Ottoman society During XVIII. and XIX. century in the British and French travel books

This study whose limits we have determined for XVIII. and XIX. centuries, examines the impressions of British and French travelers who came to Ottoman State for religious, political, sightseeing and military purposes in Ottoman society in this two hundred year period. The main aim of the study is to examine Ottoman society and the social and cultural experiences of this society by evaluating informations transmitted by these travel books, which are important sources for the Ottoman social history. While the scope of the work was determined, informations provided by the British and French travelers on the Ottoman society were taken as basis and these issues were emphasized. The focus of our study of both British and French travel books is to understand that what the main causes of different point of view of the representatives of the two communities and the travel book, who had the different cultural and political backgrounds in the same period. Differences in the beliefs and viewpoints of the communities in which these representatives belong may lead to exaggeration, unrealistic description, narration and interpretation. In addition to travel books in the study, research works also related to the subject were also utilized and the subject matter integrity was tried to be ensured.The study consists of two chapters. In the first chapter, It was examined that the definition and characteristics of travel books, source value of these travel books for Ottoman social history and the importance of paintings and engravings in travel logs. In the second chapter, It was examined under subheadings that social life of Muslim and non-Muslim people, which are the two main elements of Ottoman society. It was researched that the family life, women, children, life at home, traditions and religious beliefs of the Ottoman society.