Özet:

The Turks who gave very important privileges and value to the animals throughout history gave great importance to the horses in the community life before and after Islam. It is stated that in Ottoman State especially the horses were well taken care of; foundations were established for the animals’ benefit and mandates were issued for the well use of the draught animals. The Qadi Registries, which are important documents for Ottoman historical researches are the books, containing registries regarding the decisions and activities of the qadi. It is possible to see the whole life dynamics of the period examined in these registries as one of the indispensable sources in the studies on Ottoman society structure. The objective of this study is to provide evidence regarding the fact that the documents concerning animal rights and protection are dated to earlier times in our history than in the western world. In the study, the Registries numbered 1 (H.919-927 / M.1513-1521) and numbered 2 (924-927 / 1518-1521) of the Qadi Registries of Istanbul Uskudar Court were examined and the documents concerning the protection and welfare of the horses within the decisions taken in the XVIth century by the Ottoman State were determined and obtained through the correspondences with the Court Records Archive of the Office of Istanbul Mufti; their transcriptions were made and analyzed. It is seen that 16 of the 822 documents registered in the Registry Book numbered 1 and 28 of the 902 documents registered in the Registry Book numbered 2 of the Qadi Registries of Istanbul Uskudar Court are related to the protection of the horses. Contrary to popular opinion, starting from the documents in question, it has been possible to document that the documents regarding the rights and the protection of the animals are dated to approximately 500 years before the western world.

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