Özet:

In the studies of Ottoman history, population and dividend books prepared in the XIX century provide important data in social and economic history studies. In this article, the demographic and social structure and economic status of Kovancılar, a Muslim village, and Gölcük, a non-Muslim (zimmî) village, located in the Çirmen district, which was an essential district in Ottoman Rumelia, has been examined comparatively. The primary sources we use are the population and dividend books of the said villages. Accordingly, the main livelihood of Kovancılar village of 26 houses is agriculture and animal husbandry. In the non-Muslim village of Gölcük, which has 14 houses and has a higher income, coal is the most important source of income. Under the new tax system introduced by the Tanzimat, a tax named apportioned tax was collected from both villages, apart from religious taxes. It is observed that Tanzimat's principle of taxation in accordance with everyone's level of income was applied in these two villages located in Rumelia. The total annual income of Gölcük village, which has less population, is higher than Kovancılar village. Gölcük village obtains the majority of its total annual income from coal mining. However, more than half of the total annual income in Kovancılar village is obtained from agriculture and animal husbandry.