Sayyids in Kayseri in the 17th century

With the practice of the Caliph Umar granting two thousand dirhams each to the children of those who participated in the Battle of Badr, and five thousand dirhams each to the Prophet's grandsons Hasan and Hussein, the descendants of the Prophet who were called sayyid and sharif became a privileged social group. This process was supported by implementations such as institutionalization to ensure the protection of sayyids and sharifs and the perpetuation of their privileges in the Umayyads, Abbasids, and other Islamic states. In accordance with this historical process, the Ottoman Empire, like the Islamic states before it, granted some privileges to sayyids and sharifs and established an organization called nakib al-ashraf (chief of the prophet's descendants) to look after them. Some general studies have been conducted on these regulations of the Ottoman Empire towards the sayyids and sharifs and their conditions during this period. This thesis, on the other hand, focuses on the Ottoman sayyids and sharifs on a smaller scale in the XVII. century Kayseri sanjak. Firstly, the thesis provides information about the court records that provide a source for the thesis. In the first part of the thesis, based on the information in the literature, the structure and duties of the nakib al-ashraf institution established by the Ottoman Empire for sayyids and sharifs, the policies implemented, and the status of sayyids and sharifs within the framework of Ottoman social life are examined. In the second section, the neighborhoods and villages in which the sayyids dwelt, the professions they had, and the duties they fulfilled in the XVII. century Kayseri sanjak is presented. In the third part, the family structure, economic relations and activities, their role in the foundation institution, and their relations with the slaves they owned are described. In this way, a step is made towards the illumination of the subject of the sayyids who lived in the XVII. century Kayseri sanjak, which is an essential element of the Ottoman social structure.