Record group ŞS - Ottoman Court Records

Identity area

Reference code

İKA ŞS

Title

Ottoman Court Records

Date(s)

  • M. 1455-1948 (Creation)
  • H. 860-1368 (Creation)

Level of description

Record group

Extent and medium

23.692 defter
2.447.479 varak
3.496.413 sayfa

Context area

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

Related descriptions

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

Final

Level of detail

Partial

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.

Accession area