Abstract:

As one of the important sources for studies of Ottoman urban history, the records of sharia courts are among the legal, social, political and economic sources of the Ottoman history and culture. These sources contain much information about the time they belong to, hence one can obtain kinds of knowledge from them in regard to a particular region’s administrative, financial, demographic, agricultural, military, social and familial characters, as well as aspects of daily life. This study is based on the records of the sharia court of Harput No. 350 and takes up the property sales that took place in 1662-1663. In the study, property sales in Harput in the given period are examined in terms of conditions, parties of transaction, their religious groups and genders. An overall evaluation shows that the reasons of these sales were sometimes trading one’s debts, sometimes need for capital, and sometimes meeting the needs of orphan children by their guardians.

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