Proceedings of the Third International Congress on the Islamic Civilisation in the Balkans 1-5 November 2006, Bucharest, Romania

(Istanbul: IRCICA, 2010), 69-85.

BALKAN CITY OR OTTOMAN CITY?: A STUDY ON THE MODELS OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT IN OTTOMAN UPPER THRACE, FROM THE FIFTEENTH TO THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
Grigor Boykov

In the course of the past century number of historians studied the development of towns and cities all over the Balkans during the Ottoman period. In general, in their great majority, these otherwise important works, failed to provide a comprehensive and realistic answer to the question of - how the urban centers in the Balkans looked like at the time of the Sultans and more specifically was it there an unifying model of a city that could be labeled either Balkan or Ottoman city. Most works followed two main historiographic trends, roughly describing the cities in the Balkans either as pure products of Turco-Islamic urban tradition, brought to the Balkans from Anatolia, or stressed on the strong continuation of the medieval Byzantino-Slavic urban model, which was slightly modified by Turks and received an Islamic appearance. The major deficiency of the above mentioned works is the fact that main arguments and large generalizations have been usually produced on the basis of scattered, insufficient and in some cases even unsuitable archival materials. Studying the urban development of a given Balkan area A, scholars often concluded that the same processes must have had taken place in a given area B, or furthermore all over the Balkan Peninsula. Needless to say, such approach could only provide a theoretical framework, which does not need to be explicit or even correct. Evidently, our better understanding of Balkan urbanism in the Ottoman era requires much more profound and detailed approach, which should be materialized only through a great number of time- and labor consuming local studies of the colorful Balkan localities.

Ph. D. candidate, Department of History, Bilkent University.

69

Doubtlessly, this is not an unknown idea and the numerous pioneering informative works of Machiel Kiel, dealing with various localities in the Balkans deserve an explicit mention here.1 Almost 20 years ago Professor Kiel devoted an enormous in length article, recently published also in Turkish, to the variety of models of urban development in the territory of present-day Bulgaria2. Following framework offered in Prof. Kiels article, this short conference paper will test it in smaller in size territory with a special attention to the demography of four sizable settlements in the area of Upper Thrace in the period of late fifteenth early seventeenth centuries. Evidence derived from Ottoman archival sources, on which the paper is primarily based, will stress once again on the importance of local studies and will attempt to illustrate the imperfection of large generalizations when examined on a micro level. Situated in the heart of modern Bulgaria laying no more than 50-60 km by one another, the cities of Filibe (Plovdiv), Eski Zara (Stara Zagora), Tatar Bazar (Pazardjik) and stanimaka (Asenovgrad) represent a sound example of settlements that followed different patterns in their urban development, despite being situated in a relatively small and homogeneous geographic area. However, to discuss the continuity or discontinuity in their development after the Ottomans took the area under control, we need to take a brief look on regions pre-conquest political history and cities geographic location. All three cities, with the single exception of stanimaka (Byz. Stenimachos), are situated in the vast fertile Thracian plane, laying on important routes known since the Antiquity. These favorable at a first glance conditions, however, seem to have been often hostile to their prosperity. In the course of the two centuries preceding the Ottoman conquest Upper Thrace became a military border zone where the actions, apart of being very destructive, were often accompanied by population deportations by one side or another. The instability in the province continued even after the Ottomans managed to establish control over Thrace.
1

Machiel Kiel published about 200 articles devoted to various Balkan areas, most of which are well known to the historians of the Ottoman Empire. His works related to the territory of modern Bulgaria have been recently collected and published in a single volume in Bulgarian. See Machiel Kiel. Hora i selishta v Bulgaria prez osmanskia period. Subrani suchinenia (Sofia: Amicitia, 2005). Machiel Kiel. Urban Development in Bulgaria in the Turkish Period: The Place of the Turkish Architecture in the Process. International Journal of Turkish Studies 4:2 (1989): 79-129 and its Turkish translation Machiel Kiel. Bulgaristanda Osmanl Dnemi Kentsel Geliimi ve Mimari Antlar, lknur Kolay, tr. (Ankara: Kltr Bakanl, 2000).

70

The numerous campaigns against the remains of Bulgarian kingdoms and further to the west against Serbia, followed by the Ottoman civil war in the Interregnum period presuppose difficult times for the inhabitants of Upper Thrace. It was only after the first decades of the fifteenth century when a long peaceful period and stability was finally established in Thrace. Putting together the evidence for two-century long destructive military campaigns in the area and consequences of the Black Death in the fourteenth century, which affected mainly the settlements in the plains, one could suppose that the Ottomans found the region almost depopulated. It is highly likely that most of the settlements in the flat plain were either destroyed or affected so badly that they were abandoned by the inhabitants during the centuries of constant wars. The Ottoman documentation of the fifteenth century shows that most of the surviving settlements from the pre-Ottoman period in Thrace are those situated at the foot of the mountains. Turning our attention to Filibe, it could be defined as an example of our first type model of urban development in Ottoman Thrace, i.e. a city from the preOttoman period, which as a consequence of a colonization, policy of the state, was transformed into a Muslim urban center designed in accordance with the Islamic tradition. However, it preserved a Christian minority which played an important role in the demographic processes there. Filibe (Philippupolis) surrendered without a fight to the Ottoman commander Lala ahin Pasha, who in accordance with the istimalet policy allowed local Christians to preserve their properties, remaining to live in the neighborhoods that they had occupied prior to the conquest, even within the city stronghold3. The first Muslim colonists must have appeared immediately after the conquest, but the big migratory wave began in the beginning of fifteenth century and continued with diverse dynamics until the first years of the sixteenth century. Numerous references in the Ottoman narratives speak about occasions of forceful population transfers from Asia Minor to the area of Filibe, which without underestimating the numbers of voluntary migrants, assigns an important role to the central authority.4 Moreover, a look at the various public
There is a rich literature on Ottoman conquest of Thrace. See Halil nalcks most recent contribution for details and bibliography. Halil nalck. Murad I in Trkiye Diyanet Vakf slm Ansiklopedisi (stanbul, 2006), pp. 156-164. 4 There are several occasions of deportation of Anatolian population to Filibe area mentioned in the
3

71

buildings in Filibe, shows that their sponsors were very often either high ranking Ottoman officials (like the complex of ihabeddin Pasha, who was at that time the beylerbeyi of Rumeli) or the Sultan himself (Murad II sponsored the main Friday mosque Muradiye, or Cumaya Mosque). The data from the Ottoman taxation and population registers (tapu tahrirs) shows that in the second half of the fifteenth century Muslims have already become the majority of citys population.5 The rapid expansion of Muslim population was interrupted by the successful military campaigns of Sleymanic age and a large number of Filibes Muslim inhabitants has been transferred to the west, some to be found in the Ottoman records as far as Buda6. This could explain the sudden unusual sharp decrease of Muslim population in the 1520s and 1530s, when a further growth should be expected. In the second half of sixteenth century Muslims recovered in numbers just to drop again in the beginning of the following, a possible indication for a start of the so-called seventeenth century crisis.7 Unlike the Muslims, Christian population suffered only minor fluctuations in the period of study, slowly growing in numbers until the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century when a big migratory wave, coming from the overpopulated Christian mountainous rural environment, rushed towards the cities of Upper Thrace, shaping the local demographic features of the seventeenth century8. Other nationalities living in Filibe, such as Jews and Gypsies, followed in general Christians trend. In 1610, as if to contribute to the cosmopolitan and multicultural appearance of Filibe, a group of Armenian migrants settled in the city, whose decedents still live in present-day Plovdiv. Filibe represents a model in which continuity went alongside modification, producing an interesting mixture in which the discontinuity clearly prevailed,
Ottoman narratives. Sultan Bayzid I deported a nomadic group from Saruhan to the plain of Filibe, establishing there the town of Saruhanbeyli (modern Septemvri). On another occasion following the orders of Sultan Mehmed I Minnet Bey and his people were transferred to Konu Hisar a village to the south-east of Plovdiv. Akpaazade Tarihi. Tevrih-i l-i Osman. Ali Bey (haz.), (stanbul: Matbaa-i Amire, 1332/1916), pp. 74, 90; Friedrich Giese. Die Altosmanishe Chronik des kpaazde (Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1929), pp. 67, 80-81. 5 See Table 1 6 See Gyula Kaldy-Nagy. Kanuni Devri Budin Tahrir Defteri (1546-1562) (Ankara: Ankara niversitesi, 1971), pp. 11. 7 See Figure 1. 8 See Figure 2.

72

but also the inherited local elements should be taken into serious consideration. The Ottoman state represented either by the central government or the local authorities had a significant output in the process of shaping the citys natural demographic development. The second city of our interest Eski Zara (Zagra-i Eski Hisar), is an example of dramatic discontinuity, i.e. a city which existed in the Byzantino-Bulgarian period, but which after the conquest was recreated, repopulated and had exclusively Muslim population. We first find Eski Zara in the register of 1516 when the entire city population was Muslim, having no single Christian recorded to be living in the city9. Semi-legendary information, claimed to be originating from the earliest city sicil records, which unfortunately have burned in a fire in the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish war, might reveal a possible explanation that stayed behind such a development10. According to the record, similarly to Filibe, the city of Zagra surrendered to Lala ahin Paa during the same campaign and accordingly the population was granted the privilege to retain its properties and remained to live intact in the city. However, in the years following Sultan Bayezids Ankara battle there was a major disturbance in the area and the entire Christian population revolted against the Sultan. The rebellion was suppressed and all Christians living in Eski Zara have been deported to Asia Minor in exchange of Anatolian population, which later occupied their place11. Certainly the reliability of this account is questionable, but the fact that something might have happened with the Christian population around the time of eyh Bedreddins revolt, could be correct. A look at the data from the register suggests that not only the entire city population was Muslim, but also it clearly speaks of Anatolian demographic model. Nearly half of the adult male
See Table 2. Bulgarian historian Petar Nikov relates this story in otherwise excellent academic article published in 1928. According to Nikovs findings after the 1877-1878 the secretary of the last Ottoman kad in Eski Zara, certain Halil Efendi, a man interested in history was asked to recall some passages from the early sicils that he claimed to remember very well. His words were also confirmed by Eminolu evket Bey, another local who had also read some of the court records. The testimonies of these two men were recorded and partially published in Georgi Kabakoev. Statisticheski kalendar na Starozagorskia deparatment za 1882 gonina. Nareden or Starozagorskata prefektura (Sofia: 1882). See Petar Nikov. Turskoto zavladiavane na Bulgaria i sudbata na poslednite Shishmanovtzi. (Turkish Conquest of Bulgaria and the Fate of the Last Shishmanids) Izvestia na Bulgarskoto Istorichesko Drujestvo 7-8 (1928): 52. 11 Nikov, Turskoto zavladiavane na Bulgaria, 53.
9 10

73

population in 1516 was unmarried a feature more common for the Anatolian provinces of the Ottoman Empire at that time. Compared with the data concerning the town of Tatar Bazar, a Muslim community that settled in Rumelia more than a century ago, the difference seems to be apparent 18% of unmarried young men in 1516 and only 9% in 1530.12 Similarly to the development of Filibe, Eski Zaras Muslim population suffered a small drop in the 1530s, possibly due to a migration towards the West13. In the 40-year period until the following registration, Muslim community recovered quickly, acquiring a significant growth which continued in the next years. The early years of seventeenth century show indications of a starting crisis in which the city lost a significant portion of its Muslim population. Christians coming from the nearby rural environment are first to appear in the city in the 1570 registration. In accordance with the process running in all other urban centers of Upper Thrace, Christians had a rather rapid increase and doubled in numbers for a period of 25 years, a trend which obviously continued in the following years, when the Christian population of Eski Zara doubled in numbers once again for even shorter period.14 Our second example of urban development in Upper Thrace shows that the central authority might have played even more crucial role than it was in Filibe. As a result of state activity, Eski Zara could be seen as a model of extreme discontinuity, having exclusively Muslim population until the second half of the sixteenth century when local Christians settled for the first time in the city. From the model of change let us now turn our attention to stanimaka, a settlement which remained largely unaffected by the colonizing policy of the Ottomans, representing a sound example of continuity of urban life after the Ottoman conquest. Throughout the Ottoman period stanimaka retained its exclusively Christian appearance, having small, almost invisible Muslim minority. Partially, this development is due to the fact that during the period of continuous wars in Thrace, because of its safer geographic location at the foot of the mountain, the town was less affected by the destruction and even attracted migrants from the nearby lowlands. The nearby Bachkovo monastery, the
See Figure 3. See Figure 4. 14 See Figure 5.
12 13

74

second biggest in Bulgaria, a large and important centre at that time, along with a chain of dozen smaller monasteries surrounding the town, contributed greatly to its attractive appearance. When the Ottomans established their authority in the region, unlike many other settlements in the open plain, they must have had found stanimaka relatively prosperous and populated. There was no empty space in the town, there was no plenty of abandoned land to be cultivated, in other words there was no room for Muslim colonizers logically they have never appeared. The data from the Ottoman surveys shows it convincingly15. The large Christian majority seem to have been growing rapidly, especially after 1530s when the town, along with many other settlements in the area, was attached to the pious foundation of Sleymaniye complex in Istanbul16. The status of vakf reayas was found attractive to many locals and in a course of less than a century due to natural output of the city population and the arrival of new settlers, the Christian population of stanimaka doubled in numbers17. Meanwhile the tiny Muslim minority, with the exception of some minor fluctuations, remained quite stable, overwhelmed by the Christians who dominated the urban space, shaped citys appearance and predetermined the demographic processes. The model of continuity of urban life which could be seen in the case of stanimaka shows that despite, being situated between two urban centers that have been largely recreated and repopulated by the Ottoman administration, some settlements remained unaffected by the process of colonization of Anatolian Turkish population in the area. Furthermore, retaining its almost exclusively Christian character the small towns appearance was never shaped by the Islamic architecture and its look differed considerably from the nearby Filibe or Eski Zara. Our last example, presented in this paper is a city which emerged in a place where no mediaeval Byzantine or Bulgarian settlement existed, i.e. a town originally created and promoted by the Ottomans the city of Tatar Bazar, later on known as Tatar Pazarck. Pazarck was established in the late fourteenth
See Table 3. The vakfiye is published by Keml Edip Krkolu, Sleymaniye Vakfiyesi, (Ankara: Resimli Posta Matbaas, 1962), 65-67, with many mistakes in the transliteration of local toponomy, but provided with a very good, readable facsimile. 17 See Figure 6.
15 16

75

century by a group of Crimean Tatars led by one of Tokatm Hans commanders in chief - Aktav, who at that time admitted to serve Sultan Bayazid and transferred along with his people to Rumelia18. The small provincial, military base-like settlement, developed rapidly, soon acquiring distinct features of a kasaba until the 1530s when it was already promoted to a kaza center. However, the rapid emergence of Tatar Bazar, was not due to centralized support of the Ottoman government, it rather attracted the attention of the mighty military leaders of the day the aknc beyis and their descendents. Everenosolu Ahmed Bey has built an imaret in the city, while the famous Malkoolu Bali sponsored the zaviye of Pirzade in Pazarcks vicinities. To this list it might be added Ishak elebi from skb, who erected a mosque. The influence of nearby htiman, dominated by Mihaloullar family should not be underestimated too. The only known public building sponsored by Ottoman state official in Tatar Bazar was the enormous caravanserai built in 1596 by the Grand Vezier brahim Pasha. It functioned until the early twentieth century, when it was neglected. A model of the now extinct building could be seen in the local museum. This semi-military, rather Heterodox appearance of Tatar Bazar, continued until the 1530s, when in accordance with the general trend of the then Ottoman policy, the famous Halveti Sheyh Muslihddin Nureddinzade arrived from Sofia to Pazarck to encourage the Sunni Muslims and fight against the Heterodoxy in the region. In deed the 1530 register is the last one to mention the zaviye of Pirzade. Naturally, the population figures show a large Muslim majority living in the city in the period of our interest.19 The emerging settlement was attracting local Christians, who appeared in the records, just to disappear in the following ones.20 Firmly settled Christian community is to be found for the first time in 1570, which
On the foundation of Tatar Bazar see my conference paper Grigor Boykov, Who Established the Town of Tatar Pazarck in Middle Upper Thrace? in Meral Bayrak et al. (eds.), Uluslararas Osmanl ve Cumhuriyet Dnemi Trk-Bulgar likileri Sempozyumu 11-13 Mays 2005. Bildiriler Kitab (Eskiehir: Osmangazi niversitesi, 2005), pp. 253-259. Its extended version is forthcoming in Bulgarian same author Suzdavaneto na Tatar Bazar (Pazardjik) prez 1398 g. hipotezi, sporove, zakluchenia. 19 See Table 4. 20 For example the register of 1516 has only one Christian registered in the Muslim neighborhood, the following record of 1525 has a group of 13 Christian households, which disappear in the 1530 registration.
18

76

grew rapidly, doubling in numbers until every following registration21. Muslims, on the other hand, in accordance with the trend in the area, had a stable constant growth, with the exception of 1530 when likewise there was a small decrease22. Contrary to the processes taking place in Filibe and especially in Eski Zara in the beginning of 17th century, when a sharp decrease of Muslim population could be observed, Tatar Bazars Muslims had significant, certainly not only natural growth. No doubt, this rapid development should be attributed to the strategically important location of the city and especially to the erection of brahim Pashas caravanserai, which revived the trade and economy of the city, attracting quickly new settlers probably even from Filibe and Eski Zara. Evidently, the examples offered by this short paper are far from being allinclusive, its aim is rather simpler to stress on the differences in the urban development and demographic features of several settlements, situated in the same geographic area, under the same climatic conditions. The diverse processes that a researcher could observe in every particular locality, should make us more hesitant while drawing large pictures and creating models. Local studies, unfortunately very often terribly underestimated, have to cover the white spots of our knowledge of Ottoman realities and should answer many questions which are not asked yet.

21 22

See Figure 7. See Figure 8.

77

Table 1: Population of Filibe (1472-1614)

Christians (hane) 95 + (27)123 80 88 79 81 88 156 255 ----87 7 --24 9 --2 7 26 --3 13 33 2 3 13 33 2 32 33 50 54 46 0 13 35 --32 5 12 36 --------1 1 1 ----------------Christians Widows (hane) Gypsies (hane) Jews Unmarried Christian Gypsies Unmarried Jews Unmarried Armenians --------------21

Date

Muslims

Unmarried

(hane) ---

Muslims

1472 (877 H.)

549

1489 (895 H.)

791

107

1516 (925 H.)

877

220

1525 (932 H.)

801

136

1530 (937 H.) 26 32 ---

636

126

1570 (978 H.)

752

1595 (1004 H.)

844

1614 (1023 H.)

721

1472=Sofia Archive, PD 17/27; 1489=BOA, stanbul, TD 26; 1516=BOA, stanbul, TD 77; 1525=BOA, stanbul, MAD 519; 1530= BOA, stanbul, TD 370; 1570= BOA, stanbul, TD 494; 1595=T.K.G.M., Ankara, Edirne 65; 1614= BOA, stanbul, TD 729.

123

27 households from the village of Pollad, since the following registration one of Filibes neighborhoods.

78

Table 2: Population of Eski Zara (1516-1614)

Date Muslims (hane) 1516 (925 H.) 1530 (937 H.) 1570 (978 H.) 1595 (1003 H.) 1614 (1023 H.) 516 497 709 723 470 Unmarried Muslims 245 192 28 32 --Christians (hane) ----29 60 120 Unmarried Christians ----8 ----------21 --Gypsies

1516=BOA, stanbul, TD 77; 1530= BOA, stanbul, TD 370; 1570= BOA, stanbul, TD 494; 1595=T.K.G.M., Ankara, Edirne 65; 1614= BOA, stanbul, TD 729.

Table 3: Population of stanimaka (1516-1595)

Date 1516 (925 H.) 1525 (932 H.) 1530 (937 H.) 1570 (978 H.) 1595 (1003 H.) Muslims (hane) 11 13 13 7 13 (+8) iftliks Unmarried Muslims --4 4 ----Christians (hane) 206 220 220 351 416 Unmarried Christians 14 22 22 ----Christian Widows 28 25 25 ------7 4 Gypsies (hane) ---

1516=BOA, stanbul, TD 77; 1525=BOA, stanbul, MAD 519; 1530= BOA, stanbul, TD 370; 1570= BOA, stanbul, TD 498; 1595=T.K.G.M., Ankara, Edirne 563

79

Table 4: Population of Tatar Bazar (1472-1614)

Date Muslims (hane) 1472 (877 H.) 1516 (925 H.) 1525 (932 H.) 1530 (937 H.) 1570 (978 H.) 1595 (1004 H.) 1614 (1023 H.) 414 --100 ----34 7 287 5 44 --------231 1 28 ----1 --178 16 ----------195 18 13 2 ------197 36 1 --------105 Unmarried Muslims --Christians (hane) --Unmarried Christians --Christian Widows --Gypsies (hane) --Jews (hane) ---

1472=Sofia Archive, PD 17/27 and OAK 94/73; 1516=BOA, stanbul, TD 77; 1525=BOA, stanbul, MAD 519; 1530= BOA, stanbul, TD 370; 1570= BOA, stanbul, TD 494; 1595=T.K.G.M., Ankara, Edirne 65; 1614= BOA, stanbul, TD 729.

80

Figure 1: Muslim Population of Filibe (1472-1614)

Figure 1
1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0

877 791 549

801 636

844 752 721

1472

1489

1516

1525

1530

1570

1595

1614

Figure 2: Christian Population of Filibe (1472-1614)

Figure 2
300 250 200 150 100 50 0 95 80 88 79 81 88 156 255

1472

1489

1516

1525

1530

1570

1595

1614

81

Figure 3: Households and Unmarried in Eski Zara and Tatar Bazar (1516)

Figure 3
Hane 516

600

500

400

300

Unmarried 48%

Hane 197

200

100

Unmarried 18%

0 1 2

Eski Zara

Tatar Bazar

82

Figure 4: Muslim Population of Eski Zara (1516-1614)

Figure 4
800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 516 497 709 723 470

1516

1530

1570

1595

1614

Figure 5: Christian Population of Eski Zara (1570-1614)

Figure 5
140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

120

60 29

1570

1595

1614

83

Figure 6: Christian Population of stanimaka (1516-1595)

Figure 6
450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 206 220 220 351 416

1516

1525

1530

1570

1595

Figure 7: Christian Population of Tatar Bazar (1516-1614)

Figure 7
120 100 80 60 40 20 0
13 1 0 28 44 100

1516

1525

1530

1570

1595

1614

84

Figure 8: Muslim Population of Tatar Bazar (1472-1614)

Figure 8
450 400 350 300 250 200 105 150 100 50 0
287 197 231 195 178 414

1472

1516

1525

1530

1570

1595

1614

85

86