The rural face of demography in the ottoman provincial landscape: Traces of household structure and social order from the 1835 population book of Arguvan district (historical approaches to the demographic and social structure of the 19th-century Ottoman rural area)

Population data, which refers to the number of people living within the boundaries of a defined administrative unit at a given time, has always been of great importance to states throughout history. Thanks to such data, states have been able to organize their military structures and ensure the proper functioning of their economic systems by taking into account their tax potential. In this context, efforts to determine population figures can be traced back to very early periods. In the Ottoman Empire, it is known that various censuses (tahrirs) were conducted in different periods to determine the tax-paying population and the amount of tax to be collected. In the 19th century, a general census was carried out to determine the number of soldiers in the context of a newly established military system. This study presents the transcription and evaluation of the Population Register of the Arguvan District, numbered 2649 and dated AH 1250 / AD 1835, which contains the results of the aforementioned census. The villages affiliated with the Arguvan District, the male population living in these villages along with their age characteristics, and the number of households constitute the primary data obtained from the register. Thus, the significance and value of the data provided by population registers for studies in 19th-century urban history becomes evident. From this perspective, population registers occupy a crucial place in revealing the administrative units, populations, and—where applicable—economic potential of cities.