Elderly people were among the social segments regarded as a subject of mercy in the Islamic civilization and in the Ottoman Empire, an important representative of the civilization. As an important social issue,
the care and protection of the elderly has been on the agenda of the Ottomans as well as every society. This issue still maintains its existence and importance as a major social issue today. As a result of the changes in the demographic structure, especially the increase in the average life expectancy, the large increase in the share of the elderly in the total population makes the care of the elderly more important and serious compared to the past. The approaches, attitudes and behaviors established in the Ottoman society in the religious, cultural, and traditional context envisage respecting the elderly. They have not only created a respectable place in the social life but also brought social and administrative solutions to protect the elderly. Since elderliness has many difficulties, the Ottoman society implemented various practices for the care and needs of the elderly within the framework of its tradition and accumulation. Determinations and evaluations regarding the condition and care of the elderly in the Ottoman society were revealed based on the facts in the archive and court records of the 16th - 18th century Ottoman practices. Since the used archive and court records focused on Istanbul, this humble study examines the subject within the framework of the Ottoman capital. In order to determine the situation, the observations of the Western travelers, who evaluated the Ottoman society with an outer perspective, were briefly mentioned. The state paid a salary from certain income items so that the people who served it throughout their lifetime did not have a hard time in their old age. In this context, the Empire have sought to link salaries from the relevant muqata’ah income to maintain the lives of the elderly, poor and helpless people who had no one to look after. Another issue that concerns the state about elderly people is the physical structure of the cities. In
order to facilitate the daily life of elderly people, first of all, solutions have been sought on various issues that cause difficulty to them. When needed, it created new market places for them to go easily, it was enacted that the transportation animals, which caused problems for the elderly in the city, would go slowly. Regarding the issues on the elderly in the court records, the first thing that draws attention is that the elderly were not isolated from their neighborhood and the street they live in, regardless of their situation. Based on the case records in the registers, it is seen that there are three types of elderly in the Ottoman society who had care issues. Firstly, those who did not have children and who were in need financially. The second is those who had enough property to sustain their lives although they did not have any children, and finally those who were in need both financially and morally even though they had children. The most difficult group among the elderly are the ones who had no relatives or friends. The imaret, which were located in the charity units of the foundations in Ottoman cities, aimed primarily to provide food for such people in need. It can be said that the dervish lodges deemed as a service to help such lonely and old people in accordance with their purpose to provide service to people in need. There are some clues in the court records of how the wealthy but lonely elderly lived during the last period of their lives. They would agree on a name of a guardian for their care without leaving their neighborhood, and the works to be done after their death. For this purpose, elderly people who had applied to the court were looking for trustworthy guardians for themselves who would look after them until their death, and would carry out their burial services and pray for them after their death. Finally, when the status of the elderly with children are examined, it is seen that such people were mostly looked after by their children. However, when older people had children and became dependent on maintenance payment, the judge would generally approve the
maintenance payment they requested from their children except for some rare cases. In this sense, the difference in religion between the child and the parent was not an obstacle. In addition, in terms of responsibility, the son and daughter were equally obliged to take care of their elderly. According to the data in the registers, the maintenance payment was generally asked from the sons.
