DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF NORTH-EASTERN ...

157 Pages·2006·2 MB·English

by  Elif Bayraktar

DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF
NORTH-EASTERN BULGARIA:
A CASE STUDY ON NİĞBOLU SANDJAK (1479-1483)

A Master’s Thesis

By

NURAY OCAKLI

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
BILKENT UNIVERSITY
ANKARA
JULY 2006

DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS OF
NORTH-EASTERN BULGARIA:
A CASE STUDY ON NİĞBOLU SANDJAK (1479-1483)

The Institute of Economic and Social Sciences
of
Bilkent University

By

NURAY OCAKLI

In Partial Fullfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS

in

THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
BILKENT UNIVERSITY
ANKARA

July 2006
I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and
in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History.

Prof. Dr. Halil İnalcık
Supervisor

I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and
in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Evgeny Radushev
Examining Comitee Member

I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and
in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Hasan Ünal
Examining Comitee Member

Approval of the Institute of Economic and Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel
Director
ABSTRACT

DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE AND SETTLEMENT PATTERNS
OF NORTH-EASTERN BULGARIA:
A CASE STUDY ON NİĞBOLU SANDJAK
(1479-1483)
Nuray Ocaklı

M.A., Department of History

Supervisor: Halil İnalcık

June 2006

This thesis examines demographic structure and settlement patterns of Niğbolu Sandjak
in the the last two decades of the fifteenth century. Seen through the data provided by
the Ottoman tax and population censuses (tahrir defterleri), the research shows the
demographic movements of native Christians in the sandjak and new settlers coming
from the Asia Minor. The thesis examines the presence of Turkic people in the region
from 5th century to the end of the 15th century. Based on the two 15th century icmâl
defters of Niğbolu Sandjak, this study focuses on recovery of pre-Ottoman settlemets
and establishment of new Turkish settlements. Also this study criticizes the catastroph
theory of Hristo Gandev who developed one of the leading demographic theories of
Marxist Balkan historiography. The information we get from the icmâl defters does not
consistant with Gandev’s Catastrophy Theory. Following the conquest of the region,
neither a quick Turkification nor a mass-Islamization was happened in the sandjak but
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the secure and peacefull environment provided the infrastructure of these Islamizationa
and Turkification processes for the sixteenth century.

Keywords: Niğbolu, demography, settlement, icmâl defterleri, Catastrophe Theory,
yörük, mezraa.

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ÖZET

KUZEY-DOĞU BULGARISTAN’IN DEMOGRAFİK YAPISI VE
YERLEŞİM DÜZENİ:
NİĞBOLU SACAĞI
(1479-1483)
Nuray Ocaklı

Yüksek Lisans Tarih Bölümü

Tez Danışmanı:Halil İnalcık

Haziran 2006

Bu çalışma 15.yy’ın sonunda Niğbolu Sancağı’ndaki demografik yapıyı ve yerleşim
düzenini incelemektedir. Araştırmamız bölgedeki Türkleşme ve İslamlaşma sürecinin
başlangıcı sayılan bu dönemde, Osmanlı tımar kayıtlarını içeren iki icmâl defterinden
elde edilen bilgiler işiğinda, bölgede beşinci yüzyıla kadar giden Türk varlığından
başlayarak onbeşinci yüzyılın sonunda Osmanlı öncesi yerleşimlerin fetihten sonra nasıl
tekrar canlandığı ve yeni Türk yerleşimlerinin nasıl olustuğu üzerinde yoğunlaşmakta,
sancakta yaşayan yerli Hristiyan halkın nüfus hareketlerini ve Anadolu’dan bölgeye
göçen Türklerin durumunu incelemektedir. Aynı zamanda bu çalışma Marksist Balkan
historiografisinin önde gelen teorisyenlerinden Hristo Gandev’in Katastrof teorisini
eleştirmektedir.İncelenen icmâl defterleri göstermektedir ki bölgenin fethini izleyen
dönemde ne ani bir Türkleşme ne de toplu bir İslamlaşma görülmüstür. Fetih sonrasında
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bölgede sağlanan istikrar ve güven ortamı on altıncı yüzyılda ivme kazanacak olan bu
süreclere zemin hazırlamıstır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Niğbolu, demografi, yerleşim, icmâl defterleri, Katastrof Teorisi,
yörük, mezraa.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to God for everything giving me to start and complete this study. I am
gratefull to a number of people for their assistance and support in different stages of this
study. Working with Professor İnalcık who is the dean of Ottoman studies has been a
dream for me since the beginning of my graduate years in Bilkent University. I would
like to thank Professor İnalcık whom I am very indepted for supervising the thesis and
for letting me take benefit from his deep knowledge of Ottoman History. Then, I wish to
thank Professor Radushev who thought me defterology, siyakat and Ottoman Balkans
and he helped me in each stage of my study. Also I am very gratefull to all of the
professors in the department who shared their knowledge with us. Also I would like to
thank to professor Hasan Ünal to read my thesis and be one of the examining comitee
member in my defense.
Finally special thanks must go to my family, my beloved husband Sait and my
litte son Mehmet Berke. Without your constant support, love, cheer and smile, it would
be impossible to deal with the hard times and complete this study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE..................................................................i
APPROVAL PAGE.........................................................ii
ABSTRACT.....................................................................iii
ÖZET................................................................................iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................vi
FIGURES..........................................................................vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...............................1

CHAPTER TWO: DEMOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF NORTH-
EASTERN
BULGARIA
2.1. Pre-Ottoman Turkish Settlement in North-Eastern Bulgaria
2.1.1. Bulgars................................................15
2.1.2. Kumans, Uz, Pecheneks, Tatars..........19
2.1.3. Gagauzes.................................................25

CHAPTER THREE:
OTTOMAN RULE IN THE BALKANS
3.1. Pre-Ottoman Political Conditions.....................32
3.2. Pre-Ottoman Demographic Conditions
and Settlement Policies in the Region...............35
3.3. Ottoman Conquest............................................39

3.4. Turkish Setlement and the New Administrative
System in the Ottoman Balkans.......................46

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