a limited number of the children of minorities began to
prefer receiving education in the prevailing language nor in state secondary
schools where more than half of the children at school age attend. Those living in
an area outside of Western Thrace must attend the state schools located in their
region. They do not have the right to receive education in their native language.
Turkish is taught neither as an elective course nor under the title of another
course in the schools which they attend.

At least one Turkish and one Greek teacher works in every minority school, one to
carry out the curriculum in Turkish and the other to carry out the curriculum in
Greek. Both there are schools with few students and those with a rich potential of
students according to the density of the minority population in the administrative
units where the schools are located.

Minority schools follow the holiday program of the state schools. Moreover, the
students in these schools have vacations on religious feasts and kandils (the five
holy nights of Muslims). Therefore, the yearly span of education of these schools is
15 days less than 170 work days as generally foreseen for the other schools.

13
 THE ROLE OF THE OTTOMAN MILLET SYSTEM IN THE FORMATION OF
ETHNIC IDENTITIES IN THE BALKANS

Hatice Akın-Hatice Çetin

Nationalism in the Balkans is perceived as a by product of modern Europe in

political literature. The French revolution and the occupation by Napoleon are
regarded as developments that led to Balkan nationalism. Ideas of nationalism
had arisen among the Greeks and the Slavs in the Ottoman Empire before French
enlightenment and nationalism.

It is impossible to erase the Ottoman heritage in the Balkans. We cannot write or

reconstruct the history of the Balkans according to our own belief. Therefore, it
would be wrong to claim that the Ottomans weakened or destroyed the ethnic
identities of the Balkan population. Ethnic identity was not as important as
religious identity for the Ottomans. Political structures which contemporary
Balkan leaders call “States of the Middle Ages” in the region are not in any way
related to the nation states of the nineteenth century. Indeed, these were small
political, administrative and military structures which did not have any organic
ties with the population that they ruled. We cannot claim that modern Balkan
nation states were a continuation of these first small states regarding their ethnic
characteristics. Muslim nations, which were remnants of the Ottoman State, did
not emerge as separate nations as the history of the region in the post-Ottoman
period was shaped. Their presence and activities were evaluated within the
Ottoman Turkish context. Thus, contrary to the other Balkan nations, they did not
have their own historical calculations and claims. The continuous war and
internal struggles in the region as well as the enmity towards them stemmed from
the fact that although they did not have any problem among them they were
regarded as Turkish remnants.

In the light of the above-mentioned points, this paper attempts to analyze the
characteristics of the Ottoman millet system in the Balkans and its role in the
formation of the ethnic identities in the Balkans. It will also deal with the present
state of these ethnic identities in the Balkans and micro-ethnicities. Finally, the
distribution of ethnicities in demographic structures will be presented
comparatively.

14
 THE OFFICE OF THE MÜFTÜ AS PART OF THE OTTOMAN HERITAGE
AMONG THE TURKS OF ROMANIA

Ali Aksu

One of the oldest institutions of the Turks of Dobruja is the office of the müftü.
This office, which existed from the Ottoman period onwards continued after
Dobruja became part of the Romanian state. The Romanian administration
separated the offices of the müftü and the kadı which continued as independent
institutions. In Bulgaria, however, the office of the kadı was abolished by the
Kingdom of Bulgaria in 1880 and the duties of the kadıs were transferred to the
müftü.

The Romanian government has secured the rights and freedom of the Turks as
those of the other minorities in their country by the constitution. In this way, the
religious organization and institutions of the Turks in Romania were protected by
the government.

There were offices of the müftü in the sanjaks (subdivision of a province) in four
centers of Dobruja during the Ottoman period. These were the cities of Köstence,
Tulça, Silistre, and Pazarcık. However, this institution faced some problems as the
Turks lost the region of Dobruja and it passed to Romania. These problems
increased as Romania came under Communist administration.

People’s Republic of Romania prepared the rules and regulations of the office of
the müftü, which is the religious representative of Romanian Turks, on 24 May
1949 by a decision with number 14.062. Presently, the office of the müftü of
Romanian Muslims acts according to these rules and regulations. Although some
minor changes were made in these regulations from time to time, they still need to
be changed and developed further.

According to the above-mentioned regulations, the office of the müftü is not

attached to any institution in a foreign country. It is independent and governed by
the principles of Islam. The 6th item of these regulations describes the duties such
as prayer worship, fasting, almsgiving and pilgrimage which Muslims are obliged
to fulfill. It is also stated that the imam can perform the ceremony of religious
marriage and it can be considered as official marriage. Other topics were included
in the regulations as well. Among them are acts that are canonically lawful and
unlawful such as eating pork, drinking alcohol, the specification of religious

15
holidays of Muslims, etc.

The sixth part of the regulations describes Muslim religious officials such as
imams and preachers. These officials are attached to the Ministry of Religious
Affairs.

The seventh part of the regulations concerns the müftü of Romania and his office.
Accordingly, religious leader of the Muslims of People’s Republic of Romania is
the müftü. His office is in Köstence and he is elected by the Islamic Council by
secret vote.

Presently, the office of the müftü continues to function as in the past.

This paper will focus on the history and present state of the office of the müftü in
Romania, evaluate the problems related to this office as well as their solutions and
how this situation would contribute to inter-religious dialogue.

GYPSIES IN THE BALKANS DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

İsmail Altınöz

There is very scarce information about the groups of gypsies which constitute a
marginal section in the non-homogeneous structure of the Ottoman Empire.
Certainly, even partial explanation of some topics about such a group in the
Balkans will be an important contribution to the subject. These topics are the area
in which the gypsies spread, their social structure, their status in society, how they
are perceived by the state, and their economic and social mobility in the historical
process. Studies on these topics will constitute an important contribution to
research on social history.

This paper will focus on the socio economic structure, the level of culture and
prosperity of the Gypsies who live in the Balkans within the boundaries of the
Ottoman State. Moreover, we shall deal with the professional groups, customs and
traditions of the gypsies in various parts of the Balkan geography. Starting
primarily from Southeastern Balkans, where the gypsies live in majority, the paper
will examine the social status and taxes of those who live in the central and
northern parts, the situation of gypsies in different regions and the approach of
the state to the gypsies in these areas. In this way, we shall try to explain the

16
situation of gypsies, who are spread in a wide geography in the Balkans, within the
Ottoman borders and their legal status. However, as indicated by its title, the
subject of this paper will be limited to the gypsies in the Balkans during the
Ottoman period.

Archival materials constitute the main sources of this paper. As a result of the
research on gypsies conducted in Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives in Istanbul
that took long years 6 tahrir defters were found on the gypsies in the Balkans
during the Ottoman period. These defters belong to the Çingene Sancak in the
province of Rumelia where gypsies live in majority. This paper will present the
information obtained from these defters.

The paper will deal with the Law code of the Gypsies which was prepared about
the Sancak of the Gypsies in the Balkans and their legal status.

Though the Gypsies that were seen in the Balkans from the beginning of the
Middle Ages were held in contempt by the local people and hostilely treated, after
the conquest of these regions by the Ottomans, they benefited greatly from the
Ottomans’ tolerance and adopted this geography, a fact which they had never
done in any part of the world. Finally, this paper will indicate the contributions of
the Gypsies in Europe to European and Balkan history as part of the Ottoman
legacy.

THE PROFESSIONAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE CITY CENTER OF VARNA IN

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Sema Altunan

Varna was a lively town which was part of the sancak of Silistre in the nineteenth
century. The center of the city was particularly active. Varna both had commercial
potential and attracted people from outside by virtue of its harbor. One could see
people from various professional groups and temporary workers who came from
the towns and villages of the province of Rumelia and different parts of Anatolia
in the city center. The fact that diverse professional groups came to this city even
from far places such as Trabzon indicates the potential of Varna for trade.

As a harbor town Varna was also a center that attracted the laborers owing to the
job opportunities in the wharf, customs and quarantine. There were always people

17
who came to Varna particularly by the naval route to find jobs. Thanks to the
means of transportation and the advantages of being a harbour, Varna developed
as an important center.

On the basis of the temettuat defters numbered TMT 12767, TMT 12768, TMT
12769, and TMT 12770, located in Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives, this paper
examines the professional groups in the city center of Varna comparatively.

OTTOMAN BUREAUCRATS OF ROMANIAN ORIGIN

IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY OTTOMAN BUREAUCRACY
ACCORDING TO THE SİCİLL-İ AHVAL DEFTERS

Ayten Ardel

Information about the officials who served in Ottoman state administration was
included in their biographies during the period in which they were in office. This
procedure of registration was called Sicill-i Ahval. The information included the
following: Private matters and matters related to their position, chronological
registration, ethical position of the office holder and official documents. The
defters which were produced were called Sicill-i Umumi Defters.

From the establishment of the Sicill-i Ahval Commission until the year 1909, the
records of more than 92.000 civilian and judicial officials were collected in 201
defters. (There are two defters with number 18). Some of them are registered in
duplicate copies. The total number should be around 60.000 when the duplicates
are excluded.

Sicill-i Ahval defters contain information about the name, pseudonym or

patronymic of the official whose biography is included, the rank of his father (if he
is an official), the family which he comes from (if he is a well-known personality),
the date when he started his office, his educational status, level of merit,
dismissal, appointment and trials (if any), his nationality (if he is a non-Muslim).

The above information is included in the records of non-Muslim officials without

any difference in the title or spelling.

18
If the father’s name, date of birth and place of birth of an official is known, one
can easily find the defter in which the official is recorded with the help of the lists
which are prepared.

This paper will examine the officials of Romanian origin who are recorded in
Sicill-i Ahval defters.

AN ESSAY ON THE COMPARISON OF VAKFIYE RECORDS

WITH THE WORKS IN KOSOVO DATING FROM THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

Esma Arıcan

This paper aims to make a comparison between the characteristics of the

mosques, which were built in Prizren and Priştina, during the period of their
construction and in the present day as well as the role of the vakıfs in the building
of the mosques.

The main sources of this study are the documents located at the State Archives of
the Prime Ministry, documents related to the mosques that are cited in archival
sources (Fethiye Mosque, Mustafa Bey Mosque and Seydi Bey Mosque in Prizren,
etc.) and the photographs of the present state of these mosques.

The paper will also present information on Kâtip Sinan Mosque, Prizrenli Rüstem
Paşa’s Vakıf and Bayraklı Mosque, built by Mehmed Paşa (1573-1574) in Prizren
on the basis of archival documents.

THE ROLE OF ROMANIA IN THE ORGANIZATION OF

THE WALLACHIANS AS A RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY

Ali Arslan

The Wallachians who live in the Balkans are attached to the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate. From 1870s they started to assert their own identity. They first
wanted to worship in their own language and managed to do so. They also
underwent a great struggle to conduct education in their own language. The
Romanian Government supported the Wallachians in this process. The
Wallachians strived greatly in the presence of the Ottoman government to

19
separate themselves from Greek Orthodox community and to become known as
the Wallachian community. The new Romanian government tried to help them in
this regard. The Ottoman State recognized the Wallachians as a separate
community under the influence of the Germans who interfered in the events that
took place in the Balkans. This paper aims to examine the assistance extended to
the Wallachians by Romania in the political, educational and cultural fields as well
as concerning material needs.

OTTOMAN ULEMA IN THE LATE PERIOD IN MACEDONIA

Muhammed Aruçi

This paper examines the Ottoman ulema in Macedonia during the late period, the
period in which they lived, the situation of Muslims in what was known as
Southern Serbia in that period as well as the place and influence of the ulema in
society. The period of this paper corresponds to the beginning of the twentieth
century and the end of the Ottoman sovereignty in the area. The majority of
Muslim communities in this area were composed of Turks and Albanians.
However, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which was established after the Ottoman
period aimed to found a society in line with the policy of the newly founded state
originating from Belgrade instead of the Ottoman culture with Skopje as its
center. Despite the reformist movements in religion which were supported by the
official authorities in Belgrade, the influence of ulema of the late period is clearly
felt in the region. This paper will focus on the ulema of the late period which
flourished as a continuation of the school founded by Ataullah Kurtiş. The
purpose of this ulema was to oppose Reformist thought and to carry on the
influence of Istanbul Fatih Medreses which followed the line of Ottoman classical
education. The paper will also focus on the Islamic developments in the area and
the situation of Muslim society in the post-Ottoman period.

Atâullah Kurtiş (Atâ Efendi) of Studeniçan (Skopje) and Hafız Cemil Efendi of
Kalkandelen who were educated in Istanbul during the late Ottoman period and
some members of the ulema who followed them appear among the most
important elements that supported the culture and civilization of the Ottomans
who left this region. We do not have much information, with the exception of oral
sources, about Atâullah Kurtiş, his student Abdülfettah Raûf (Fettah Efendi),

20
Mehmed Efendi of Gruşina, Hafız Şaban Efendi, Kemal Efendi, Bekir Sadak and
similar personalities. Most of the Ottoman ulema of the late period who were
considered traditionalists were of the opinion that the Ottoman State would
recover and establish its sovereignty in the area. However, following the abolition
of the caliphate such hopes were no longer realized and the only purpose that
remained was to preserve the religious and national lifestyle of the Ottoman
period in the area. The aim of adopting this tendency was to save the area, masses
of people and the lifestyle from the Serbian influence in the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia. In return, the traditions of the Muslim society which reached till that
day would be protected. However, a town or a village of Macedonia whose name
can be mentioned even after the Ottoman period is still lively as an unforgettable
memory of Anatolia. The native Muslim people and the above-mentioned ulema
of the late Ottoman period maintain the religion and culture of the Ottomans who
ruled in this area for centuries. From 1913 till the present day the ulema fought
personally to realize this aim and left their mark in history rightfully.

SOME ASPECTS OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE OTTOMANS-

WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA ACCORDING TO THE AHKAM DEFTERİ
DATING FROM THE SECOND HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Mesut Aydıner

This paper will examine topics such as the relationships between the non-Muslim
reaya in Wallachia and Moldavia and particularly with the cizyedars (collectors of
poll-tax), some interesting details about the appointed vaivodes, the commercial
activities in the area, products which were imported and exported, the situation of
the people who live on the banks of the river Danube on the basis of the important
decrees contained in ahkâm defters. This paper aims to contribute to the subject
of “OTTOMAN HERITAGE IN EUROPE” from an interdisciplinary and
comparative viewpoint. The main topics that are dealt with and the archival
documents that are examined for this study treat the subject within a social,
political, economic, legal, institutional and intellectual framework. We believe that
this study will contribute to the cultural dialogue among the people in the region
positively.

21
 TURKISH FASHION IN EUROPE

Fatma Ayhan

Artistic and cultural heritage is one of the important factors in determining the
cultural identity of a nation. When one examines the cultural history of the
Turkish nation one sees that it has a rich potential of clothing extending from
Central Asia to Anatolia and Europe.

The long past of Turkish garments was produced as a result of the interaction of
cultures and belief systems in the vast geography where it extended. Although
similarities occurr in garments owing to cultural exchanges which take place
generally on a large scale in cities and the globalization in the world, traditional
dresses are still important today.

There are some principal factors which determine and change the social and
national characteristics in every field of culture as in garments. These factors are
the instinct to protect oneself, adapting to the conditions of nature, religious or
philosophical beliefs, adaptation to one’s work, administrative arrangements,
economic conditions, psychological trends, and fashion.

Starting from the 15th century onwards, there was a growing interest in Turkish
music, textiles, carpets, garments and lifestyle in Europe. Owing to the operas,
theaters, ballets and other works which were produced about the Turks, we have
evidence of a lively description of the garments and behavior of the Turks, their
lifestyles and the life in the Palace.

The traditional dresses in the Ottoman Empire, which are rich and original
regarding cultural values, had different characteristics from the dresses in other
countries.

The aim of this paper is to describe the clothing and lifestyle in the Ottoman
Empire regarding the models used and cultural values as well as transferring them
to future generations and introducing them in the world.

22
 HUMAN, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL STRUCTURE OF ELBASAN
IN THE XVIITH CENTURY IN THE LIGHT OF COURT RECORDS

Mehmet Aykaç

The fortress of İlbasan (Elbasan) was founded by Mehmed II in 1466 with the
purpose of taking the activities of İskender Bey, who rebelled against the
Ottomans, under control and to provide the security of the roads which lead to the
North of the country. Besides being the center of a sanjak under Ottoman
sovereignty (1466-1912), it was one of the most important cities and towns
founded by the Ottomans in Albania.

According to Evliya Çelebi, there were approximately 460 houses within the
İlbasan fortress, about 1150 houses with gardens and orchards in the provincial
part and the suburbs, twenty eight neighborhoods, eighteen composed of Muslims
and ten composed of Christians, forty six mosques, two hundred shops, three
imarets (soup kitchens), and three bathhouses.

İlbasan was one of the great industrial and commercial centers of Albania with an
approximate population of 30 thousand. It also had a developed cultural life and
several poets and writers flourished there.

This paper aims to examine the economic, administrative, social and cultural
structure of the kaza (subdivision of a province) of Elbasan in the seventeenth
century in the light of the court record documents registered with fund number
129 and dating from 1600 to 1913.

BOOKS, JOURNALS AND NEWSPAPERS WHICH WERE PRINTED

IN THE PRINTING HOUSE OF THE DANUBE PROVINCE
AS PART OF THE OTTOMAN HERITAGE

Halil Bal

As part of the attempts to reorganize civil administration, the Ottoman State

established the province of Danube, which included Silistre, Vidin and Nish, in
1864. Governor Midhat Paşa who was appointed to this province first of all
founded a printing house in Rusçuk which was the center of the province. With its
publications this printing house contributed greatly to the educational and

23
cultural life of the people in the region. This paper aims to present extensive
information on the foundation and publication activities (books, newspapers and
journals in Turkish and Bulgarian) of the printing house of the province of
Danube which was the pioneer of the provincial printing houses established in
Ottoman geography.

OTTOMAN WRITTEN CULTURAL AND ARCHIVAL HERITAGE IN ALBANIA:

PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

Mustafa Balcı
Yüksel Özgen

In the Ottoman period Albania may be considered as a store that provided the
greatest number of bureaucrats to the central and provincial bureaucracy after the
Ottoman period. One can find high state officials of Albanian origin who served in
different positions in the geography where the Ottoman state reigned, particularly
the Balkans. Naturally, in view of its geographical position and the above-
mentioned factor, Albania is extremely important for the Ottoman system.
Considering the present situation of the Balkans, the need to consider all kinds of
written cultural heritage in Albania dating from the Ottoman period becomes self
evident from the viewpoint of understanding the history of Balkan geography and
solving the problems of the region in the present day.

This paper aims to make a general presentation and a brief analysis of the
following sources: The documents dating from the Ottoman period which are
located at the State Archives of Albania (ADA), Archives of the Museum of History
in İşkodra, Library of Office of the Mufti of İşkodra, relevant manuscripts located
at the National Library of Albania and the documents in some private archives.

Within the framework of this study, the official defters which have not been
classified yet and various other documents located at the Archives of the Museum
of History in İşkodra will be evaluated, presented and classified. The manuscripts
situated at Library of the Office of the Mufti of İşkodra whose catalogue has not
been prepared yet will be presented.

We also aim to analyze the official documents of Albania including those related to
administrative units such as İşkodra, İlbasan, Dıraç, Kavaya, Tirana, Akçahisar,

24
Manastır, Yanya and Avlonya which arrive from the center as well as those which
were produced locally.

The papers of a generation of great personalities such as İbrahim Temo, Derviş

Hima, Hasan Rıza Paşa, İsmail Kemali, Hoca Tahsin, Murat Toptani who left their
mark on a certain period will be examined. These documents have not been
studied till now.

BIRD HOUSES IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE DURING THE

OTTOMAN EMPIRE (EDIRNE- KIRKLARELI-TEKIRDAG)

H. Örcün Barışta

Bird houses ornamenting architecture which are dedicated to provide shelter for
birds from the Ottoman Empire Period are a donation of Turkish Islamic art to
world culture and art. These miniature forms of architecture or arched formed
structures which demonstrate the love for animals and nature are valuable
documents with their forms resembling architectural models and sources of
information about history of art.

Birdhouses remaining from this period in Asia as well as in south east Europe
which was so called Ottoman Europe are withnesses for the foregoing. Although
most examples of this period are now lost to us there are examples dating from
the begining of the 16th and early 20th centuries. Particularly interesting pieces
from Istanbul the capital and some examples from the provinces such as Edirne to
Giokastra point out that they spread within the wide borders of the Empire.

The aim of this paper is to document and introduce some bird houses found in
Edirne, Kirklareli and Tekirdag regions located in the south east Europe in the
borders of Turkish Republic by offering an overview of these stuctures that adorn
architecture, help to ensure their place in the history of art. By this means to draw
attention on these houses with aesthetic forms and focus on frontal decoration,
materials and techniques, enlightening us about some lost architectural forms and
filling in some of the gaps in the history of art.

This paper is concerned with birdhouses listed as follows:

Edirne- Ayse Kadin Mosque, Eski Mosque, Darulhadis Mosque, Defterdar

25
Mosque, Mustafa Pasa Mosque, Selçek Hatun Mosque, Suleymaniye Mosque,
Yesilce Mosque Cami, Yildirim Mosque Cami; Kevsec Balaban Mahallesi
Fountain; Ekmekcioglu ve Rustem Pasa Ceravanserai; Saruca Pasa Mesjid and
School for children of Selimiye.

Havsa- Sokollu Mehmet Pasa Mosque Cami and Uzunkopru- Demokrasi Aniti.

Kirklareli-Alpulu- Sinanli Bridge; Babaeski-Semiz Ali Pasa Mosque; Luleburgaz-

Sokollu Mehmet Pasa Mosque, Sokollu Mehmet Pasa Bridge.

Tekirdag- Corlu-Fatih Mosque; Hayrabolu- Corumi Mustafa Bey Mosque;

Malkara-Gazi Omer Bey Mosque, Gazi Suleyman Bey Mosque and Ibrahim Bey
Mosque.

THE ROLE OF OTTOMAN AKINCI FAMILIES IN BALKAN HISTORY

Fahameddin Başar

The beys who belonged to akıncı families such as Mihaloğulları, Evrenosoğulları,

Malkoçoğulları and Turahanoğulları which were active in the Balkans played very
important roles in the political history, construction activities and culture of this
area. In the Ottoman military organization the princes (emirs) who belonged to
these families also served as sanjak beys in the sanjaks located in the marches.
With the help of their akıncı cavalry-men these emirs were both useful in
establishing the Turkish sovereignty in the area and left their imprint on Balkan
civilization owing to the construction activities that they undertook.

Among the Ottoman akıncı families Evrenosoğulları were settled in Albania and
on the Dalmatian coast; Mihaloğulları in Bosnia, Semendire, Serbia and later in
Hungary; Malkoçoğulları in Silistre and Turahanoğulları in Morea.

This paper aims to indicate the place of the akıncıs, which were among the
Ottoman light cavalry regiments, in Ottoman military organization, as well as
examining their political activities in the Balkans and evaluating the traces that
they left in the civilization of this area.

26
 TURKISH CULTURAL MEMORY IN THE BALKANS:
IRONIC ACCOUNTS OF THE MIGRATION TO ANATOLIA

Vehbi Başer

The Ottoman State was established in Anatolia as a “principality on the marches”

but in a short period the Ottomans passed to Thrace and conquered the Balkans.
These conquests that took place towards Europe aimed to establish a homeland in
European lands. The conquests in the Balkans were not only the result of a
military move. They were realized as the common success of raiders, colonizing
dervishes and nomadic and semi-nomadic civilian groups which moved to the
west. Indeed, this is also clear from the fact that the native people who lived in the
Balkans in a state of uncertainty could resist neither to the military expansion of
the Ottomans nor the settlement of the above-mentioned elements in Balkan
lands for a long time. The stability that ensued from the centuries-old Ottoman
rule led to the peaceful coexistence of the native people in the Balkans and the
people who arrived with conquests.

The first results of the deterioration in Ottoman political order were observed in
the Balkans from the end of the eighteenth century onwards. Particularly the
movement of nationalism among the people in the Balkans intensified the war
among the separatist groups which resulted in a disintegration which could no
longer be prevented. These separatist movements not only destroyed the Ottoman
political and military targets but also led to an extensive and systematic terror
against the civilian Muslim people in the Balkans. The Muslim people in the
Balkans were separated from the lands on which they lived for centuries. On their
way to Anatolia they faced harsh conditions and suffered from great losses as a
result of the raids of bands. The memories of this dramatic process, which was
called “ethnic cleansing” during the disintegration of Yugoslavia, are still told
among the Balkan immigrants in Anatolia.

This paper aims to examine the “ironic accounts of migration” which were
compiled from the immigrants from the Balkans who live in Anatolia. It also
attempts to analyze how the disintegration of the Balkans was reflected in the
cultural memory of the immigrants.

27
 IMPORTANCE OF OTTOMAN ARCHIVES FOR RESEARCHES
RELATED TO ROMANIAN HISTORY

Önder Bayır

Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives of Turkish Republic is the most important one
among all other historical archives. Because of containing more than 100 million
documents and holding documents pertinent to histories of 40 countries in the
Ottoman geography, it has a significant value. Ottoman Archives is also very
important for the history of Romania. These documents include information
related to administrative structure of Romania, military and socio-economic
relations between Ottoman Empire and Romania, public works and
reconstruction activities in the area, Romania according to memorandums written
by Ottoman statesmen, socio-demographic structure of the area and treaties
concerning Romania.

OTTOMAN VAKIFS IN RUSÇUK

Meral Bayrak (Ferlibaş)

Meryem Kaçan Erdoğan

The vakıf system has an important place in Ottoman social life. The vakıfs (pious
foundations) constituted a third category between the state and private
ownership. Although they existed in all Islamic societies, the vakıfs were more
developed in Ottoman society and fulfilled an important duty in meeting the
primary needs of the society.

In all settlements under the Ottoman rule the vakıfs played an important role in
the establishment and the development of cities and the flow of daily life.
Particularly the areas where non-Muslim population was dense gained the
characteristics of an Ottoman Turkish city thanks to the vakıfs.

According to the data located in the Archives of the General Directorate of Vakıfs,
there were 403 records of pious foundations in the lands of Bulgaria during the
Ottoman period. 16 of these are in Rusçuk. The documents located at the Archives
of the Land Registry and Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives indicate that in fact
the number of the vakıfs in Rusçuk was much greater. The vakıfs which were
founded here played a great role in making this city an Ottoman Turkish center

28
since the date when it came under Ottoman sovereignty. These vakıfs were
important in the economic and cultural life of the city. The following monuments
dating from the Ottoman period are located in Rusçuk: 93 mosques and mescids,
11 medreses, 12 schools, 9 dervish lodges and dervish convents, 3 khans, 2 public
baths, 1 caravanserai, 3 fountains, aqueducts and public fountains. Most of them
are endowed as pious foundations.

This paper will focus on the vakıfs in Rusçuk, which gradually developed and
became an important center of the Ottoman State. The Ottoman Turkish cultural
works were established thanks to these vakıfs. The paper will also examine their
founder or founders, the employees, revenues, services rendered by them and
construction activities.

This study is based on the following documents: Esas, Hurûfat, Vakıf Muhasebe,
Vakfiye Defters located at the Archives of the General Directorate of Vakıfs; Evkaf
and Evkaf Tahrir Defters in Archives of the General Directory of Land Registry
and Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives; the classification of various documents;
Rusçuk Şer’iyye Court Records which were brought from the Oriental Collection of
the National Library of Bulgaria and Salnames (Year Books) of the Danube
Province. We shall also refer to the relevant manuscripts in various libraries and
the printed sources related to the subject.

TRACING THE OTTOMAN CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE REGION OF

SMOLYAN

Yordanka Bibina-Kalina Peeva

The rich cultural mosaic in the Balkans was formed as a result of the encounter
between the three great civilizations with various cultures. For centuries, Ottoman
culture, particularly the material culture, left deep traces on Balkan cities.
Although part of the Ottoman material and spiritual culture could not withstand
the effects of time, some important examples of Ottoman monuments reached the
present day and attracted the attention of many Bulgarian researchers. At
different times and with different approaches these researchers contributed to this
subject methodologically. However, there is still a dearth of studies on the
monuments located in villages outside the cities. Some of these monuments
preserved their functions including their religious as well as social functions.

29
There is need for more detailed, comprehensive and systematic scholarly studies
on the Ottoman cultural heritage in Bulgaria.

This paper will present the results of the field study on buildings in Smolyan
region which reached the present day such as the caravanserais and bridges and
try to depict a true picture of the Ottoman monuments which were preserved till
today. The most interesting ones among them are the caravanserai roads in the
vicinity of Petkovo village, Anguşev Mansions, the dervish lodge of Enihan Baba,
Elhovats Mosque, etc. The paper also includes rich contemporary photographic
materials.

AHMED DJEWDET PAHSA AND HIS MISSION TO RUMELI

Mustafa Bilge

Eminent Ottoman writer and statesman was born at Lofca (Lovec), Rumeli side of
the Ottoman Empire (1823-1895).

He was a good friend of Grand viziers of his time Mustafa Reshid Pasha, Âli and
Fuad Pasha. His famous work on history "Tarikh-i Wakayi-i Devlet-i ‘Aliyye",
shortly known as Tarih-i Djewdet, was prepared during the time of Sultan
Abdûlmedjid. He also served as wak'anuwis, thje official history writer, of his
time.

Before preparing his famous work Medjelle with a group he was twice charged
with an important administrative mission as an Extraordinary Commissioner to
Rumelia. First one was in 1861 to Ishkodra (Skoder of Albania today) and the
second one was to the province of Bosnia in 1863.

In his mission to Bosnia he stayed one and a half year in the region.

Ahmed Djewdet Pasha wrote several reports during these missions and they are
extremely important to show the social and administrative situation of the region.
Some of these reports have been printed (Tezâkir and Maruzat) but there are
some more reports and news waiting to be printed at the Başvekâlet Arsivi, Prime
Ministry's Archive in Istanbul.

When Ahmed Djewdet Pasha died in 1895 at Bebek, Istanbul, he left a lot of works
behind which served to enlighten the history of the region.

30
This paper resulted from the research on the documents and reports in several
classifications of the archive like Mühimme, Irade, Yıldız and others.

MUSLIM ALBANIAN NATIONALIST INTELLECTUALS IN AN ERA OF

CONFLICTING AND INTERCEPTING COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES (1878-1912)
AND THEIR ISLAMIC IMPRINT ON INDEPENDENT ALBANIA UNTIL THE
PRESENT DAY

Bülent Bilmez

This paper will present some outcomes of an ongoing long-term project on the
Muslim Albanian nationalist intellectuals in the period 1878-1912, when projects
for conflicting and intercepting ‘modern’ collective identities were competing with
each other. It will be focused on the following seven personalities of that period:
Naim Frasheri (1846-1900), Şemseddin Sami Frasheri (1850-1904), Ismail Kemal
(1844-1919), Faik Konitza (1876-1942), Shahin Kolonja (1865-1919), Ibrahim
Temo (1865-1945) and Dervish Hima (1873/75-1928).

Challenging the conventional nationalistic approach of representing the

ethnocentric Albanian nationalism as dominant and unrivalled ideology among
these intellectuals, it will be discussed that the situation was much more
complicated and blurred: most of these intellectuals displayed ambivalent loyalty
towards different sub-national (local, sectarian, etc.) and supra-national
(religious, regional-federalist, etc.) collective identities. Some of them taking part
in the discursive construction of an ethnocentric nation, all of them were actually
devoted to the modernization project, which, in their minds, was encompassing
the national building projects.

The main goal of this paper is to discuss the role of their Islamic identity in their
efforts of discursive construction of Albanian nation, and the Islamic elements in
the nationalistic discourse seen in their and others’ texts before and after the
independence of Albania in 1912. The paper will present the thinkers’ impact in
three stages, namely post-independence, communist and the present (post-
communist) eras.

31
 BALKAN CITY OR OTTOMAN CITY? A STUDY ON THE MODELS OF URBAN
DEVELOPMENT IN OTTOMAN UPPER THRACE 15TH – 17TH C.

Grigor Boykov

The present paper aims to illustrate the complexity of urban life in the Ottoman
Balkan provinces during the Early Modern Era, examining a variety of models of
urban development, challenges the rather ‘black and white’ approach of the
existing historiography. Historians tended to see the model of co-existence in
Balkan cities either as a continuity of a pre-Ottoman Byzantino-Slavic tradition, or
attributed the processes of town creation and re-creation to the policy of central
Ottoman government.

A study on the demographic development and economic appearance of four

settlements of great importance in Upper Thrace (in modern Bulgaria),
demonstrates convincingly that despite being situated in the same geographical
area and lying very close by one another Filibe (Plovdiv), Eski Zağra (Stara
Zagora), Tatar Bazarı (Pazardjik), and İstanimaka (Asenovgrad), followed
different models of urban development, which shows the existence of a much
larger variety of urban models.

The first (Filibe) could be seen as a model of major pre-Ottoman city, largely re-
created and re-settled by the Turks, as a result of the policy of the central
authority, but preserving a Christian minority living in the areas of the city, which
existed prior to the conquest. Eski Zağra is an example of sharp discontinuity,
inhabited exclusively by Muslims, settled in the place of deported local Christian
population. On the other hand, İstanimaka represents the model of absolute
continuity, keeping its Christian character, with an almost invisible Muslim
minority. Tatar Bazarı in an illustration of the policy of original town-creation
during the Ottoman period. Founded as a military base in late 14th century, it
quickly attracted Muslim settlers and turned into a sizable city in 16th century
having already a small Christian community.

The data from the Ottoman archival sources, on which the paper is primarily
based, points to the importance of local studies and illustrates the imperfection of
the large generalizations. The complete picture of urban development in the
Ottoman Balkans could be achieved only through numerous detailed studies on
the colorful Balkan locality.

32
 TURKISH PRESENCE IN ROMANIA FROM THE PAST UP TO TODAY

Giray Saynur Bozkurt

Turkishness of the Balkanic Muslims, and the words “Turk”, “Muslim” or

“Ottoman” mean the same, and the concept “Turk” or “Ottoman” is also a name
given to a great vision carrying the influence of Turkey far beyond its borders as it
happens to be in Balkans... Today the whole Balkan nationalists don’t object (do
not see any objection) to name Bosnians, Albanions and Pomaks as “Turks” who
in fact are not Turk etymologically and do not have a Türkish mother tongue. The
reason for this is that, without taking the ethnic origin into consideration the
Muslims in Balkans are perceived to be as one single different nation by the
Christian nations inhabiting among them. Though not stating an ethnic
Turkishness, the name of this nation is Turkish nation. For this reason, people in
Turkey’s extension of Balkan peninsula, does not only include a few milllion
Balkanic Turks but also Balkanic Muslims reaching a population of ten millions.
Not speaking Turkish as a mother tongue and not having a Turkish ethnic origin
these people feel themselves closer to Turks rather than to speaker Serbians and
Bulgarians who speak the same language as these people are Ottomans more than
anything and Turkey is the only heir of Ottomans’. The influence of Turkey over
the Balkans is rather complex. This influence is primarily directed towards the
Turkish speaking population in the Balkans.

With this vision, Turks inhabiting in today’s Romania where the traces of
Ottomans are found, constitutes our study’s main theme. Turks of Romania have a
long historical past. Especially, the region Dobruca in Romania is the region
where Turks are densely populated. As being a plain, fertile, well irrigated place
making it a settlement center for many Turkish tribes throughout history, the
Dobruca region became virtually a Turkish homeland via the influence of Ottoman
governing lasting for nearly four and a half centuries. Today many archeological
historical art works belonging to the either Ottoman or pre-Ottoman times, and
various land names (though hundreds of them had changed till the Second World
War) still exist and Turks, carrying on their existence as a minority which is loyal
to Romanian unity and wholeness and free of problems, are trying to benefit from
their constitutional rights with the unions they assemble.

33
In our study we will examine from different viewpoints, the political and cultural
(education and religious organizations, Turkish press, culture clubs, etc.)
composition of Turks in Romania from past up to today with its historical
background.

THE HAYATIYE BRANCH OF HALVETI RELIGIOUS ORDER

AND HAYATI DERVISH LODGES IN MACEDONIA

Taxhidin Bytyqi

“Hayatiye”, a sub-branch of Ramazaniyye, which is one of the great branches of

the Halveti religious order particularly flourished in the Balkans. This religious
order was founded by Mehmed Hayati Baba and its main tekke is situated in Ohri
(asitane). During the Ottoman period, this religious order was not widespread
within the borders of what is now modern Turkey. It was active only in the
Balkans and particularly in Macedonia and it still functions today.

The information on Hayatiye is very limited. However, I was able to find both
written and oral information about this religious order during my research in
Macedonia. During our research we have come across four tekkes (dervish lodges)
of the Hayati religious order in Macedonia.

This paper aims to present extensive information on the Hayati religious order in
Romania as well as their dervish lodges which still function and which are inactive
today.

EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN MOSTAR DURING THE 16TH CENTURY

Hatica Car-Drnda

Education in Mostar in the 16th century was based on the educational tradition
which was widespread in the Ottoman Empire. As the Ottomans settled in these
lands, the educational system was institutitonalized through primary schools-
mekteps and higher schools –medreses.

The sources indicate that within the above-mentioned process, six primary
schools were established in Mostar.

34
Higher education was carried out in three medreses. Two of them were of general
character and the third one was devoted to studying the Mesnevi and Islamic
mysticism. Until now, the presence of the medreses, which were mentioned in
general works on education in the Ottoman Empire, was not known.

THE FORTRESS OF BELGRADE AND THE TRACES OF TURKS IN BELGRADE

Sibel Ceylan
Volkan Marttin

According to the general sources, Belgrade was founded by the Kelts and it took its
name later in the ninth century. It has been a city where numerous tribes reigned
for centuries. Following the Kelts, the Roman people built a fortress in the area
and ruled there. This region was heavily influenced by the migration of tribes and
was subject to many attacks and invasions. The city was surrounded by walls and
underwent great repairs during the period of Byzantium (Eastern Rome).
However, the weakening power of Rome led to quarrels among the other elements
in the region. The Ottomans faced these quarrels when they arrived in this area.
Those with the mentality of “Becoming a Big State” contributed positively to this
city. The Ottoman State, which had the same mentality, began to develop the city
from 1520s onwards when it established its rule there. However, due to the
gradual losses of land, Belgrade became a fortress on the border. This city,
situated on the marches in a very critical position, became an “Ottoman City” with
its fortress and Turkish-Islamic works. Thereafter, it changed hands several times
and particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it became a place
where struggles between the Ottomans and Austria took place. As these struggles
went on, the Ottoman State exerted great efforts for repairing the fortress and the
city during the period when Belgrade was in its lands. This study will deal with the
changes and repairs that the city underwent, how the works which were built in
three centuries were destroyed and the stages that it passed through regarding its
history, history of art and architecture. The purpose of this paper is to examine the
positive and negative effects on the formation of the city. With an interdisciplinary
approach we shall try to prove that contrary to some exaggerations, a state
suffering from economic difficulties did not just build palaces but also built or
repaired fortresses and other buildings with social functions.

35
Thus, we shall underline the fact that although Belgrade has been regarded as a
Serbian city till now, there were also other states that contributed to its
development. We shall try to make a comparison between what civilization
brought to the city and what barbarism took away from it. The Roman Empire was
among the first states that made the city of Belgrade worthy to live in. Naturally,
the Ottoman Empire comes second in time among the states that contributed to
the development of the city. This place, which was considered important by the
two great empires, developed in line with the importance given to it. However,
following the Ottoman rule, the city was subject to invasions and attacks as in the
past. It could not recover easily and the traces of the Turkish Islamic civilization
faded. We shall deal with the monuments such as Bayraklı Mosque, which is
described by Ayverdi as the only child of a family, and other Turkish monuments
that remained partly intact with the above-mentioned approach. This paper will
deal with the fate of the fortress and the other works within the framework of the
process of urbanization.

THE OTTOMAN LEGACY ON THE DANUBE: ADA KALE DURING THE

ROMANIAN PERIOD

Otilia Craioveanu

Once Ada Kale entered the jurisdiction of the Romanian state in 1923 (following
the Lausane Treaty and the popular will expressed through a referendum), a series
of administrative changes took place. In the new context, after the Second
World War, the integration process is hardened by the permanence of some
elements from the Ottoman period within the functioning of social relations. The
Romanian authorities have to adapt to the specificity of the island’s society and to
take into consideration additional difficulties caused by local conditions – the
state of chronic poverty, the low school enrollment quota, the lack of technical
possibilities for professional reorientation. The Cigarette Factory built in 1927
represents an element of profound implications on the future makeup of the
islanders’ professions. The industrialization process was continued with the
electrical plant which started to function in 1934, and with the Confections
Factory „Vasile Roaită” in 1949. Socially, the transformations are gradual, the
population slowly gives up on traditional professions and adapts to the new
realities. The interwar period is the most dynamic one from this point of view.
36
Inevitably, the transformation process determined the existence of a new type of
elite. At the time, the image of the controversial character Ali Kadri evolves
between idyllic (some sort of a pater familiaris for the collective memory) and the
ridiculous (the press at the time is predominantly negative towards him). The
teaching institution continues to function on the island in the Romanian
period. Until the 40s, the ellementary school could be found in the two rooms of
the mosque. After 1948, a decrease in the number of students can be noticed. In
1966, the gender balance of school institutions registers about equal figures for
elementary school. As far as superior teaching institutions at the time are
concerned, high-schools and professional schools, there is a clear gender
disproportion to the favour of male students. From the demographic point of
view, the comparative gender analysis of the population from Ada Kale during the
1930-1966 period allows us to draw the following conclusions: the difference
between the female and male population is constant, to the favour of the first. The
biggest difference was registered during the year 1956. However in the1956-1965
period, the male population growth rate is bigger than the female one. At the
1930, 1956 and 1965 censuses a constant growth in the population of both genders
can be registetered. In the communist period, the official propaganda underlines:
„the ground transformation registered in the years of the people’s power”.

DOOR KNOBS-HANDLES OF PRIZREN

Halit Çal

Door knobs-handles are interesting samples of Turkish history of art that are not
much known. Presently, there are 10 kinds of door knobs-handles in Prizren; 5 of
them are in the houses and the remaining 5 are mentioned in the publications.
The consideration of function as well as religious beliefs were influential in the
emergence of door knobs-handles and they are seen in many cultures. The main
types of door knobs-handles in the Islamic world, particularly in Central Asia and
Ottoman Europe are the same but the styles differ from one country to another.
The samples observed in Prizren are part of the Ottoman cultural circle. In
addition to the samples that carry on the tradition there are also samples
originating from Europe that are spread in almost every region of the Ottoman
geography. In this respect, one does not see much difference between the samples

37
in Prizren and those in Siirt. This paper will focus on the door knobs-handles of
Prizren.

POPULATION MOVEMENTS DURING THE PERIOD OF 1877-1914

AS A FACTOR INFLUENCING THE RELATIONS AMONG THE BALKAN STATES

Gülfettin Çelik

Nineteenth century was a period when the Ottoman State lost land in the Balkans.
Particularly the past fifty years until the First World War led to important
consequences. The new borders resulting from the lands which were lost were
significant not only politically but also socially and economically. The population
movements which reshaped the ethnic and religious structure of the area were an
important factor in this regard.

With the purpose of decreasing the effects of the wars to minimum, the Ottoman
State started an intensive struggle with the Balkan States regarding the fact that
the Muslim population abandoned their settlements. This struggle also concerned
the other states that were effective on the states of the region.

In the light of the documents located in the Turkish Prime Ministry’s Ottoman
Archives, this paper aims to examine the policies of the Ottoman State regarding
the social structure of the area, the changes that occurred in these policies in time,
the practices concerning the relations of the states in this regard and to shed light
on the relations among the states in the region –which overlap with the global
policies in the world- within the process that led to the First World War.

AN EXPERIENCE OF COEXISTENCE IN THE BALKANS:

THE CASE OF RUSÇUK (1650-1700)

Kâmil Çolak
Numan Elibol

Rusçuk, which is situated on the southern bank of River Danube, has been an
indispensable place for the Ottoman State for long centuries. Fortresses along the
Danube such as Ochakov, Kilburun, Kili, Akkerman, İsmail, İbrail, Silistre and
Rusçuk served as bases during the campaigns towards the north of Dnieper and

38
Dniester rivers. The Ottoman army along with its ammunition passed several
times from Rusçuk to the city of Yergöğü (Giurgiu), which is on the border of the
Ottoman State on the other side of the Danube. The ammunition was also moved
to the east or the west by the ships on the Danube. Rusçuk is also important for
the Ottoman State when one looks from the north of the Danube. In fact,
Wallachia and Moldavia, which are situated on the north of the Danube supplied
stocks of grain and sheep for the provisions of Istanbul. Some of them arrived in
Istanbul through the Danube and the Black Sea while others came by land route.
Moreover, as the need arose, occasionally decrees were issued from the capital
ordering that ships be built or rented in Rusçuk. The fact that Rusçuk was
considered suitable as the capital of the Province of Danube, which was founded
during the late periods of the Ottoman State, clearly indicates the strategic
importance of this area and the city for the Ottoman State.

As in the remaining parts of the Ottoman State, Muslims and non-Muslims lived
side by side for centuries in such an important city. There were positive relations
between the two groups concerning matters such as standing as guarantors to one
another, lending loans, keeping the non-Muslim households that are unable to
pay the poll tax exempt from it, informing the state authorities about some of the
events that take place in the area, the sale of real estates and being a witness.
Negative relations are observed in the following matters: Killing, wounding or
beating people, attacking houses, highway robbery, setting houses on fire, theft,
bribery, problems related to loans, insulting, collection of unjust taxes by the tax
collectors, the hiding of non-Muslims who undertake illegal acts in the houses of
the Muslims, asking money from the non-Muslims on the part of Muslims during
the repair of churches (Mustafa II sent an imperial edict ordering that money
should not be demanded). The study will dwell on the details of these subjects.

Consequently, this paper will examine the relations between the Muslims and
non-Muslims in Rusçuk with particular focus on their causes and effects on social
and economic life. Moreover, within the framework of the Şer’iyye court records of
Rusçuk and the decrees sent from Istanbul to Rusçuk, the question of how and to
what degree the state protected the rights of the Muslims and non-Muslims will be
dealt with in regard to the system and understanding of the state.

39
 THE ASSISTANCE OF THE ROMANIAN
SALİB-İ AHMER (RED CROSS) SOCIETY TO THE TURKS
AND ITS JOINT WORK WITH HİLAL-İ AHMER (RED CRESCENT) SOCIETY
DURING THE BALKAN WARS

Oya Dağlar

The Balkan wars symbolize one of the greatest defeats which the Ottoman Empire
suffered from in the twentieth century. The Empire had to lose nearly all of its
lands in the Balkans during this war. The fact that the Bulgarian armies reached
Çatalca during the war created a serious danger for the Turks and the Empire
faced the threat of the fall of Istanbul. The Romanian government and people
decided to send a Commission of the Salib-i Ahmer (Red Cross) to Istanbul with
the purpose of helping the Ottoman Empire. The commission consisted of seven
people and its chairman was İbrahim Temo, founder of the Society for Union and
Progress and its member with no. 1/1. The members of the commission came to
İstanbul and provided very useful services in the treatment of the wounded and
the sick people in the hospital that was established at Mısırlı Hanım’s mansion in
Beyazıt. The Turkish people felt great respect and gratitude for the Red Cross
Society owing to its cooperation with the Red Crescent Society during the war.

The purpose of this paper is to examine in detail the activities of the Red Cross
Society in Romania during the Balkan Wars, the exemplary cooperation of the
Cross and the Crescent and the contributions of all these efforts to the friendship
between the two countries from a historical perspective.

THE APPROACH OF YILDIZ NEWSPAPER (KAZAN)

TO THE PEOPLE IN THE BALKANS
FOLLOWING THE EVENTS IN THE BALKANS (1906-1910)

Hasan Demiroğlu

As several other people, the Idil-Ural Turks began to benefit from the political,
social and cultural opportunities which were presented to them in the atmosphere
of freedom that ensued as a result of the 1905 Revolution in Russia. Rapid
developments took place in the Press within a short time. Owing to the freedom
which other people also enjoyed under the Russian administration, the Idil-Ural

40
Turks were able to express their political, national and social problems to the
Turkish people particularly by means of the press. Yıldız Newspaper was one of
the most important newspapers that fulfilled this duty. Its first issue was
published on 21 February 1906 and it tried to serve the Muslims who live in
Russia and outside of Russia for 12 years. At the turn of the twentieth century
there was a great turmoil in the Balkans as was the case in all other regions of
Muslim geography. Particularly following the Slavist policies of the Russian
Czardom, the Slavs who lived in the region began to look for the means to act
together against the Ottoman State. In 1908s, particularly following the events
that took place in Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina the geography in the
Balkans became more complex. This paper will inquire how this turmoil was
socially reflected in Yıldız newspaper, an important publication of the Muslims in
Russia.

ORADEA BEYLIK AND ITS CONQUEST BY THE HABSUBURG EMPIRE: SOME

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE MANUSCRIPT OF HENRIC CHRISTOPHOR
SCHWEGLER, THE TRANSLATOR OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY IN 1693

Marius Diaconescu

The official translator of the Habsburg army, which occupied the fortress of
Oradea in 1693, Henric Christophor Schwegler, wrote a description of the fortress
and of Oradea beylik. The manuscript is kept at the Catholic Archibishop of
Kalocsa Library, Hungary. Even if the manuscript was mentioned one century ago
by the Hungarian historiography, it has not been used since by it, nore by
Romanian historiography. Due to the fact that the manuscript offers important
information concerning the organisation of the beylik and also the conquest of the
fortress by the Austrians, we do consider necessary to bring once again this
historical source to the atention of the historians and to focus our paper on the
presentation and analysis of it.

41
TRADITIONAL TURKISH ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM IN MACEDONIA
AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WIDER CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE
BALKANS

Valentino Dimitrovski

The Ottoman culture left a permanent trace in Macedonia. In cohabitation with

other cultural and civilized testimonials from the past, the Ottoman culture
contributed to a mosaic where the East and the West, the oriental and the new
age, the universal and the local were intertwined. It took part in a living organism
of historic memory that needs to obligate itself onto modern day life.

The Ottoman culture in Macedonia is a testimony to the architectural genius of

this culture, accomplished through the traditional urban apartment buildings and
the monumental religious and folk monuments. It represents an authentic
symbiosis between the eastern Muslim architectural concept and the already
present classic Byzantine architectural forms. The urbanism of the Macedonian
cities follows a scheme of organic sewing and integration, while the architecture is
a multitude of variations of the Ottoman-Mediterranean type of urban houses,
and well established, important examples of public monumental structures.

This kind of architecture and urbanism presents a unique and universal model of
historical living and participates with many contributions in the mozaic of world
cultures and civilisations. This article will represent some of the most visible kinds
of contributions of traditional Turkish architecture and urbanism in Macedonia to
the wider cultural context of the Balkans.

OTTOMAN DECORATIVE TILES DISCOVERIES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL

DIGGINGS FROM BRAILA

Niculina Dinu

In 2005 an archaeological investigation, inside of the Greek Church from Braila,

indicated a mixed layer with sherds of vessels, rocks and sand. In this layer
appeared fragments of decorative tiles, even wasters pieces. It is the most
important discovery because in the last twenthy years are not many such pieces.

42
This discovery covered a missing piece of ottoman culture in this area. But the
problems start just now: first problem is dating and style (this problem including
the workshop) and second problem is representing by waster tiles (could indicate
a workshop near this area).

The tiles are decorated in brilliant colours such as green, light – blue, brown, dark
– brown, yellow, etc.; the glaze is translucent. Could be dated in the end of XVII th
or in the early of XVIII th century.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN ALBANIA DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

AND ITS PRESENT DAY LEGACY

Merita Dollma

During the Ottoman period the architecture developed in three main directions:
Architecture of the Islamic religious objects; Christian religious objects and folk
architecture. During the XVI-XVIIth centuries the construction of the Islamic
objects was widespread all over Albania. The mosques became the center of the
towns together with some other public constructions and bazaars. In big cities the
mosques had monumental character, whose models were taken from Istanbul but
constructed by Albanian masters.

At the end of the XVIth and throughout the XVIIth century the Albanian urban
areas had considerable extension such as Berati, Gjirokastra, Elbasani. During the
XVIIth century the bazaars were transformed to very important centers of
production and exchanging of goods and their architecture was a chain form of
shops in two sides. The bazaars of the towns in the XVIIth century were
completed with high towers where were placed the clock and the bell.

The Albanian town has had its own urban features in the second half of the XVIIth
century, by solving the main issues such as the urban extension, placement of the
urban center, road network etc. The medieval town is classified in two categories:
1.Towns which are connected with the fortifications such as Berati, Gjirokastra
etc. 2.Towns which are situated in plain areas such as Tirana, Kavaja, Elbasani.

In the XVIIIth century the urban area focus point was the center where the
mosque, clock tower, medrese, hamams and water springs were the main
architectural objects. In the XIXth century the urban areas expanded even more,

43
but the urban development is different due to economic reasons. So Elbasan,
Gjirokastra and Berati in general did not change their urban features, but Shkodra
was expanded in the areas where it is placed today going far from the citadel,
which lost its function in the middle of the XIXth century. Korça had great urban
development which unlike Shkodra was made based on a city plan which was
different from the medieval tradition.

The towns with a citadel are the oldest and the most developed ones. In the
beginning the town was connected with the fortification but later on it expanded
out of the citadel. The relief has conditioned the architectural difference of the
towns situated in hilly areas and those in plains. In the architecture of the urban
construction the house dwelling has an important place. The urban dwelling is
different from the country dwelling especially with those in the north Albania. The
urban house dwelling is classified in four groups where each type represents a
different architectural style.

In brief, in my paper I will explain and illustrate the strong Ottoman contribution
to urbanization in Albania and then present the Ottoman legacy still living vividly
today in many parts of this country.

THE SETTLEMENT OF EMIGRANTS IN THE PROVINCE OF SILISTRE

DURING THE TANZIMAT PERIOD

Ayla Efe

The province of Silistre, which is situated on the right hand of was an important
province of the Ottoman State owing to its strategic position as well as its
agricultural and commercial functions. Moreover, the fact that it was situated on
the route where the Ottoman-Russian War took place during the 19th century led
to continuous changes in the administrative, military and demographic structure
of the province.

This paper will focus on the process through which the Caucasian, Circassian,
Kazakh emigrants as well as those from Kefe, who were settled in the area as a
result of the Ottoman-Russian War underwent during the Tanzimat Period until
1878. We shall particularly try to evaluate the changes that occurred in sanjaks,
kazas and villages as a result of the settlement of emigrants locally, the functions

44
and duties of local administrations during the settlement as well as the aid
extended to the emigrants concerning land, animals, equipment, credit and seeds.
Without doubt, the fact that the immigration from Rumelia to Anatolia that
occurred as a result of the 1877-78 War was generally most intense in the area of
Silistre renders the settlement of the emigrants in this province important.

THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ATTITUDE OF THE OTTOMAN STATE

IN THE FORMATION OF THE BALKAN NATION STATES

Cezmi Eraslan

Particularly following the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War the sovereignty of the

Ottoman State in the Balkans weakened greatly. During this process, when
Ottoman sovereignty began to lose its effectiveness and became a formality in
every way, the Ottomans gave priority to organizing the social life of the people in
the Balkans. A number of decisions were taken with the purpose of protecting the
social and cultural identity of the citizens who were under the administration of
the Balkan states and thus to carry on their ties with the Ottoman State as much
as possible.

These decisions aim to clarify the approach of the Ottoman State regarding the
formation of community councils, duties of the administration, waqf
administration, protection of the rights of the orphans, finding solutions to the
problems related to education.

The importance of primary sources in documenting the preservation of Ottoman

works and identity in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia and in the transfer of
Ottoman heritage to future generations is undeniable.

This paper aims to study the steps taken by the Ottoman State in this field in the
light of the documents located in Prime Ministry’s Ottoman Archives.

45
 THE TEKKES AND ZAVIYES IN SARAJEVO

H. Mustafa Eravcı

Evliya Çelebi states that forty-seven tekkes (dervish lodges) were located in
Sarajevo in his period. In his famous work Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi describes some
of these tekkes which remained till the twentieth century. An examination of each
of these works which left their imprint on the Ottoman heritage in the Balkans will
enrich the religious and cultural history of the Balkans greatly. In the light of the
records (documents, defters, etc.) located at the Prime Ministry’s Ottoman
Archives and the General Directorate of Awqaf) about Sarajevo, this paper aims to
examine the tekkes and zaviyes located in Sarajevo within the historical process
through which they underwent. One of the most important difficulties of research
in this field is the lack of monographic works of people who were employed in
these institutions. However, as we collect greater data from the scattered
information in archival documents and the biographical sources we can be better
informed about the development and functions of the architectural works in the
area.

THE IMMIGRANTS FROM CAUCASIA IN THE BALKANS

Mesut Erşan

Two important geographical locations, namely Caucasia and the Balkans became
prominent in Ottoman-Russian relations with a historical event- the forced
immigration of Circassian people from Caucasia. The wars of resistance went on
in Caucasia for years and finally ended on 21 May 1864. From this date onwards, a
mass migration took place to Anatolia, the Middle East and the Balkans in the
form of an exile. The events that occurred in these areas were the beginning of a
new and tragic period in Ottoman-Russian relations. The Balkans which faced a
massive migration from the Caucasus became influential in Ottoman-Russian
relations. Moreover, the relationships became even more complex by the
settlement of the Caucasian immigrants in the Balkan provinces, the political,
social and economic difficulties that they met and their forced migration from the
Balkans to Anatolia and the Middle East as a second wave upon the will of Russia.

46
This paper will focus on the immigration from Caucasia, which was a problematic
region for Russia and the Ottoman State, to another problematic region, namely
the Balkans as regards to its political, social and economic consequences.

LIBRARIES AS THE OTTOMAN-ISLAMIC LEGACY IN BOSNIA AND

HERZEGOVINA

Sabaheta Gačanin

A library, as a union of the material and spiritual culture, played a significant role
in the development of the Islamic culture and civilization in the Balkans, including
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The multi-linguistic phenomenon present throughout
the entire history of the enormous multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire has been
reflected in the holdings of almost every library including even the smallest, such
as the private collections of book lovers. The multi-linguistic phenomenon
(Turkish, Arabic, Persian and various mother tongues) was almost a general rule
in our region.

The libraries founded as the waqf, were the state’s public goods and the most
important ones were: the Gazi-Husrev bey's library (founded in 1537), the library
of Abdullah Kantamiri-zade (founded in 1797), the Osman Šehdi library in
Sarajevo (founded in 1757), the Karadjoz-bey library in Mostar (founded in 1570),
the Halil-efendi library in Gracanica (founded in 1737), the Elči Ibrahim-pasha
library in Travnik (1704-5) and many others. There are also a considerable
number of private libraries, which can be classified as book collections,
considering their numbers. Some of the most famous are: the library of Muhamed
Enver Kadić, the library of Safvet-beg Basagić, the library of Asaf Sokolović as well
as others.

The objective scientific reconstruction and interpretation of the history of the

people of the Balkans, and in particular, the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
without the knowledge and use of the resources in the oriental languages (Arabic,
Turkish and Persian) is simply not possible. The fact is that five centuries of
Ottoman administration in these parts (from the XVth to the XIXth century) has
significantly determined the course of its history.

47
This course has not only made a significant determination in the history of Bosnia
and Herzegovina and other Balkan countries, where the Ottoman rule had
centuries of continuity, but also in the surrounding countries of Eastern and
Middle Europe where the course of history was conditioned by the events in the
Ottoman Empire and the Balkans. These sources offer excellent material for the
political, military, economic and cultural history as well as for ethnologists,
philologists, art historians and so forth.

MILLET SYSTEM IN THE BALKANS AND THE CULTURAL UNITY

Agop Garabedian
Rumiana Komsalova

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the states in the Middle Ages divided the
people which they ruled according to their religions instead of their ethnic origins.
As for the Ottoman Empire, it consisted of mainly two subjects, i.e. Muslims and
Christians- communities that were equally important for the functioning of the
state. In order to benefit from the Christians it was necessary to see them as
subjects instead of enemies of the Muslim world. Therefore, the millet system was
established in line with the Şeriat. The Ottomans divided the people under their
rule into communities under administrative units according to their religion and
preserved the organization of their churches. Ethnic elements did not play any
role in this system. It was established by Mehmed II upon the appointment of
Genadios Sholaris, patriarch of the Orthodox Christians in the Muslim Empire in
1453. The term Rum (Greek) was used to indicate all of the people in the Balkans
and the Christians protected their rights as the Greek millet. On the basis of this
model, other non-Muslim millets such as the Jews and Armenians emerged. The
fact that none of the Ottoman sultans hindered the religious and cultural
independence of these communities indicates the importance of the millet system.
Indeed, this system constituted the hierarchy of the Ottoman subjects in terms of
religion.

48
 EDUCATIONAL AND CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES OF
HATIPZADE YAHYA PAŞA IN RUMELIA
Mustafa Güler

Yahya Paşa was the elder son of Mustafa Efendi (d. 1131/1718), the preacher of
Eyüp Mosque. He was an exemplary and successful statesman who flourished in
the first half of the eighteenth century.

His childhood and youth was full of activities. He entered state service as the
kethüda of Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa who was appointed governor of Adana. At the
same time, Ali Paşa married him to his daughter. On Zilkade 1144/April 1732
Grand Vizier Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa appointed him as vezir kethüdası, one of the
most important offices of Ottoman bureaucracy. Yahya Ağa became great Mir-i
ahur seven months later.

Yahya Paşa became vizier in 1147/1735 and served as governor, serasker, muhafız
and muhassıl in many provinces and sancaks.

While fulfilling these positions he served in Rumelia, Belgrade, Vidin, Tırhala and
Yanya for nearly eight years. Besides his political duties, he built numerous
mescids, medreses and other buildings in Belgrade, which was recaptured for the
second time, and endowed rich vakıfs so that they would be permanent works.

Yahya Paşa passed away in 1168/1755. The works that he built contributed to the
urban planning and social life of the area.

THE EFFECTS OF WAR AND MIGRATION

ON THE SETTLEMENTS IN BULGARIA

Mehmet Hacısalihoğlu

The wars that took place in the nineteenth century and at the turn of the twentieth
century changed the general view of the settlements in the Balkans. Important
changes took place particularly after the Ottoman-Russian War known as the 93
War in Bulgaria which is examined in this paper. The most important change

49
regarding settlements was the migration of the Muslim population during or after
the war. Although there are research works on the migration of Muslims from the
Balkans and migrations from Bulgaria to Turkey, in particular, the effects of these
migrations on the toponomical and demographic structure of Bulgaria on the
basis of villages have not been studied in detail yet.

Within the framework of a research project, which we have been carrying out in
the University of Munich, we have examined the toponomy of the villages in
Bulgaria and were able to obtain detailed data on changes in the demographic
structure. To cite an example, there were approximately 300 villages in the kaza
of Filibe (Plovdiv) which consisted of 5 nahiyes in 1850s. Only Muslims lived in
about 100 of these villages. We are aware of these villages thanks to Ottoman
sources. Only two thirds of them are mentioned in the maps of the present day. It
is impossible to find the remaining 34 villages in these maps. However, we can
determine the places of these villages thanks to the maps which were drawn
before the war and those drawn after the war such as the Russian army map which
was prepared right after the war. We see that numerous villages were erased from
the map as we compare the maps of that period and the present maps. Naturally,
this shows that an important change occurred both in the demographic and the
toponomical structure of Bulgaria. Another important change took place
regarding the villages where the Muslims were living. Although these villages were
not erased from the map, the composition of the population changed completely
as Bulgarians were settled in the places which were emptied by the Muslim
population. Since the changes in place names included nearly all of the
settlements the ties with the past were broken to a great extent within the context
of the Ottoman heritage.

The aim of this paper is to present the demographic and toponomical change in
Bulgaria on the basis of the villages dating from the Ottoman period until the
present day. The maps of kazas (district of a vilayet) will be presented in order to
support the text.

50
 THE CITY OF FILIBE (PLOVDIV) FROM THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY: POPULATION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Neriman Ersoy Hacısalihoğlu

The studies on Filibe (Plovdiv), the second great city in Bulgaria today, which
were conducted until the present day yielded very different contradictory results
concerning the population of the city and ist distribution according to various
millets. These studies took the accounts of European travelers as their reference
and Bulgarian and Greek historians mainly based their works on sources that
stressed the majority of their people. However, there are other sources in the
Ottoman archives that give information about the population of the city such as
population records, poll tax records and temettuat defters. This study aims to
describe the population structure of Filibe on the basis of such primary sources.
Since the sources define the population according to religious criteria it is possible
to classify the population as Muslim, Christian Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian and
Jewish. The sources also mention the Gypsies as Muslims and Christians. Thus, it
is also possible to detect their number. When we analyze the population according
to ethnic criteria, we see that none of the groups is above 50%, but when we
examine them one by one we see that the Turks constitute the most numerous
group. They are followed by the Bulgarians and the Greeks.

This paper will also try to examine the characteristics of the communities that live
in Filibe. Their neighborhoods, the professional groups that are widespread
among them and their economic and social structure will be discussed. As an
example, Muslim Gypsies who live in Filibe constitute the poorest part of the city
population and more than half of the population are porters and carry loads with
carriages. Some Bulgarian historians claim that the Turks who live in Filibe who
are not very skillful pursue some “simple” professions such as that of barbers. The
sources which we have examined indicate, however, that the Turks worked in a
very broad spectrum of professions. An important part of them engaged in
agriculture out of the city.

51
THE SETTLEMENT OF ARABS IN DOBRUCA IN MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY

Yusuf Halaçoğlu

Part of the Arabs living in the area of Beirut who were known as Kilimli Arabs
requested from the Otoman State to settle them in Dobruca and the Aydın area in
Anatolia. According to the decree in line with this request, some of the Kilimli
Arabs were settled in the area of Dobruca in 1261 A.H. The documents located in
various funds of the Ottoman archives, present information on the places where
these people were settled, their population, the lands allocated to them by the
state, the agricultural products they obtained and their economic situation in the
area. This paper aims to shed light on the above topics on the basis of relevant
documents and present the related documents whenever possible.

OTTOMAN MANASTIR VERSUS CONTEMPORARY MACEDONIAN BITOLA: A

HISTORICAL SURVEY

Mesut Idriz

Historically the Ottoman Manastir, with its geographic and strategic position as a
junction of several roads, was an important center as is the case in present day
Macedonian Bitola. Its geographic and natural vastness played an important role
with regard to its socio-economic and politico-cultural life. It developed into an
important urban center as a result of its advantageous situation on the old Via
Egnatia even before the Ottomans conquered it. According to James Baker, the
importance of this road, from Dyrrachium (Durrazzo, Durres) to Apollonia is that
the Via Egnatia extended a distance of 500 miles to the Hebrus in Thrace. The
roads from Dyrrachium and Apollonia met at a place called Clodiana, and thence
the Via Egnatia passed over the mountains to Heraclea in Macedonia. It bisected
the plains at Edessa, and thence passed Pella to Thessalonica. There were many
other Roman roads connected to the Via Egnetia, and their remains may up to this
day be found in both the north and south of the Balkans. The two monuments of
greatest interest were the great arches of the western and eastern gates, which
marked the entrance to and the exit from Manastir/Bitola along the Via Egnatia,
which passed through its centre.

52
In the second half of the 14th century, the Ottomans began to rapidly conquer most
of the Balkan Peninsula. During the reign of Sultan Murad I (1360-1389), the
Ottoman army commanded by Timurtaş Bey, the Beylerbey of Rumelia (governor
of the Ottoman Empire in Europe), conquered Manastir/Bitola. As a result of its
advantageous situation on the old Via Egnatia, the Ottomans, after the conquest
of Manastir/Bitola, began to think about plans for its further development with
economic growth as its purpose. The Ottoman rulers opened possibilities for
traders, businessmen, and others, in particular the Jews, from different parts of
their empire to come to Manastir/Bitola and settle there.

In this present paper, some glimpses of the social, economic, religious,

educational and other aspects of Manastir/Bitola beginning from the Ottoman
conquest till the present day will be studied.

THE MOSQUE WITH THE EARLIEST DATE IN DOBRUCA IN THE BALKANS:

DERVIŞ BEY MOSQUE

Mehmet Zeki İbrahimgil

It is a historical fact that the Turks had settled in Rumelia much before the
establishment of the Ottoman State and Islam had spread in this area before the
Ottomans. Unfortunately, the names of colonizing Turkish dervishes who spread
Muslim and Turkish traditions for many centuries remained unknown. However,
it was only the fame, bravery and characteristics of Sarı Saltuk, one of the disciples
of Hacı Bektaş Veli in the thirteenth century as well as legendary reports that
emerged upon his death that spread from one person to the other in the Balkans
until the present day. It is stated in Oğuznâme-i Seyyid Lokman that Sarı Saltuk
passed to Rumelia with some Turkish tribes in 662 A.H. (1263 A.D.) The general
view to the effect that the settlement of Muslim Turks in Dobruca began during
the Seljukid period is based on the accounts of Sarı Saltuk. There is a dearth of
archival documents dating from the Seljukid and the early Ottoman periods and
insufficient accounts in the chronicles. Therefore, we do not have definite
statistical documents about the composition and the number of the population of
Muslims during these two periods.

Within the framework of the “Project on the Inventory of Turkish Cultural Assets
Abroad”, which is carried out in Bulgaria by Turkish Historical Society, the

53
inscription of the Mosque of Jeglarsi (Umur Fakih) Village in Dobriç in the area of
Dobruca was found. The inscription is dated 698 A.H. (1298 A.D.). According to
the transcription of the inscription of this monument with an early date, the
Mosque was built by Derviş Bey. The architectural characteristics and plan of the
mosque, which is in ruins, will be examined in detail. This study will bring into
light the Derviş Bey Mosque, which stands as a document or a title deed of the
traces of the existence of Turks and Muslims in the area in the historical process.

THE CAMPAIGN WAY IN THE WARS OF OTTOMAN-POLAND AND

THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF THE RIVER DANUBE (17TH C.)

Mehmet İnbaşı

Except Austria and Venice, one of the states that Ottoman State fought with in
Europe Poland had a great power in the North. Because they protected Cossacks,
the struggle between Ottoman State and Poland had begun in the beginning of the
century. At first Ottoman State changed Crimean Khans to solve this problem but,
due to the fact that they couldn’t reach any satisfactory resolution, İskender
Pasha, the governor of Bosnia, started operations in 1617. At the end of this
campaign of Ottomans an agreement was signed. However the fact that İskender
Pasha defeated the Polish Army in 1619 caused Osman II to arrange a new
campaign. But Hotin campaign didnot bring superiority to Ottomans in the area.

Until the last quarter of the 17th century the Ottoman-Poland relations consisted
of diplomatic struggles including border problems. The struggles starting with the
protection of Cossacks turned an active struggle in 1672. Kamaniçe campaign of
Mehmed IV resulted in the absolute sovereignty of Ottomans in the area.
Struggles after the Kamaniçe Campaign continued until Karlowitz Pact in 1699.
Çehrin Campaign, struggles starting with the establishment of Holy Wars between
after the second of Vienna besiegement and the wars between Ottoman and
Poland disturbed Ottoman State very much in the east of north of Europe.

Lots of the bridges over the river Danube and the other little and big rivers were
built in order to provide the passing of the army during the wars beginning after
Hotin, Kamaniçe, Çehrin campaigns and the second siege of Vienna. However
these bridges are not the monumental stone bridges, which symbolize the

54
Ottoman architecture tradition. They were just built in order to make passing
possible.

The subject of this study is composed of the preparations for Ottoman Campaigns,
campaign way, menzils, bridges built over rivers, places where materials were
provided, working staff and their numbers.

THE POPULATION, PROFESSIONAL AND RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF

THE TOWN OF SARI SALTUK, BABADAĞ AND ITS VICINITIES IN THE XVITH
CENTURY

Kemal H. Karpat

Although the town of Babadağ was an important administrative and commercial

center under the Ottoman rule, its history during the Ottoman period has not
been sufficiently examined. The available tahrir defters provide information on
the Muslim and non-Muslim population of the town, the names and professions of
the people. Thus, they shed light on the history of Babadağ. This paper aims to
examine the information in the tahrir defters extensively on this subject.

THE OTTOMAN EVKAF (1566-1617) IN KARITENA

Levent Kayapınar

Karitena, situated on the southern point of the Balkans in the middle of the
Morean Peninsula is the name of the area during the Ottoman period. It is known
as Arkadia today. Following its conquest by Mehmed II in 1461, this region
became part of the Otoman administrative system as a nahiye in the sanjak of
Morea.

In addition to the fortresses which were founded in the area for the purpose of
defense, the Ottomans also constructed fortresses following the conquest where
Muslim soldiers began to serve. From the beginning of the XVIth century
onwards, villages called Sofular were established in the region and people who
lived in local settlements began to embrace Islam. Consequently, the
establishment of vakıfs, which were important signs of Islamic culture began in
Karitena. Among the first founders of these vakıfs there were persons who served

55
as dizdar of the Karitena fortress and kadı of Karitena as well as the people from
the local population. Moreover, the salaries of religious officials who worked in
the mosque and the masjid built by Sultan Bayezid Han were paid by the vakıfs
which were established in Karitena. The properties donated by philanthropists as
well as the revenues received from some settlements in the region were allocated
to the vakıfs to meet their expenses.

This paper aims to examine the Ottoman evkaf in Karitena, an important

settlement in Morea, under the following subtitles:

a) Conquest of Karitena by the Ottomans

b) Forming of the Muslim population in the region
c) Establishment of the Ottoman vakıfs in Karitena
d) A description of the vakıfs in Karitena between the years 1566-1617

CALLIGRAPHERS FROM RUMELIA AND BALKAN COUNTRIES

IN THE OTTOMAN ART OF CALLIGRAPHY

Hilal Kazan

There are a great number of calligraphers from Rumelia and the Balkans among
Ottoman calligraphers. They were employed both in the organization of craftsmen
(ehl-i hiref) and worked in different positions of the state outside of the palace.
Some of them presented various works that they copied, particularly the Holy
Qur’an, to the Palace. In return, they received the favor and gifts of the sultan.

One of the calligraphers in the Balkans who carries on this heritage today is the
Bosnian calligrapher Kâzım Hacımeyliç who has a Ph D in the art of bookbinding.

On the basis of the sources such as Tuhfe-i Hattatîn, Hat ve Hattatan, Devhatü’l-
Küttab and Son Hattatlar, this paper aims to present a compact document about
the calligraphers from Rumelia and the Balkans whose names are mentioned in
the above-mentioned sources. We shall give information on their careers, origins,
the schools of calligraphy to which they belonged, their distribution according to
centuries and regions, the profiles of the artists, the number of calligraphers who
work in the Palace, the favors which they received and their works. Since the
symposium particularly focuses on “Ottoman Heritage”, this paper will deal with
calligraphy in the present day and the artist Kâzım Hacımeyliç. Finally, the

56
Mushaf-ı Şerif which was copied in candle light during the recent war in Bosnia
will be introduced briefly.

MEHMED ALİ PAŞA’S KÜLLİYE IN KAVALA IN THE LIGHT OF HIS

VAKFIYE

Süleyman Kızıltoprak

Owing to the reforms that he undertook in Egypt, Mehmed Ali Paşa established a
new center of attraction in the Eastern Mediterranean. During his first years as a
governor, like many other Ottoman Paşas, he had planned to found a vakıf in
order to carry on his name. After suppressing the Vahhabi movement, Mehmed
Ali Paşa petitioned to Mahmud II so that the island of Taşoz which had the status
of a malikâne (state lands held in fief by a private owner) be bestowed upon him.
He would endow the revenues from this island to charitable works such as the
construction of mosques and medreses. With the purpose of rewarding the Paşa,
who had solved the Vahhabi question, the sultan gladly accepted this request.
Thus, the island of Taşoz was endowed and allocated to the buildings constructed
in Kavala as a pious act in 1228 A.H./1813 A.D. upon the decree of Mahmud II.

The fact that the town of Kavala was chosen as the place where this vakıf would be
established was probably because Mehmed Ali Paşa aimed to express his loyalty
for the lands where he was born. In fact, he constructed buildings which were
impressive for such a little town as Kavala. He also repaired some old buildings so
that they would remain intact. These were parts of a great külliye (complex of
buildings adjacent to a mosque) which was composed of a mosque, a medrese, a
school, a soup kitchen for the poor, an engineering school and a library. These
works were built in an area with a panoramic view of the whole city in the
peninsula which was the old settlement of Kavala.

The purpose of Mehmed Ali Paşa was to carry out his charitable deeds as well as
educational activities continuously in the medrese and other buildings that he
repaired and reconstructed in Kavala. To realize this aim, he convened a council
composed of qualified people on 5 Cemaziyelahir 1228/5 June 1813 in Egypt for
preparing a vakıfnâme in line with the rules. He had his vakfiye written in the
presence of this council.

57
This paper aims to examine the text of the vakfiye in order to give information
about the buildings such as the medrese, library, mosque, and soup kitchen and
the staff in charge of these buildings. It will also deal with the different stages of
this complex from the beginning and finally its present state in the light of visual
materials.

AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF THE OLD ISLAMIC WORLD - DABARSKO POLJE -

1458/2006 THE RISE AND FALL OF ISLAM AND ISLAMIC CULTURE IN A
HERCEGOVINAN -DALMATIAN AND MONTENEGRIN BORDER AREA
Machiel Kiel

The Dabarsko Polje, or: the "Field of Dabar* is a 21 km long and 2.5 km. wide
valley in the uplands of south-eastern Herzegovina 15 km east of the town of
Stolac. The plain slopes down from an altitude of 560 m. above sea level in the
north-west to 473 m. in the south-east. It is a closed plain with a surface of almost
30 square km. In the winter over one third of the plain is flooded because the total
lack of outlets. The mountains Trusina, Hrgud, Kubas and Crno Osoje rise up over
thousand metres above the edges of the plain. In spite of its very limited fertility,
allowing only a limited population the Dabarsko Polje has been inhabited since
the oldest recorded times. Here the once important road from the Dalmatian
merchant metropolis of Dubrovnik to the Balkans interior via Nevesinje crossed
the road from the Neretva Valley via Stolac to the Plain Of Gacko and further on
via Southern Bosnia and Kosovo to Istanbul. Nowadays both roads lost almost all
their importance and in wintertime that to Nevesinje is almost impassable, as the
writer of these lines himself experienced at his peril. In the Middle Ages and in the
greater part of the Ottoman period (1458-1878) this was rather different and gave
the Dabarsko Polje its importance.

In this contribution the spread of Islam in the "Nahiye of Dabra* as a process

stretching out over more than a century will be shown at the basis of hard
evidence: from zero in 1468 to almost 90 percent in the late 16th century. The
emergence of the little town of Predole will be described, as will the few
monuments of Islamic culture in the eara. There has been much more in the past
and this will be mentioned. Remarkable are the strange minarets in the form of a
Bell Tower at a Christian church, the Romanesque or Renaissance Campanile.
Only two of them survived the fury of the 1992-1995 war but before WW II there
58
had been many more. The phenomenon "campanile*minaret" vividly illustrates
the fact that the Dabarsko Polje was really at the edge of the Islamic world. The
scant information on the cultural institutions in the district will be scratched
together. Finally the process of the gradual and often violent disappearance of
Islam in the area since the end of the 17th century will be outlined briefly in an
endeavour to retrieve a little-known and almost forgotten piece of Islamic history
of the Western Balkans.

GAZIS AND DERVISHES. THE MIHALOĞULLARI FAMILY: GAZI WARRIORS

AND PATRONS OF DERVISH HOSPICES

Mariya Kiprovska

During the early years of Ottoman history, when state institutions were still not
clearly defined and regulated, the ones who followed the tradition of frontier life
were the warrior noblemen (raider commanders). Coming to the Balkans,
pursuing the line of their military expansion, they transported the concept of the
uc culture. The descendants of the original frontier lords in Anatolia became beys
of the marches and were entrusted with the governing of the then frontier
territories and with further Ottoman military advance. The beys were granted
small private estates and were given the posts of uc-beyleri on the marches of the
expanding Ottoman state. The frontier lords took possession of strategically
important localities along the main roads, established themselves firmly there and
made out of them “strongholds” and even ruled them like small principalities on
the borders of the Ottoman state. Thus, formally subdued to the Sultan’s authority
and ostensibly supporters of the centralized power of the Ottoman state as well as
its representatives in the provinces, these raider families seemed to have built
their own principalities within the borders of the Ottoman Empire.

Whether as a reaction to the sultans’ attempts to diminish the power of the

frontier leaders, or just as a pursue of the natural path of their religious beliefs, in
any case not Sunni as they were, the lords of the marches in the Balkans were
often associated with adherents of a different from the officially accepted religious
beliefs. Moreover, there are references in the sources that dervishes were the
companions of these beys in their fights against the Infidels. Furthermore, we see

59
members of prominent akıncı leaders’ families as patrons of dervish hospices in
the Balkans.

Although not abundant in quantity, there are indications, which prove the ties
between the members of the prominent akıncı families in the Balkans on the one
hand, and the dervish groups and representatives of the “heterodox” religious
beliefs, on the other hand. This study will attempt to reveal on the basis of several
evidences, both direct and indirect, that “heterodoxy” was alien neither to the
raider commanders nor to their troops.

Special attention will be paid to the Vita of one of the most popular religious
figures in the Balkans, namely the dervish Otman Baba, where special mention is
made of Mihaloğlu family. Several aspects of this source will be taken into
consideration.

Another source also links a Mihaloğulları member with Otman Baba. According to
Evliya Çelebi, Mihaloğlu Ali Bey was the one who had built the türbe of Otman
Baba. Even if one does not take Evliya Çelebi’s accounts at a face value, a possible
connection between the members of Mihaloğulları family and these “gazi
dervishes” should not be excluded.

The akıncı families did, however, find a way to express their religious orientations
by patronizing some of the most prominent poets at the time, associated with
religious doctrines declared heretical by the ‘ulama.

Most probably the soundest example of the akıncı families’ religious beliefs is
their patronage over three of the biggest dervish hospices in Anatolia. Members of
the Mihaloğlu family reshaped the complex of Seyyid Battal Gazi, paying homage
in this way both to the Gazi warrior and to the old culture of the frontier. The
same tendencies could be also observed in the extensive patronage of the other
frontier lords over two other shrine complexes in Anatolia. These patronages were
only one part of the emerging solidarity of marginalized segments of Ottoman
society bonding around the legacies of Seyyid Gazi and Hacı Bektaş.

60
 ATHENS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
AS REFLECTED IN THE AHKAM DEFTERS

Gülçin Tunalı Koç

The Ottoman period in Athens’ history has generally been neglected as compared
to its Ancient glory. Although Athens was ruled by the Ottomans between 1456
and 1821, very little has remained today and a very few number of historians try to
explore this so called tourkokratia period of the city from Ottoman documents
instead of the travelers’ accounts and local narratives. In that sense Ottoman past
of Athens constitutes terra incognita of mainstream Modern Greek
historiography. In this paper I try to present imperial orders concerning Athens in
the second half of 18th century in Mora Ahkam (Registers of Imperial Orders)
defters kept in Prime Ministry Ottoman Archives. In the registers there are
recorded decrees and legal cases related to the problems of the local people in
Athens. On the one hand the personal problems that reveal a panorama of the
city’s socio-economic life help us for building up the profile of a local
community, and on the other hand they also more or less describe
interactions between the state government and local societies. The
administrative, political, financial and military matters that we confront in
these defters decipher the nature of Ottoman governance in Athens. Hence
by using Mora Ahkam Defters vol.4 (1743-1748) to vol.17 (1801-1806), in
this paper, I aim to present a general panorama of the Ottoman Athens in the time
period between the Greek revolution and Ottoman –Venetian War of 1715.

CONTEMPORARY CONDITIONS AND THE

TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE RELIGIOUS GROUPS
– SURVIVALS OF THE OTTOMAN TRADITION IN MACEDONIA

Elizabeta Koneska

Ottoman Empire, ruling the Balkan countries for a long time, has left
extraordinary values of its traditional cultural heritage in this region. These values
are well known as part of the Ottoman traditional architecture, urbanism,
literature, poetry, handicrafts and many others, representing the specific genius of
the Ottoman culture and civilization.

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One of the most important testimony of the Ottoman culture in Macedonia is the
philosophy and living practices of the specific Islamic mystic orders, known as
Tarikats. These mystic dervish orders left important traces in Macedonia, not only
in the religious, but also in the whole social ant cultural living.

The phenomenon of the Tarikats in Macedonia is not well researched in the

published scientific sources. This is specific about the contemporary conditions of
the Tarikats –dervish orders in Macedonia. From the many Tarikats in the past,
today in Macedonia have survived only a few. The survived Tarikats in Macedonia
are Bektashi, Halveti and Rufai orders with a small number of members. In the
present days, these dervish orders exist more as ethnic and traditional
communities, than as religious groups.

In spite of this condition, dervish orders – Tarikats in Macedonia still exist, and
dervish shrines (tekes and turbes) are important sites of visiting and pilgrimage,
not only of the Muslims, but also of the Christians.

OTTOMAN CLOCK TOWERS IN BULGARIA

Neval Konuk

Construction of the clock towers in the Balkans first began towards the end of the
sixteenth century. The first clock tower was built in 1575 adjacent to Sultan Murad
Mosque in Skopje. Yagodina clock tower (Serbia) was built eight years later in
1583. Clock towers were built in the Balkans in mid-seventeenth century in
Pazarcık (Bulgaria), Drama (Greece), Samakov (Bulgaria), Belgrade (Serbia),
Maglay (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Travnik (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and
Poçitelj (Bosnia and Herzegovina). In general, clock towers were built in city
centers, on high hills or crossroads so that the people who came to cities from
villages for shopping would be able to see the clock tower and the clock. Let us
note that the main purpose of building clock towers was to determine the prayer
times of the Muslims.

The clock towers which were built in Bulgaria were registered by Turkish
Historical Society within the framework of the “Project of Preparing an Inventory
of the Turkish Cultural Assets Abroad”. This project was carried out in Bulgaria
during the period of 2002-2004. This study will focus on the extant clock towers

62
which were built during the Ottoman period as well as those which were
demolished including their architectural characteristics and archival photographs.
This paper aims to examine these important cultural monuments of the Ottomans
which were not examined in detail from a scholarly viewpoint in order to indicate
their significance regarding Turkish art and architecture.

MUSLIMS OF LEHISTAN : LEGACY OF THE OSMANLI-KIPCHAK-POLISH-

LITHUANIAN RELATIONSHIP (1390-1990 CE/793-1410 AH)

Ataullah Bogdan Kopanski

There are approximately 50,000 Muslims in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Many
of them are ethnically Turkic (Tatars) or North Caucasian-origin men and women
whose ancestors migrated to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the
turbulent times of Temur-lank and Tokhtamysh khan. One century later
thousands of Slavic-origin Poles and Lithuanians who embraced Islam found
political or cultural refuge in the Ottoman State. When Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth had been divided between the Russian, Prussian and Austrian
empires, the Sublime Porte was the only state in the world which did not
recognize the partition of the Polish Kingdom. The Sublime Porte declared an ill-
fated war against Russia, after the collapse of the Bar Confederacy organized by
the ultra-Catholic Polish patriots. The Polish anti-Russian insurgents who
accepted Islam received political and religious asylum in Turkey after the fall of
Polish and Hungarian uprisings in 1840s CE. The Ottoman sultans were the
protectors of the religious liberties of the Muslims in Poland and many Polish-
origin Muslim dragomans and diplomats served in Istanbul.

In 966 H (1558), anonymous Muslim chronicler from the Grand Duchy of

Lithuania wrote during his hajj a unique treatise 'Risale-i Tatar-i
Leh'('Deliberation about Polish Tatars).He dedicated his chronicle to Rustem-
Pasha, a nephew of the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificient.

This paper is about the rise, growth, decline and rebirth of the Islamic culture in
Lehistan (Poland) in the context of the dynamic, often antagonistic relationship
between the Ottoman sultanate, Crimean khanate, Lithuanian Grand Duchy and
Polish Kingdom ( Republics in the 20th century CE)

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 OTTOMAN HERITAGE IN A MILITARY CAMP IN THE BALKANS

Osman Köksal

Şumnu was the subdivision of a province (kaza) which became prominent during
the late period of the Ottoman State. From the second half of the eighteenth
century onwards it appeared as the only military camp and base of supplies of the
Ottoman State in the Balkans. It developed as a shelter place which could house a
military force of 40.000-50.000 people and as a fortress that would protect the
passages in the Balkans against the raids that passed the natural border of the
Danube and move towards the south. It also became a place which was visited by
the Ottoman sultans who rarely visited Rumelia. Owing to these characteristics, it
was equipped by numerous military institutions. Particularly in 1830s Sultan
Mahmud II undertook an extensive activity of urban planning in the town. The
first examples of this activity are the construction of its fortress, various plankas,
bastions, ammunitions, granaries, barracks of cavalrymen and a clock tower.

Şumnu grew rich due to the new status that it acquired and developed an
important architectural heritage with social, economic and religious
characteristics. Local administrators and notables decorated the city with various
works. The town had more than twenty mosques and mescids, dervish lodges and
convents, caravanserais, bathhouses, a bazaar, fountains and rich vakıfs that
supported them. More importantly, during the recent wars when Balkan cities
were occasionally destroyed Şumnu was never occupied or influenced by internal
strife. Therefore, none of the works built by the Ottomans in this town were
destroyed until the Ottoman rule ended there.

This paper aims to introduce the Ottoman military and civilian heritage in Şumnu
on the basis of the Ottoman documents. Sources such as temettuat and vakıf
records of the region, documents from various archival collections, salnames
(year books) of the province of Danube, chronicles of the late period as well as
visual materials will be used in this study.

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 CLASSICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF THE
OTTOMAN ERA IN ELBASAN

Yusuf Küçükdağ

Elbasan is a town in Albania which was founded by Mehmed II (870 A.H./1466

A.D.) Owing to its strategic importance, it developed rapidly with the construction
of schools, medreses, dervish lodges, dervish convents, mescids, mosques,
caravanserais and bathhouses and became a Turkish city in all respects.

The schools and the medreses fulfilled the particular function of providing formal
education for the people. In regard to their structures, functioning and aims these
institutions were united with the specific Ottoman system in the places where the
Ottomans ruled. Those who were educated in them fulfilled the need of the state
for officials, men of religion and justice. Thus, the organization of the state and
the people existed side by side in harmony for a long time. Indeed, the classical
schools and medreses which were founded in Elbasan provided education for the
Muslim people in Albania within the framework of Islamic culture and the people
who were educated there served in various posts in the Ottoman State.

This paper will examine the schools and medreses in Elbasan, whose names were
not mentioned even by Evliya Çelebi, on the basis of the documents located at the
Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry and Archives of the General Directorate
of Evkaf.

THE TRACES OF OTTOMAN MYSTICISM IN THE BALKANS (XIXTH

CENTURY) SEYYID MUHAMMED NURÜ’L-ARABİ, ABDÜRRAHİM B. ALİ
FEDAİ PRİZRENİ AND HACI HULUSİ MAKSUD PİRİŞTİNEVİ
İbrahim Maraş

Seyyid Muhammed Nurü’l-Arabî, who lived in the nineteenth century, was an

important mystic unifying the Nakşî and Melâmî traditions in his personality. He
was also an important figure in Turkish mysticism. He taught the commentary on
Vâridât in the Balkans, particularly in Manastır and followed the vahdet-i vücud
philosophy of Muhyiddin ibn Arabî. He followed a different path from
Muslihiddin Mustafa b. Nureddin Ahmet Filibevî (d. 1573) who criticized the

65
Vâridât. Thus, he tried to unite two different schools of Ottoman mysticism which
were equally important.

Muhammed Nurü’l-Arabî served as a müderris in Serez for a certain period. Later,

he lived in Demirhisar, Doyuran, Usturumca, and Koçana and settled in Koçana.
He lived in Skopje and Koçana on 1245-1259 A.H. In a short period, he attracted
several people in his circle and trained many students who were later to become
disciples and professors. Soon his fame spread all over Rumelia. Muhammed
Nurü’l-Arabî stayed in Istanbul for a while. He then tried to spread his mystical
views in Prizren and Manastır. From 1874 onwards, he lived in Usturumca and
passed away there in 1887. Among his most important disciples were his son-in-
law Abdürrahim b. Ali Fedai Prizrenî (ö. 1884), Hulûsî Maksûd Efendi (1849-
1929) of Piriştine, and Abdullah b. Muhammed Hulusi (1302/1888) of Mirefte.
These people tried to carry on the school which was represented by their sheikh.
Some works of these Sufi thinkers are printed while others which are in
manuscript form are located in Süleymaniye Library. In the light of these works,
this paper aims to examine the influence of Sufi thought, which formed the basis
of the Ottoman State from the founding period onwards, upon these Sufis.

THE OTTOMAN LEGACY IN EUROPE: OLD CLICHÉS, NEW SOURCES, NEW

APPROACHES

Mihai Maxim

In the light of the most durable Ottoman legacy in Europe, i.e. Ottoman archives,
the paper is dealing with some old clichés concerning this heritage, contradicted
and step by step eliminated by new sources and new methodology, a situation
wonderfully illustrated, for instance, by the “Romanian case”.

INFLUENCE OF RUMELI A‘YÂNS ON ROMANIAN HISTORY: THE CASE OF

PAZVANDOĞLU OSMAN AĞA AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Akitsu Mayuzumi
Until the second half of the nineteenth century the Danube was a border between
the territory under the direct control of the Ottoman Empire (Rumeli eyâleti and
Silistre eyâleti) and its vassal states, Wallachia and Moldavia. Although the

66
Danube is a large river, people often crossed it, legally or illegally, and animals
and provisions were carried through it, mainly from north to south. The territories
north and south of the Danube were politically and economically connected each
other, therefore, once disturbance appeared in one of the territory, its influence
crossed the Danube and affected the opposite side. We can see one of these typical
examples in Northern Bulgaria and Wallachia at the end of the eighteenth century
and at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

In the Ottoman Empire, since Sultan Selim III’s succession to the throne, some
influential local notables known as ‘a‘yân’ emerged in Anatolia and Rumelia and,
excluding the central authority, they fought one another to expand their own
territory. These conflicts brought anarchy to the Ottoman Empire, particularly to
Rumelia. One of the powerful a‘yâns in Rumelia was Pazvandoğlu Osman Ağa of
Vidin. From his emergence to his death in 1807, he fought against his rival,
Tirsiniklioğlu İsmail of Rusçuk (Ruse) and the troops the Porte dispatched to
Vidin. Wallachia, of course, could not escape out of the influence of the disorder in
the south of the Danube. Not only the Porte but also Osman Pazvandoğlu
repeatedly demanded money and provisions from the Wallachian, at times even
the Moldavian voyvodas and Pazvandoğlu often dispatched his troops to Oltenia
for plunder. All these brought disorder to these principalities, especially to
Wallachia.

The point which must be emphasized here is that the issues pertaining to
Pazvandoğlu were not the domestic affairs of the Ottoman Empire any more. They
made an impact even on the international politics. After the Treaty of Kyuchuk
Kaynardja Russia was the most influential foreign power in the affairs of
Wallachia and Moldavia. On the other hand, in 1790’s France began to advance to
the Balkans. It opened a consulate in Bucharest and tried to establish relations
with a‘yâns, including Pazvandoğlu in the south of the Danube. In short, at the
end of the eighteenth century Rumelia and the principalities appeared as an arena
of the power game of European powers. In 1802 the Porte issued the imperial
edicts to Wallachia and Moldavia which stipulated the relations between the Porte
and these principalities until the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829. These edicts were
actually the diplomatic agreement between Russia and the Ottoman Empire and
the negotiations began just after Osman Pazvandoğlu dispatched large troops to
Wallachia and attacked Bucharest. In this way, the issues pertaining to

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Pazvandoğlu had close relations with international politics. In the presentation I
will examined the influence of Pazvandoğlu’s activity on Wallachia and Moldavia
mainly from the viewpoint of international politics.

THE OLDEST OTTOMAN-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS

IN THE REGION OF KERÇOVA

Feti Mehdiu

Kerçova is a region in south-west of Macedonia and is inhabited by Christian and

Muslim populations. Islamic life in this territory dates from the 14th century and
this is testified by Islamic monuments.

Today in this region we have 43 mosques and some tekkes that are built from
1396 to 2006 which have elements of Ottoman architecture interlaced with native
elements.

Some of them are described by Professor Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi in his book titled
Avrupa’da Osmanlı Mimari Eserleri, III, Istanbul, 1981. In this contribution I
hope to provide a complete description of these objects with the help of historical
and architectural data. For this purpose, in 1985-1990 I have investigated this
territory, I have taken pictures of these objects and collected notes in reference to
the peripeties that these objects have passed through the history.

“SHERH RAHAT AL-KULUB” OF PIR MUHAMED EFENDI FROM PRISHTINA

– A UNIQUE WORK/MANUSCRIPT IN KOSOVA ARCHIVES

Sadik Mehmeti

In Kosova Archives, in addition to a relatively big number of important

documents in oriental languages, there is the fund of oriental manuscripts. This
fund actually has 99 complete works which are not published, on the basic
languages of Arabic, Turkish and Persian. Three among these documents are
unique manuscripts and they are of great value for the world list of oriental
manuscripts. One of these three unique manuscripts that Kosova Archives keeps
is a work of the author from Prishtina, Pir Muhammed bin Mevlana Mustafa ibn
Mevlana Halil ibn Mevlana el – Hajj Ali “Sherh Rahati al-kulub” – “Comment of

68
(the work) Rahatil-kulub (The Calmness of Heart)”. Our paper deals with this
manuscript which we believe is interesting and of importance because it is: -
unique - written by one of the biggest savant of Prishtina of the XVIth century -
copied by one of the well-known savants and personalities of that time in Kosova -
approximately of 450 years old- of a tragic and interesting journey. The
manuscript “Sherh Rahati al-kulub” is in Arabic and Turkish. It is written in
Arabic writing “ta’lik”, small, tangle and extraordinary writing. It is of 21x14.5 cm
format. The text is 13x7.5 cm. The work of Arabic grammar “Merah el-Ervah” is
written by Ahmed b. ‘Ali b. Mes’ud, lived in the VIII/XIVth century. The comment
of this work (our manuscript) in who was done by Pir Muhammed bin mevlana
Mustafa ibn mevlana Halil ibn mevlana el – Hajj Ali from Prishtina (lived in the
XVIth century), and his commentary is titled “Sherh Rahati al-kulub” or “Merah
sherhi”, or “ Sherh-i Merah”. This MS was copied on Friday of 28 of month
Shaban in 969/1561, i.e. two years after is written the comment “Sherh Rahati al-
Kulub”, at the place called Sultan Jajallagi, close to Mardin fort of Diyarbakir, by
the true savant a calligrapher Ahmed Muhammed from Prishtina.

THE OTTOMAN LEGACY IN THE RAILROADS OF SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

Peter Mentzel

Traditional views of Balkan economic and social history have stressed the
underdevelopment and impoverishment of the region allegedly caused by
Ottoman mismanagement and neglect. Recently, some accounts have argued that
the newly independent states of the Balkans were actually worse off than those
areas that remained under Ottoman rule. This paper will expand on this
revisionist literature by arguing that the Ottoman Empire left a legacy of modern
transportation infrastructure, in this case railroads, to the Balkan states. While
the railroad network was surely inadequate for the region, this was not the fault of
the Ottoman policies, but rather the result of rivalries and tensions between
European imperialists and the decisions of foreign-owned railroad companies.

Drawing on material from the American, Austrian, British, and Ottoman Archives,
as well as reports from railroad companies, travelers’ accounts, and the secondary
literature, this paper will argue that, in the case of railroads, the Ottomans left a
valuable legacy to the new states of southeastern Europe.

69
 THE COMMERCIAL SCHOOL OF ROMANIA IN SALONICA
DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

Özcan Mert

Salonica is one of the leading commercial and cultural cities of the Ottoman State.
Besides the Ottoman Muslim and non-Muslim schools there were also foreign
schools in this city. One of the foreign schools was the Commercial School of
Romania. This paper aims to examine the above-mentioned school from the date
it was founded 1201 A.H. (2 November 1883-20 October 1884) until the date
when Salonica was separated from the Ottoman lands (8 November 1912).

LAND OWNERSHIP IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ACCORDING TO THE

LAND REGISTRY DEFTERS LOCATED AT THE
GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF ARCHIVES IN ALBANIA

Entela Muco

This paper aims to examine land ownership in Ottoman Albania. The land system
in Albania under the Ottoman rule was established at the end of the 15th century.
This new system was established not only in cities but in villages as well. However,
the administration of land in these places was different from that of Byzantium.
The Ottoman government issued a few laws and made reforms in order to put its
land system into practice in the villages. Land-register offices played an important
role in the functioning of the new system which was organized according to the
characteristics of the Ottoman lands. Subjects such as the qualities of the land and
the crops produced were recorded in land registry defters. At present, the original
Ottoman land registry defters are very well protected in Albania. These defters
constitute important sources for researchers. The purpose of this paper is to deal
with different types of the distribution of land property in Albanian villages, the
distribution of land among Christian and Muslim population as well as similar
problems.

70
 UNE CURIOSITE NUMISMATIQUE: DES EMISSIONS EN CUIVRE DE
BAYEZID IER AVEC CONTREMARQUES

Eugen Nicolae

Jusque récemment on ne connaissait pas des monnaies ottomanes en cuivre

contremarquées. Dans des collections privées on a observé quelques émissions de
Bayezid Ier avec une contremarque à l’aspect du chrisme. Cette contremarque est
présente aussi sur des émissions en cuivre de la Horde d’Or de la deuxième moitie
du XIVe siècle. Sur quelques monnaies, la même contremarque succède une autre
ayant l’aspect d’un édifice schématisé. Toutes les monnaies ainsi contremarquées
proviennent de la Bessarabie et pour quelques exemplaires on connaît les lieux de
l’invention : Costeşti et Orheiul Vechi, où il y a les vestiges de deux établissements
urbains médiévaux.

Destinées à la circulation locale, les monnaies ottomanes en cuivre sont rarement

attestées en dehors de l’Empire. Leur présence en Moldavie à une époque si
reculée est d’autant plus surprenante que les aspres les plus anciens découverts à
l’intérieur de la principauté datent de l’époque de Murad II. Il est évident que,
après la séparation de la Bessarabie du système politique de la Horde d’Or, en
1369, on a utilisé dans la région les anciennes émissions tatares et aussi d’autres
pièces de la Horde d’Or qui pénétrèrent jusqu’au début du XVe siècle, dont une
partie furent contremarquées, vraisemblablement à Cetatea Albă. Des pièces en
cuivre de Bayezid Ier, assimilées grâce à leur aspect aux émissions tatares, subirent
le même traitement. Le phénomène fut éphémère, car le prince Alexandre le Bon
va éliminer du marché les pièces en cuivre tatares ottomanes, en remplaçant avec
les émissions divisionnaires moldaves.

THE WHITE GROUND CHINTAMANI RUGS IN TRANSYLVANIA

Sumiyo Okumura

In Transylvanian region, there is the carpet group, so called “Transylvanian rugs”.

A great number of extant documents confirm that the principal way rugs arrived
in Transylvania was through trade with the Turks or votive gifts furnishings in
churches of what are today in northern Romania and southern Hungary. These

71
rugs are of small seccade size, generally incorporating a centralized design with
stylized flowers and four corner spandrels.

The ivory-white ground rugs with the Chintamani motif also belong to this group.
The word Chintamani originates from the Sanscrit Chintamani in Esoteric
Buddhism philosophy. It means treasure ball or wish-granting jewel. It is also the
name of the well-known, Ottoman three dots and stripe pattern. Turkic people
brought their own cultures based on religions like Buddhism, Shamanism and
Manism with them when they came from Central Asia to Anatolia. In their
cultures, patterned animal skins like tiger and leopard represented courage and
strength and were very important. It is possible to think that the Chintamani
motif in the beginning emerged from Buddhist philosophy but later was used by
Turks who mixed it with animal skin motifs as symbols of power. In the Ottoman
period, these motifs were very popular as the representations of power and royalty
on textiles, carpets and in all the Ottoman arts. In time, the Chintamani motif lost
its meaning of power and royalty, and just became a decorative design.

In Transylvanian carpets, there are 9 Chintamani examples, including a fragment.

The place of origin of the Transylvanian rugs has been widely debated among
scholars with some even maintaining that they were actually made in Eastern
Europe, though most of the evidence now available suggests they originated in
western Asia Minor. However when we look at the sizes and motifs, especially the
borders, of Chintamani examples in Transylvania, we can recognize the
differences from Ottoman pieces. In Balkan regions, there are lots of vestiges
which show Ottoman cultures. Though no references are found to workshops that
specialized in knotted rugs, it is possible to think that Turkish Muslims in
Transylvania wove these rugs for using them to pray or donate them to mosques
like posts.

In this paper, we reconsider this hypothesis investigating not only European

references but also Ottoman archives on Balkan Muslims.

72
 TAHRIR DEFTERS OF THE SANCAK OF BOSNIA

Hatice Oruç

Immediately following its conquest in 1463 Bosnia was organized as a sancak

dependent on the beylerbeylik of Rumelia. Thus, it assumed the previous function
of the sancak of Skopje as an advance post. From now on, Bosnia became a march
from where the Ottomans made their advances towards the west. Approximately
every ten years a new tahrir (cadastral survey) was conducted in Bosnia due to a
number of the factors: The fact that it was on the march, its borders changed
constantly because of new conquests, new administrative arrangements –the
newly conquered parts in the area were included in the sancak of Bosnia until
independent sancaks were established-, and the changes in revenues. The first
tahrir registers about Bosnia are dated 1455. The first tahrir that was conducted
after its organization as a sancak is dated 1468/69. The other extant tahrir defters
are dated 1485, 1489, 1516, 1530, 1540, 1550, 1565, 1580 and finally 1604.

The tahrir defters of the sancak of Bosnia are characterized by the fact that the
mufassal defters besides the icmal defters contain the timar registers. Within the
framework of the definition of general mufassal and icmal tahrir defters, the
distribution of timars and their records are the subject of the icmal defters.
However, in the first half of the 15th and the 16th century the mufassal defters of
the sancak of Bosnia not only contained information about the settlements of the
area in question, the tax paying population who were living there, and the sources
and amounts of revenue but also information about the distribution of timars in
the area which was subject to the cadastral survey.

This characteristic of the sancak of Bosnia, which was one of the largest sancaks
of the Ottoman Empire, led to the fact that a tahrir with one date was kept in the
form of more than one volume. These defters were recorded under different
numbers in the archives. Most of the defters are without a date. Therefore, it is
important but at the same time difficult to bring them together, to determine
which defter bears which date and reach a unity among the defters carrying the
same date.

This paper will focus on the characteristics of the mufassal and icmal tahrir
defters of the sancak of Bosnia.

73
 THE WORKS CONSTRUCTED BY MUSTAFA AĞA IN ATHENS, GREECE

Mustafa Özer

Athens has been a settlement since the Neolithic period until the present day. In
Ottoman sources it is called “Medinetü’l-hükema” which means “city of wise men”
in relation to the philosophers of antiquity. Athens was captured by the Ottomans
for the first time by Timurtaş Paşa in 1397 during the reign of Bayezid I. Ottoman
sovereignty was short, however, and the city was occupied by the Venetians in
1402 A.D. During the reign of Mehmed II Turhan Bey, the sancak beyi of Tırhala
captured the city in May 1456 A.D. Although the Venetians ruled the city for short
periods, it remained under Turkish rule for 350 years until the Lausanne Treaty.
The Turkish population was small in the city during the fifteenth century. From
the sixteenth century onwards, however, it was rapidly Turkified and Islam spread
there rapidly. Many buildings were constructed in the city during this century
including mosques, mesjids, caravanserais, bathhouses etc.

This paper will examine the mosque and medrese, built by the vaivode of Athens
Mustafa Ağa during the Ottoman period, which was one of the many architectural
works built in this city. Focusing on these works in terms of their plans,
architectural characteristics, materials, technique and decoration, the paper will
compare them with their contemporary works as well as those which were built in
the previous and later periods. Mustafa Ağa Mosque is one of the few works dating
from the Ottoman period ((Fethiye Mosque, Abdi Efendi Bathhouse, houses, etc.)
in Athens today. It remained intact as a result of the restorations which it
underwent. Presently, the mosque serves as the Museum of Folklore, while
Mustafa Ağa Medrese has disappeared totally. There is brief information about
Mustafa Ağa Mosque and Medrese in the works of E.H. Ayverdi, M. Kiel, S. Eyice
and others. E.H. Ayverdi, who gives the most extensive information about the
buildings, has published the plan and cross section of the mosque as well as a few
photographs of it from outside. Other studies on this subject were mentioned in
related parts of this paper.

74
 THE RELIGIOUS ORDER OF RAMAZANILIK IN THE BALKANS
ACCORDING TO ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS

Mehmet Cemal Öztürk

The religious order of Ramazanilik was spread in the Balkans after 1600s with its
main branch and subdivisions. Thanks to this order, Sufi education was carried
out and Sufi culture became widespread. The traces of this culture can be
observed clearly in Kosovo and Macedonia. This paper aims to examine the
historical development of Ramazanilik in the Balkans and its present state on the
basis of archival documents.

OTTOMAN ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN THE BALKANS: PAST AND

FUTURE
Amir Pašić
I
From the mid 15th until the end of 19th century Balkans east from the Una River
was a part of the Ottoman State. Although it had much in common with other
regions in the empire, its religious and cultural plurality, tolerance, patriotism and
influence at the imperial court in Istanbul additionally distinguished it among the
others.
Throughout the Ottoman period, especially first two centuries justice and
tolerance prevailed within this religiously complex community in which people of
different religions were often close relatives. The Ottomans showed an
unprecedented and exemplary tolerance towards various Christian denominations
all through their four centuries long rule. Mosques, churches, and synagogues
existed side by side.
A group of architectural creations with monumental characteristics were built
following a pattern developed and standardized in Istanbul and several other
centers. A much larger group consisting of shops in bazaars, mosques in mahalas,
and private houses while sharing the basic characteristics were produced by
specific environmental and cultural factors.
II
During the 19th century, Europe through its industrialization experienced
enormous changes, succeeding the entire previous millennium. As the industry
had begun to spread throughout Europe and North America, traditional means
still regulated life in the other parts of the world.
In the 19th century, in the newly established national states of Greece, Bulgaria,
Serbia, Montenegro, and, earlier, Hungary Islamic cultural heritage were under

75
State nationalist destruction programs: every building of Islamic character was
“sentenced to death”. In a very short period of time several thousands of mosques
and other monuments were destroyed and all traces were “cleansed”.
To a certain extent, situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was different, under the
Austro-Hungarian occupation (1878-1918). New government at first favored the
idea of eventual Bosnian nationhood, as a strong defense against Serbian and
Croatian nationalist movements, and their desire to absorb Bosnian territory into
Serbia or Croatia, and give a big attention to preserve Islamic architecture and at
the same time introducing pseudo-Islamic styles to underline a new political
reality.
III
At the end of the 20th century, a policy of total destruction was applied again: the
period between 1992 and 1995, in Bosnia and Herzegovina experienced a time of
killing, ethnic cleansing, and destruction of everything with an Islamic prefix.
IV
Today, a very limited number of Ottoman Islamic monuments are preserved in
the Balkan countries. Among them several monuments were selected to be under
state protection to show its tolerance to different cultures aiming to fulfill the
conditions for integration into the European Union.
Among 40 monuments from the Balkans listed on the World Heritage List only
two: Gjirokastra, Albania and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina are preserved
predominantly characteristics of the Ottoman Islamic architecture.
V
Mostar 2004 Program realized by IRCICA (1994-2004), which successfully
integrated academic activities with real preservation projects, had a great
achievements and can guide us to sustainable programs of preservation of the
Islamic cultural heritage in the Balkans.
Possible method: a permanent international collaboration on the
multidisciplinary research combined with completion of
rehabilitation/restoration/reconstruction projects aiming to build a web of
important Ottoman monuments and sites in the Balkans with full respect to all
other historical layers.

76
 THE OTTOMAN MOSQUE IN MACEDONIA
(FROM THE END OF THE FOURTEENTH UNTIL THE END OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY)

Zoran Pavlov

During the conquest of the Balkans, especially Macedonia, the Ottomans spread
the achievements of Islamic culture in the conquered regions. Being the central
object of the Ottoman culture, the mosque underwent the same stylistic changes
during the developmental process that characterized the evolution of the entire
Ottoman monumental architecture in the Balkans. The rich construction tradition
in Macedonia contributed to the inclusion of distinctive elements characteristic
only of this region. This is very important for the development of a separate
direction in the Ottoman school – the Balkan type.

This paper addresses the stylistic and typological development of the mosques in
Macedonia during a period of five centuries. In Macedonia in addition to the
standard solutions of domed one-compartment buildings and mosques with
basilical type of the prayer hall, we also find mosques with octagonal basis,
various forms, architectural design and decoration representing the local
construction style.

BETWEEN THE SULTAN AND THE KING: MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN

DOBROUDJA AS AN OTTOMAN LEGACY FOR THE ROMANIAN STATE

Silvana Rachieru

The war of 1877-1878 determined important transformations for the Romanian

state. After struggling in the past decades to take political distance from the
Ottoman Empire, Romanian young state had also to face a new challenge: the
Treaty of Berlin decided the status of independency for Romania and
consequently the beginning of a serie of changes on the international arena which
were not exactly predicted by the Romanian politicians. Among other problems
faced by the new independent state, there is only one on which I will focus on in
my presentation: the integration of Dobroudja and its transformation into a
Romanian province, with a special focus on a very important legacy left by the
Ottoman Empire: the Muslim community.

77
The territory between the Danube and the Black Sea, Dobroudja, was a topic of
both political and historiographical interesting debates in the last two centuries. It
had become a political issue in 1878 when first Bulgaria in San Stefano Treaty
included it into the Great Kingdom of Bulgaria as, in their perspective, a
legitimate heritage from the Ottoman Empire, and later in the Treaty of Berlin
where it was presented as a compensation for Romania for the loss of the three
districts in South Bessarabia. Historiographical debates were around the
legitimacy of the control of different powers on the territory –from the Wallachian
prince Mircea the Old at the end of the 15th century to the Ottomans, Romanians
or later Bulgarians. Quite impressive, this territory which does not cover more
than 23 000 km2 determined the writing of many historiographical pages and also
the birth of strong nationalistics discourses. In my presentation I will focus on a
more sensitive topic than the territory, the people: Romania, a majoritarian
Christian Orthodox state, had to learn the language of tollerance and to integrate
the Muslim community into its life. The Muslim community, which was actually
majoritarian in the rural areas of Dobroudja, was divided: part of the community
was under the King jurisdiction, while the rest was composed by subjects of the
Sultan. What problems had to face this religious community being between the
Sultan and the King, will be the topic of my presentation. A special attention will
be also given to the modalities in which the Romanian state managed (or not) to
deal with this legacy from the Ottoman Empire.

A READING PROVINCIAL SOCIETY: BOOKLOVERS

AMONG THE MUSLIM POPULATION OF RUSÇUK (1695-1786)

Orlin Sabev

This paper aims to examine the booklovers among the Muslim population of
Rusçuk on the basis of the book titles mentioned in the tereke defters of Muslims
which are registered in the records of Rusçuk covering the period of 1695-1786.
These registers are kept in the Department of Oriental Studies of the National
Library of Sofia.

This study, which was conducted taking into consideration the advantages and
shortcomings of the tereke defters, examines the gender, social status, professions
and education of the Muslim book owners. There is more detailed information

78
about the professional groups that are more inclined to reading. This paper also
contains the most popular book titles and names of authors among the Muslim
population of Rusçuk.

We have also examined the results of this study with the research findings about
the main Islamic centers of the Ottoman Empire in that period such as Istanbul,
Bursa, Sofia, Edirne and Damascus. Consequently, -as in many other respects-
Rusçuk was one of the major Islamic cultural centers of the Balkans in regard to
the amount of bibliophiles.

THE EFFECT OF RUMELIAN RAILWAYS

IN TERMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

Yuko Saito

The past of the word environment in its present meaning does not go back to
many years. However, the feeling of being respectful and sensitive to nature is as
old as the history of humanity and it has always been effective. However, the
question is whether or not this sensitivity could make itself definite and planned
in the meaning of “environment” today. Nature was occupied by European
countries during the Colonial period. Towards the end of the nineteenth century
the construction of railways was the symbol of modernization. The first
concession of the railway construction in Rumelia was given to Köstence-
Çernavoda line in 1857. Most of the other lines were put out to tender to foreign
engineers and contractors with the loan which the Ottoman State borrowed from
European countries. The right to use the forests and mineral ores in places where
there was a railway construction was given to contractors according to the
contracts which were signed. How did the contractors use the forests and mineral
ores? This paper examines the effects of the construction of Rumelian Railways in
the Balkans on the environment on the basis of the documents in Ottoman
Turkish.

79
 AGAIN ON THE ‘CHRONICLE OF THE TURKISH SULTANS’

Dean Sakel

Perhaps the most problematic historical work from earlier Ottoman times at least
is the so-called ‘Chronicle of the Turkish Sultans’, a work surviving today in
incomplete form in Cod. Romanus Barberinus graecus 111. Containing eighty-six
folios of Greek text, the chronicle deals with the succession of Ottoman sultans
from Sultan Murad I to Sultan Selim I, yet deals hardly at all with the political
institutions of the non-Muslim millets, in the language of one of which the work
alone survives and in which, it has been concluded, it was actually written. The
authorship, time of composition and circumstances of origin of the work are
unknown. Despite this, we have today full translations of this text into several
European languages, accompanied by learned commentaries which propose
much, yet which actually say very little in terms of a proper appreciation of the
work.

In this paper we shall propose a solution to the much-vaunted problem of the

‘Chronicle of the Turkish Sultans’ by outlining a theory of origin which has never
before been considered. The conclusions of our thesis suggest outcomes which
argue for a more complex appreciation of the literary historiographic output of the
multi-faceted Ottoman Empire than has till today been realised. In terms of the
specific background to the ‘Chronicle of the Turkish Sultans’ itself, it emerges that
the work has its origins in the Ottoman conquests of the Balkan Peninsula in the
sixteenth century.

THE CEREMONY HELD ON THE 10TH OF MUHARREM

AMONG THE RIFAIS IN THE BALKANS

Hasan Sevil

Despite the views on the contrary, the Rifai religious order spread in the Balkans
towards the end of the nineteenth century by means of the Rifai dervish lodges in
Skopje and Jakova. The Rifai tekke in Skopje lost its influence after its sheikh
emigrated to Turkey in 1956, but the dervish lodge of Jakova continued to
function until the present day. Through the sheikhs and halifes of the lodge this
religious order spread in Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia in the first place and in

80
other countries in the region such as Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia as well as in the
United States and Germany.

The most salient characteristic of the Rifais in the region is the importance
attributed to the Prophet’s family (Ehl-i Beyt). This situation was also seen in the
practices of the order and the month of Muharrem became the most important
period in the life of the religious order. Different ceremonies and prayers of
worship that vary every day are performed during the first ten days of this month.
The prayers of worship begin during the time of the night prayer (teheccüd),
continue before or after the five times of prayer and end with the zikirs (formulas
of praise to God) after the yatsı prayer. The prayer worships that are particular to
the first, eighth and the tenth days of the month are performed as part of big
ceremonies. These are introductory ceremony to mourning, prayer worship
known as “Cevher” and finally the ceremony known as “aşure”. Besides the
ceremonies that took place in dervish lodges, the disciples also had to follow some
rules in their daily life. Thus, the mourning was extended to social life outside of
the dervish lodge.

Although the ceremony of mourning existed in almost all religious orders of the
region, it was not as extensive as that of the Rifais. We shall deal with the
mourning ceremony among the Rifais from the viewpoint of the culture of the
religious orders by partly referring to the practices of mourning among other
tarikats.

THE MOSQUES OF THE XVTH AND THE XVITH CENTURY IN PRISHTINA

(HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND ARCHITECTONIC VALUES)

Ramadan Shkodra

Within the very rich historical-cultural treasury of Kosova, no doubt a meritorious

place, have the mosques of Prishtina. These Islamic religious objects in the town
of Prishtina, according to the documents of that time, are dated instantly after the
well-known Battle of Kosva (1389), exactly when prince Bajazit laid the
foundations of the mosque, which today is known with the name the Mosque of
Charshy, which was completed in 1444. Among other old mosques of Prishtina
are:

81
- “Sultan Murat” Mosque (1444)
- “Sultan Mehmet – Fatih” Mosque (1461)
- “Pirinaz” Mosque (1470) etc.
All these mosques present a quite rich historical-architectonic and artistic
heritage.

In this paper we shall present the historical, cultural and architectonic values
related to the mosques in Prishtina during the indicated time period.

HISTORICAL FACTS AND NATIONAL TRADITION

Ramiza Smajic

This paper treats some historical persons from the Ottoman period of Bosnian
history through the archives, national memory and tradition. By working on the
different origins we have realized that many of the national heroes were mostly
present in social-political life in Bosnia inside Ottoman Empire. Using the fact
that authentic and reliable information could be saved according to verbal
tradition and in presenting historical persons like big heroes and legends, we have
tried to make parallel between them.

OTTOMAN LEGACY IN GREECE: THE QUESTION OF

TURKISH PROPERTY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Nurdan Şafak

The independent kingdom of Greece was founded during the process following the
rebellion in Morea in 1821. The Turks in the region began to face numerous
problems upon the establishment of the kingdom. Some Turks immigrated to the
lands of the Ottoman State, while others remained in Greece. The properties and
vakıfs of the Turks in Athens, Eğriboz and İstefa were confiscated and they were
not allowed to sell their properties for various reasons. Thus, the question
emerged which was called “emlak-i İslam” (Islamic real estate) by the Ottoman
State. Parallel with this question, the Greek government changed some Turkish
place names as a denial of the Turkish heritage in the region. This paper aims to
examine the subject of changing the names of Turkish vakıfs, properties and place

82
names by the Greeks- a question which emerged in the nineteenth century
concerning Turkish-Greek relations and continued until the present day. This
study will particularly focus on the information about the Turkish vakıfs,
properties and changing of place names by the Greeks with special emphasis on
the Turkish real estates and vakıfs in Athens, İstefa, Eğriboz, İzdin and Badracık
in the light of the Ottoman archival documents.

TOMBSTONES AS PART OF THE OTTOMAN LEGACY IN THE BALKANS:

EPITAPHIC EXAMPLES FROM THE EASTERN RHODOPE MOUNTAINS

Aziz Nazmi Shakir

The Ottomans have left in the Balkans a great number of artifacts reflecting their
cultural capacity. In the course of time most of these relics -mainly because of
political and natural causes- have been seriously damaged or completely
destroyed. The tombstones which are one of the most evident manifestations of
the Ottoman legacy, in spite of the negative influence of both of the mentioned
causes, thanks to their small dimensions and the fact that they are usually situated
next to or out of the settlements (and thus away from evil eyes), are maybe among
the least damaged Ottoman monuments. Of course, the numerousness of the
gravestones that have remained till nowadays can be explained also with the
comparatively low price of this kind of artifacts and the special respect shown to
the dead in the Islamic-Turkic tradition.

The epitaphs that are to be presented in this paper have been collected during a
field research held in the period 1995 – 2000 in the Eastern Rhodopes. At the
same time an attempt aiming to throw some light upon the local masters dealing
with stonecutting is made.

A TOMB IN THE ALADJA MOSQUE, AS PART OF THE OTTOMAN

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA (SKOPJE)

Aneta Tanevska

In the past Skopje was a significant military, administrative, cultural and

commercial center. Today, its remains are silent witnesses of its beauty and

83
magnificence. Although it has been ruined many times by earthquakes and wars it
has always been rebuilt.

Skopje attained market prosperity during the rule of the King Dushan, in the
fourteenth century. During that period Skopje fell under the Ottoman rule and
consequently the town developed under the strong influence of the Orient.

Very soon its market adopted all the features of an Oriental market, with all the
important public buildings being characteristic to a Turkish town. Numerous
mosques with tombs and minarets, hamams (Turkish bath houses) and inns,
along with other buildings with associated functions of the lively handicraft and
trade were built as needed.

During the 15th century the Ottomans began the construction of buildings
(primarily mosques with tombs) in order to meet the needs of their citizens. The
construction activity flourished in the 16th and the first half of the 17th century
when the Muslim population dominated the cities.

In the group of religious buildings the most important ones are: Aladja Mosque,
Mustapha Pasha Mosque, Jahija Pasha Mosque, Sultan Murat Mosque, etc.

Aladja Mosque is one of the oldest mosques in Skopje, built in the first half of the
15 th century by Ishak Beg. Great damages were caused on the Mosque after the
earthquake in 1963. The necessary conservation-restoration interventions were
undertaken and the building was consolidated and seismically ensured.

Tomb of Pasha Beg is located in the complex of Aladja Mosque. It dates from the
time of the construction of the Mosque. It is built over the Tomb of one of the sons
of Ishak Beg. After the great damages caused by the earthquake, the Tomb is
reconstructed. This is also a closed type of Tomb; six sided, like the Tomb of
Mustapha Pasha Mosque. All the sides, entrances and windows have profiled
frames. Beside the rich decoration, the Tomb has "fajans" decorated plates with
several colors and dimensions applied on the tambur.

84
 SOCIO-ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE CITY OF MAÇIN
IN MID-XIXTH CENTURY

Arzu Terzi

Individual studies on the history of cities play an indispensable role in preparing

the inventory of the social and economic structure of a certain period. This paper
attempts to examine the social and economic structure of the city of Maçin, which
is situated in present day Romania, under the Ottoman administration. The study
is based on original Temettuat Defters located in the Ottoman Archives attached
to the Prime Ministry. Four Temettuat Defters include the results of the censuses
of property and land which were conducted on 1844-45. In the light of this
information, this paper focuses on the heads of Muslim, Christian, Jewish,
Armenian and Coptic families in five neighborhoods of the city. It aims to
enlighten the readers on the names of the heads of families, their professions, real
estates, lands, the crops that they produced, the animals that they bred, their
annual incomes and the amount of taxes which they are obliged to pay. This data
will be explained by visual aids such as tables and graphs.

Maçin had a population of 2000 people on the above-mentioned dates. Although

the Temettuat Defters generally included information about the heads of families,
the group of craftsmen who were single was also recorded in these Defters. In this
way, one can determine the number of craftsmen in the city despite the fact that
they were not heads of families. Again on the basis of the Temettuat Defters of
Maçin we shall try to indicate the places of origin, numbers, professions and
incomes of the foreign reaya who performed their art in the city although they
were not heads of families and their families resided in other places.

THE BALKAN OR EAST EUROPEAN MUSLIMS IN THE AGE OF

GLOBALISATION: SQUEEZED BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE MUSLIM
WORLD

Nuri Tınaz

Muslims in the Balkans or Eastern Europe have encountered with dilemma

whether to affiliate with the Muslim World or with Europe after the collapse of
political regimes in countries where they are in a minority status. They are in a

85
process of search to reconstruct their identity politically, culturally, and
historically as well as geographically in order to make their place in a global world
in general and the global Islamic World in particular. Their search, historic
experience and dilemma would play a significant role in establishing good
relations and better understanding between the West, Europe, and the Muslim
World in order to produce new policies to form a dialogue to review the past and
plan the future. The paper attempts to examine and overview the developments
and efforts of Balkan Muslims since the early 1900s, when the socialist political
regimes ended in the regions.

FORMATION OF THE BAZAAR IN BALKAN CITIES

DURING THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

Mehmet Tunçel

The commercial area in Ottoman cities where economic activities were carried out
is expressed with the concept of çarşı (bazaar). This area was composed of shops
which were aligned on the streets in different directions, one or more than han
(caravanserai), and the buildings of arasta and bedesten devoted to particular
services situated around the biggest mosque which was the religious center of the
city.

The bazaar in Ottoman cities enriched the number of buildings which constituted
the foundations of its physical texture and their architectural characteristics
mainly through the factors that affected the historical past of the settlement, its
topography, hinterland, distance to the harbors and connections with transit
roads, i.e. factors that influenced the volume of commerce. Although the bazaars
in Ottoman cities differed as regards to their constitution and development, they
have common characteristics concerning form and contents. Thus, they continue
to exist in the present day.

The Ottomans built mosques, medreses, dervish convents, soup kitchens, tombs
and bathhouses as separate buildings or as part of a complex in the Balkan cities
that came under their rule as well as in similar cities within the Ottoman
geography. They also reconstructed the present commercial areas. Thus, the cities
acquired an Islamic character or some cities were founded with this
understanding for the first time.

86
This paper will examine various Balkan cities, particularly Filibe (Plovdiv),
İşkodra, Manastır, Mostar, Prizren, Sarajevo, Salonica, Sofia, Şumnu, Skopje,
Yanbolu, and Yakova in terms of the constitution of the bazaar and various kinds
of buildings. The paper will focus on the commercial areas of various centers,
physical and economic characteristics of its main buildings, the organization of
craftsmen and related concepts. Comparisons will be made with similar Ottoman
cities and slides of drawings and photographs will be presented.

WHERE THE MEMORIES OF

FORTY YEARS ARE TRANSFORMED: THE COFFEE HOUSES

Osman Tutal

Coffee-houses were among the most important places where the introvert social
structure of the city was broken and the public life of the masses of people took
place despite the isolation of religious and cultural activities by Ottoman ethnic
structure from the sixteenth century onwards. For this reason, they not only
constitute places where feelings and ideas are shared but also remove the
difference between usable public space and private space. They provide a milieu of
face to face relationships and present the social structure mixed with the facts of
the daily life to be shared for everyone in this milieu. They are open to change and
novelty and at the same time prone to stagnancy. As a place, which can be
manipulated, they are open to all kinds of harmony among various agents and
components of social life. In this respect, they lay the foundations of a new model
of society, based on socialization, which is almost swept behind the habitude it
created in Islamic geography. For one reason or another, in an environment where
a fervent movement and the most radical changes aiming to erase the Ottoman
legacy changed the general view of the cities, architecture, clothing and language;
coffee houses, as one of the permanent values such as housing, music and food on
the level of popular culture and daily life still continue to exist today within the
architectural and urban space. For this reason, in whatever geography and within
the boundaries of whatever country it may be, whether it is adopted or excluded, a
cultural structure, which is built upon a complex and fluid social and demographic
structure, should not be reduced to the ethnic characteristics that it contains.
Therefore, it would not be wrong to state that the Ottoman culture was as much
local as it was Ottoman.
87
This study examines the culture of coffee consumption within the framework of
the coffee houses, places devoted to this purpose, which began with the allocation
of the office of “kahvecibaşılık” in the Palace kitchen. It will deal with the place of
the coffee houses in daily life and their transformation into places of
communication within the process of modernization.

NORTH WEST BORDER OF THE OTTOMANS:

A NEW SOURCE ON THE OTTOMAN MONUMENTS
IN HUNGARY AND SLOVAKIA: JACOB TOLLIUS FROM HOLLAND

Mehmet Tütüncü

Sovereignty of the Ottoman State in present day Hungary and Slovakia lasted 150
years with various intervals. Finally, the Ottomans captured the Uyvar Fortress,
situated on the border of present day Slovakia, in 1663 before the campaign on
Vienna. Uyvar remained under Ottoman rule for nearly 23 years. Evliya Çelebi
also participated in the campaign and told the events in his Seyahatname.
Following the Ottoman defeat at Vienna in 1683 the Austrians captured the cities
in Hungary and Slovakia destroying them systematically. Hungarian turcologists
carry on their research on Ottoman works. Jacob Tollius from Holland who
traveled in the lands during the Ottoman retreat wrote a book about Ottoman
Hungary. It is titled Epistolae Itineraria and was published in 1687. He published
information particularly about the architectural works which were destroyed in
Uyvar and Budin and their inscriptions in two plates. In the light of the writings of
Tollius and Evliya Çelebi, this paper aims to present information about these
works which disappeared and their inscriptions.

LA PENETRATION DES MONNAIES OTTOMANES DANS LES PAYS

ROUMAINS AUX XVIIE-XVIIIE SIECLES

Aurel Vîlcu

Au XVIIe siècle le monnayage ottoman est en déclin: la plupart des anciens

ateliers sont fermés et la production a diminué. L’aire de la circulation de la
monnaie ottomane diminua aussi. Dans le cas de la Valachie et de la Moldavie, le
marché fut envahi par des émissions de l’Europe Centrale et Occidentale,

88
spécialement par celles de la catégorie du thaler. Jusque récemment on
considérait que les monnaies ottomanes avaient disparu de la circulation au Nord
du Danube, impression créée par le fait qu’on avait négligé la publication des
découvertes de l’époque.

À la fin du XVIIe siècle le système monétaire ottoman fut profondément réformé.

On décida la frappe des émissions en argent de grande valeur, similaires à celles
européennes. La monnaie ottomane redevint dominante en Valachie et en
Moldavie au XVIIIe siècle et pendant les deux premières décennies du suivant. Ce
fait est illustré tant par les documents des archives que par les nombreuses
découvertes isolées ou trésors.

L’abondance des émissions ottomanes en Valachie et en Moldavie dans la

deuxième moitié du XVIIIe siècle peut être expliquée par les étroites relations
commerciales avec l’empire, mais aussi par les efforts des Habsbourgs de limiter
l’exportation des monnaies autrichiennes de bonne qualité et de prévenir
l’invasion des monnaies ottomanes dévalorisées dans l’espace de l’Empire Romain
Germanique.

L’examen de plusieurs découvertes a permis déjà quelques constatations

intéressantes, confirmant la circulation dans les Pays Roumains des imitations et
des contrefaçons d’après les monnaies ottomanes en argent.

TURCOLOGICAL STUDIES IN POLAND AND THE STUDIES ON

OTTOMAN HERITAGE IN THE LIGHT OF
TURCOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN KRAKOW

Halil İbrahim Yakar

History of the studies about Turkey and the Turks in Poland goes back to early
periods. As early as the eleventh century the Poles carried out missionary
activities among the Pechenegs. Upon the collapse of the Altınordu State, Poland-
Lituania intervened in the internal affairs of this state and this was followed by a
long period of relations with the Tatars. The first diplomatic contact of Poland
with the Ottomans took place in 1414. Following the defeat of Poland in Varna
(1444) and the victories of the Turks in 1484, the two states reached a peaceful
solution in 1489. The first dragomans who served during the official contacts

89
between Poland and the Ottoman State were Tatars and Armenians of Polish or
Lithuanian citizenship. They spoke Turkish in their homeland. François
Mesgnien, who was originally French and took the name of Meninski in Poland,
served in the Ottoman State in the name of the Polish Royal Family. Learning
Turkish was popular in Poland during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The studies on Turkish language and literature began during the nineteenth
century in Poland in the true sense of the word. Antoni Muchlinski published the
Turkish Anthology and made research on the etymology of the eastern words
which were used in Polish language. The Department of Turcology was opened at
Jagiellonian University in Krakow in 1918 , which was the oldest university in
Poland and the studies about the Turks were carried out by academic institution.
The Department of Turcology was established at the University of Warsaw in
1948. This department was founded in Poznan in 2001. The Turcological studies
which were carried out in three universities in Poland indicates the importance of
Turkey and the Turks in this country.

This paper aims to make a general evaluation of Turcological studies in Poland

starting from the Ottoman period. It will particularly deal with research on
Turcology in Krakow.

THE PAINFUL OTTOMAN LEGACY OF POPULATION:

TURKISH IMMIGRANTS FROM ROMANIA
FROM THE OTTOMAN UNTIL THE REPUBLICAN PERIOD

Kemal Yakut

A massive wave of migration took place as the borders of the Ottoman State
shrinked due to the Ottoman defeats and during the process of founding of the
nation states in the Balkans one after the other. However, the Ottoman State did
not break its ties with the Muslim-Turkish population which it had to leave
beyond its borders. The Ottoman administrative elite tried to solve the social and
cultural problems of the Muslim Turkish heritage.

Following the 1877-78 Ottoman-Russian War, the sovereign power in Romania

tried to make the population homogeneous as in the other Balkan nation states. A
great number of Turks had to migrate to Anatolia. Gradually, particular
organizations and policies were developed for the settlement of the migrants.

90
Without doubt, the demographic dimension was the most painful and dramatic
aspect of the Ottoman heritage. The population of Turks in Romania had dropped
to 400,000 people at the end of the 1920s. Most of these people lived in villages,
engaged in agriculture and preserved their languages and traditions. They tried to
migrate to Turkey at the turn of the 1930s. The Romanian government created
difficulties since the number of immigrants increased and the authorities feared
that there might be an economic imbalance. The government created bureaucratic
difficulties in issuing passports. Moreover, some notables and oppressors in the
Turkish community made negative propaganda about the migration to Turkey.
Turkish and Romanian governments tried to solve the problems during their
meetings and agreements. Mr. Hamdullah Suphi Tanrıöver made efforts to meet
the needs of the Turkish community for books and teachers and take new steps in
the field of culture during his office as the ambassador of Bucharest.

Thanks to the institutional organization and the policy of settlement that it

developed from the first years of the Republic onwards, the Turkish Government
tried to settle the Turkish population that arrived from Romania. The documents
located at the Prime Ministry’s Republican Archives and the news and
interpretations that appeared in the press indicate that the aim of this migration
was to realize Turkish cultural unity and internal security. Within the framework
of this migration, on the one hand the Republican Regime supported the Ottoman
population heritage; on the other hand it tried to shape this movement by new
ideological values.

THE CHARITABLE WORKS BUILT BY THE AYAN OF VIDIN

PAZVANDOĞLU OSMAN AĞA

Ahmet Yaramış

The city of Vidin is one of the first and important centers of settlement which was
conquered by the Ottomans during their period of establishment. After the city
came under Ottoman sovereignty there was an intensive Turkish migration and
thus the Turkish population became denser. Various charitable works such as
caravanserais, bathhouses, mosques, medreses, schools, and fountains were built
in the city during the Ottoman rule of nearly five hundred years. Pazvandoğlu
Osman Ağa, who was the ayan and muhafız of Vidin at the end of the eighteenth

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century and who was favored by the people built charitable works throughout his
life. Among them there are mosques, libraries and a modern barracks for the
soldiers. He also built roads to ease transportation and to make life more
comfortable. “Pazvandoğlu Mosque”, which was built in his name and which is
still extant today, is one of the most beautiful and greatest mosques in the city.

THE ROLE OF OTTOMANS IN THE SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGES

OF THE TURKISH CLANS (PECHENEG, UZ, KUMAN) IN THE BALKANS

Mualla Uydu Yücel

Pechenegs, Uz and Kumans, who emigrated to the Balkans from the tenth century
onwards successively, became an effective political power in the lands of the
present day Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. The fact that following the Mongol
invasion the Anatolian Seljukid sultan Izzettin Keykavus settled in these lands
with the permission of Byzantium and that the area came under Ottoman
sovereignty ensured the continuity of political power. The settlement of the
Turcomans who were brought from Anatolia during the Ottoman period
introduced important changes in the political and cultural life of the Turkish clans
in the area. This process of change, which started with Baba Sarı Saltuk in the pre-
Ottoman period continued rapidly thanks to the just administration and practices
of the Ottomans. During their rule, which lasted for nearly 450 years, the
Ottomans played a unifying role on these Turkish elements in the Balkans who
spoke the same language and shared the same customs and traditions. They also
exerted every effort to undertake construction activities and develop the area
culturally. The Ottomans contributed to the cultural unity of the region by
building schools and medreses as well as other architectural works such as roads,
bridges and mosques. They also influenced this culture regarding family life,
social life, literature and art.

SA’DIYYE AND SA’DI DERVISH LODGES IN THE BALKANS

Hür Mahmut Yücer

The religious order of Sa’diyye is attributed to Sa’deddin Cebâvî who passed away in
Damascus/Cebâ around the middle of the twelfth century. This religious order was

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introduced to Istanbul from the beginning of the eighteenth century onwards
through the branch of Selâmiyye represented by Abdusselâm Şeybânî (1165/1751)
and that of Vefâtiyye represented by Ebü'l-Vefâ-yı Şâmî'. Approximately twenty
three dervish lodges of this religious order were established in Istanbul.

Sa’diyye was spread in Rumelia by İşkodralı Süleyman Efendi (d. 1160/1748-49),

who was a disciple of Ebu'l-Vefâ and through the branch of Âcizilik which is
attributed to his title. There are dervish lodges of Sa’diyye order particularly in
Balkan cities such as İşkodra, Tepedelen, Berat, Avlonya, Yakova, and Prizren. The
fact that this religious order is still active in the twentieth and the twenty first
centuries indicates the lively character of religious and cultural life. The purpose of
this study is to examine how Sa’diyye was introduced into the Balkans and the
spread of Sa’di dervish lodges in the area.

SUFISM IN ALBANIA

Ali Akbar Ziaee

Islam, as a religion and culture, beginning to spread in Balkans during all those
Ottoman conquests. Since then, that culture takes root in Balkans, and lasting
there up to our days. At the same time, among local population, members of the
∗
various Sufi orders, like bektashiyya, tijaniyya, qadiriyya, khalwatiyya,
sa’adiyya, rifaiyya and mawlaviyya, begin to spread their own teachings, and, as
a result, throughout Balkans starts to emerge innumerable tekkes and zawiyas.
During the Communist regime in Albania, with the banning of religion, and, of
course, all activities of the Sufi orders, many of those tekkes, are closed, faded out
and finally disappeared. Some of them are literally destroyed.

As for number of Bektashis and followers or members or even sympathizers of the

other Sufi orders in Albania, there are many assumptions, but it is very difficult to
estimate or to establish even close, not to say, precise data. However, bearing in
mind their (dervish’s) influence in this region, it is possible to say, rather correct

∗
For this occasion, we are going to use this word, even do the word and term order is not a word that
in the correct manner explains the essence of the Sufi brotherhood. The more correct word would be
tariq, or tariqat, menaning The Path.

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and true, that at least half of whole Muslim population in this part of Europe and
Balkans is, in some way, connected or affiliated with the certain Sufi order.

THE RELATION BETWEEN MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL HERITAGE OF

OTTOMAN PERIOD BOSNIA – SOME REMARKS

Ahmed Zildzic

It this paper the author aims to examine the relation that connects the material
heritage of Ottomans in the Balkans (such as the emergence of newly built cities
and urban development of the existing cities in Bosnia including architectual
progress by building mosques, medreses, libraries, caravansarais, imarets, hans,
hamams etc) as a pre-condition for the emergence of cultural life in urban areas
(scholarship and literature in Arabic, Persian and Turkish languages). Although it
will treat Bosnia as a case study, it may fully stand as a general overview and
example of such a relation in the Balkans as a whole.

OTTOMAN COINS - PART OF PEOPLES' JEWELRY

Dragica Zivkova

Skopje is a city possessing abundant and laminated cultural heritage, where

different traditions of the previous centuries, starting with the Roman, the
Byzantine and up to the Ottoman Empire, had deposited their eternal cultural
values.

The Ottoman administration (at the end of the XIVth century) categorized the city
as an open urban settlement of the highest order, that is, şehir, and the centre of
the administrative unit - kraiste (region), whereat it was named - Űskűb.

During that period numerous monumental sacral (mosques, turbes, tekias and
profane (hamams, hans, caravansaries, Bezistens and alike) structures were built.
The constructors used all their knowledge and creativity to enhance the
monumental constructions of the structures with even more splendidly performed
decorative elements in shallow relief made in stone, marble, limestone, and wood,
painted polychromatic decoration and painted glassy transennes on the windows.

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Besides in construction works, the Ottoman traditional values are reflected in
every day life, customs, crafts, and in all the folk artistic creativity expression.

Our goal in this study is to present the jewelry, whereinto, besides the plentitude
of complex and perfect decorative techniques (filigree with granulation and
similar techniques) they used precious metals, Ottoman coins were appliquéd as
well. This type of jewelry was characteristic and typical for the second half of the
XIXth and the beginning of the XXth century in the wider region.

To show a more complex and more authentic presentation of our topic, from the
rich ethnological collection of the Museum of the city of Skopje, we have selected
several more representative artefacts of various applicability (dealt with in detail),
whereon there had been set Ottoman coins as decorative elements.

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