Abstract:

Many religious, social, economic and cultural works such as mosque, small mosque, seminary school, soup kitchen, convent, caravansary, public bath and tomb were constructed in the district of Niksar during the Danismendid, Seljukid and Ottoman periods since the XIIth century. This fact have been confirmed by archival documents and historical works from the old periods. The rich social and economic potential of Niksar with its position on east-west and south-north roads, its warm climate and fertile agricultural lands provided an important contribution to the construction of these works. As generally seen throughout the Ottoman Empire, these religious, social, economic and cultural works built in Niksar have continued their existences with the help of waqfs revenues. In this study, it will be dealt with only the waqfs of a school and a mosque constructed in Niksar with a convent built in the village of Başçiftlik by Sinan Bey from the rich waqfs existing in the district of Niksar during the Ottoman period. Although there exist some studies on the waqfs of Sinan Bey, they do not examine these waqfs completely from their beginnings to today. From the waqf works of Sinan Bey, only Taş Mektep has reached to the present day. The sources of the study are the archival documents from those periods and related research studies. The aim of this study is to examine the waqfs of Sinan Bey as a whole and contribute to the social and economic history of Niksar.

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