The Demographic Structure of Non-Muslim Subjects in Harput District According to the 1843 Population Register: A Micro-Demographic Study in the Ottoman Provinces
Öz
This study aims to analyze the demographic, social, and economic structure of the non-Muslim population in the Ottoman provinces at a micro scale. The primary source of the research is the Non-Muslim Reaya Population Register of Harput District dted 1258/1843, registered as BOA, ML.CRD.d.658 in the Ottoman Archives. This register reflects the distribution of the population between urban and rural settlements, as well as the geographical and social differentiation of economic activities. Moreover, the information contained in the records—such as age, occupation, death, and migration—reveals the diversity of Harput’s social structure in the mid-nineteenth century and illustrates the transformation process within the Ottoman provinces. The register was compiled immediately before the implementation of the Tanzimat reforms and systematically recorded the non-Muslim male population residing in the neighborhoods, villages, and hamlets of the Harput district. Using a micro-historical method, this study contributes to an understanding of the demographic structure, occupational profiles, and migration dynamics of non-Muslim communities in the Ottoman provinces through a case study of Harput. In addition, it demonstrates the provincial manifestations of the transformation experienced by the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, the regular entries in this 1843 register provide a clear example of provincial-level manifestations of the transition from the classical tahrir (land and population survey) tradition to modern population statistics in the Ottoman Empire.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Kaynakça
- Archive sources
- Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye State Archives Directorate Ottoman Archives (BOA) / Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı Devlet Arşivleri Başkanlığı Osmanlı Arşivi (BOA), ML.CRD.d. 658, 29 Muharrem 1259 / 1 Mart 1843 (29 Muharram 1259 AH / 1 March 1843).
- Books and Articles
- Aksın, A. (1998). Tanzimat’ın Harput Eyaleti’nde Uygulanması ve Karşılaşılan Güçlükler. (The Implementation of the Tanzimat in the Province of Harput and the Difficulties Encountered). Belleten, LXII, 851–861.
- Aksın, A. (1999). 19. Yüzyılda Harput. (Harput in the 19th Century). Ceren Matbaası.
- Aksın, A. (2019). Osmanlı Döneminde Harput’un (Ma’muratü’l-aziz) İdari Yapısı. (The Administrative Structure of Harput (Ma‘mûrat al-‘Azîz) during the Ottoman Period). In A. Aksın, Y. Haykır, & F. Yıldırım (Eds.), A Lifetime on the Path of History: Festschrift in Honor of Ergün Öz Akçora I (pp. 397–407). Hiper Yayın.
- Akyel, S. (2013). 19. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında Harput Şehrinin Nüfus ve Toplum Yapısı. (The Population and Social Structure of the City of Harput in the First Half of the 19th Century). (Unpublished master’s thesis). Fırat University, Institute of Social Sciences.
- Akyel, S. (2015). (XIX. Yüzyılda Harput Sancağının Demografik Yapısı Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme. (An Assessment of the Demographic Structure of the Harput Sanjak in the 19th Century). Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, 34(57), 199–220.
Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
Osmanlı Arkeolojisi
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yazarlar
Habibe Polat
*
0000-0003-3501-6515
Türkiye
Yayımlanma Tarihi
30 Ağustos 2026
Gönderilme Tarihi
30 Aralık 2025
Kabul Tarihi
12 Nisan 2026
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2026 Cilt: 14 Sayı: 2