Enslaved women in the 18th-Century Ottoman Law

This study examines the rights, responsibilities, social status, and challenges of enslaved women in 18th-century Ottoman society from a legal perspective, drawing on Istanbul court records, the fatwa collections of the chief muftis (şeyhülislams), and imperial law codes (kanunnames). The research aims to reveal the legal background of slavery, particularly focusing on enslaved women, who held an important place in Ottoman society, by thematically classifying court records involving enslaved women and analyzing them comparatively with related rulings found in fatwas, legal codes, and Hanafi fiqh sources. In this context, the Istanbul court records hold particular significance due to the city's large slave population, the high number and diversity of cases, and the representation of different social groups within them. Through an analysis of court records, şeyhülislam fatwas, kanunnames, and fiqh literature, this study seeks to determine the extent to which the theoretical principles of Islamic jurisprudence overlapped with Ottoman legal practice and to explain the social and legal factors underlying any observed differences.