The Collapse of Rural Order in Ottoman Anatolia: Amasya (1576-1643)

Did the ‘seventeenth-century crisis’ visit the Ottoman Empire? How can we situate the explosion of rural violence and the rebellions of the turn of the seventeenth century in the Anatolian countryside? The Collapse of Rural Order in Ottoman Anatolia provides the reader with a fresh and innovative perspective on the long scholarly debate over the question of ‘decline’ in early modern Ottoman history. It offers a new agenda, new type of source material, and a new methodology for the study of demographic crisis. Through a systematic examination of little-known detailed avârız registers, Oktay Özel demonstrates in detail the mass desertion of rural settlements, the destruction of agricultural economy, and the resulting collapse of rural order in Ottoman Anatolia at the turn of the seventeenth century. Did the 'seventeenth-century crisis' visit the Ottoman Empire? How can we situate the explosion of rural violence and the rebellions of the turn of the seventeenth century in the Anatolian countryside? The Collapse of Rural Order in Ottoman Anatolia provides the reader with a fresh and innovative perspective on the long scholarly debate over the question of decline in early modern Ottoman history. It offers a new agenda, new type of source material, and a new methodology for the study of demographic crisis. Through a systematic examination of little-known detailed avârz registers, Oktay Özel demonstrates in detail the mass desertion of rural settlements, the destruction of agricultural economy, and the resulting collapse of rural order in Ottoman Anatolia at the turn of the seventeenth century. Book jacket Table of contents List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Notes on Spelling 1 Introduction The Subject The Sources (mufassal (= Detailed) Avârız Registers) On the “Decline” Literature 2 Geography and Politics Amasya: Making of an Ottoman Province Rural Society: Limitations and Relational Matrix 3 Land, Society and Empire (through 1576) Peasants and Nomads Notables (mâlikâne holders) Timariots 4 The Collapse of Rural Order: A Comparison (1576–1643) Settlement Patterns Population Society 5 What Happened? An Assessment The Context Reviewed Nature and Climate at Work The Celâlis The Consequences 1643 Recontextualised 6 Conclusion Appendices Bibliography Index 1. Introduction 2. Geography and politics 3. Land, society, and empire (through 1576) 4. The collapse of rural order: a comparison (1576-1643) 5. What happened? an assessment 6. Conclusion Appendix I: Tahrir? and avariz registers of Amasya Appendix II: Revenue holders and revenue distribution Appendix III: urban population in the province of Rum, 1520-1643 Appendix IV: Rural settlements with their tax-paying population (c. 1480-1643) Bibliography Index Map of Amasya.