Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- M. 1455-1948 (Creation)
- H. 860-1368 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
23.692 defter
2.447.479 varak
3.496.413 sayfa
Context area
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Şer'iyye Registers are the notebooks recorded in the courts of the Ottoman period. These registers, which contain the legal proceedings of the society in the center and provinces of the Ottoman Empire, are an important source for research in the social, economic, legal, demographic and architectural fields of Ottoman history. They are considered to be primary sources for understanding the functions of local administration, the structure of cities and social order. Today, these registers provide researchers with the opportunity to go deeper into Ottoman history and conduct micro-level studies.
The content of the registers includes all kinds of records related to civil law such as legal disputes, inheritances, inheritance divisions, marriage and divorce, notarial procedures (purchase-sale, lease, donation, debt exchange, loan transactions), criminal cases, municipal activities and the price regulations, documents related to the disposal, construction and repair of foundations and/or public buildings, copies of provisions and edicts from the center, and social and economic issues of the society.
The earliest examples of Shar'iyye Registers in the Ottoman Empire belong to the court of Bursa. The first examples of the registers, dated 1455, were kept regularly until the beginning of the twentieth century, even though they have been become narrower in terms of the subjects they covered due to the establishment of new courts in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The ISAM Library Archive is the most comprehensive collection of qadi registers in the world, including those of Istanbul, Anatolia, the Balkans and some cities in the Middle East. The total number of registers is 23,770, and they can be examined digitally at the İSAM Library.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Open Fond.
System of arrangement
It is classified at the fond and item level. Each office of kadi or naib (district) is classified at the fund (fonds) level, and the notebooks (Şeriyye registers) are classified at the item level.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
For Master's and Phd Students:
While there are no restrictions on requests for individual pages from the Sharia Registers, there are certain institutional protocol rules for researchers requesting entire volumes. If a letter with a wet signature from the advisor is provided, digital copies of up to five entire volumes could be shared. Subsequent requests for complete volumes could be fulfilled at a later date.
For university members:
The above rules apply without a letter from an advisor.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- Ottoman Turkish
- Arabic
Script of material
- Arabic
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
They are all dijital.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Classified according to ISAD-G standard.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- Turkish
Script(s)
- Latin
Sources
Archivist's note
The arrangement of the Sharia Registers was carried out by Dr. Kenan Yıldız.