Oppression and salvation : annotated legal documents from the Ottoman Book of Complaints of 1675 / Haim Gerber.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gerber, Haim, author.

Series:

Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur der Türkvölker ; Band 27.

Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur der Türkvölker ; Band 27

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Law--Turkey--Sources.

Law.

Turkey--History--Mehmed IV, 1648-1687--Sources.

Turkey.

Şikayet defteri (1675).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (188 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin : Klaus Schwarz Verlag, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The pheno­menon of comp­laints was a central tenet in the ideo­logy of the Ottoman Empire, an obses­sion it inhe­rited from former Middle Eastern empires, Islamic and pre-Islamic. Atten­tion was directed in parti­cular to the tendency of state offi­cials to over­step the bounds of their autho­rity, exploi­ting vast areas of the coun­try­side to enrich them­selves at the expense of the poor citi­zens and, as a conse­qu­ence, to under­mine the legiti­macy of the ruler himself. On the other hand, so many comp­laints of harsh abuses might give the impres­sion that the Ottoman Empire in its enti­rety should have collapsed as a conse­qu­ence. In the first place, the Şikayet Defteri is a legal docu­ment because many of the comp­laints stem from the point of depar­ture that a certain Shari’a law has been broken, viola­ting the natural rights of certain groups of citi­zens. More important than this, however, the Şikayet is a legal docu­ment from an addi­tional, metho­do­lo­gical perspec­tive: the docu­ment provides a perspec­tive on the Kadi, his court, and his posi­tion in the state, which are unli­kely to be obtained from any other source. Parti­cu­larly, such infor­ma­tion cannot be had from the Kadi record (sicill) itself, as this source only looks at itself from the inside, solving day-to-day prob­lems.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Acknowledgement

A note on transliteration

Introduction

Chapter 1: Law and Order

Chapter 2: The Rise of Ottoman Scholars (ulema)

Chapter 3: State, Bureaucrats, and Scholars: the Evidence of the Book of Complaints

Chapter 4: Oppression and Brigandage

Chapter 5: The Kadi and the Common People

Chapter 6: (In)justice by State Officials

Chapter 7: Complaints Against Kadis and Naibs (Assistant Judges)

Chapter 8: Shari’a Court Decisions—Final?

Chapter 9: The Agent (mübaşir)

Chapter 10: The Role of the Divan in the Legal Process

Chapter 11: Miscellaneous

Glossary

Bibliography

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9783112209400

3112209400

OCLC:

1198929366