Transcription and evaluation of the 28 Kal'abend Notebook

Those who were accused of disturbing the peace of individuals or society and disturbing the order in the Ottoman Empire were also tried within the framework of the laws in the cases heard in the Dewan. The decisions taken in the proceedings were recorded in the Kal'abend Notebooks. In the Kal'abend Notebooks, it is possible to encounter criminals from all segments of society. For this reason, the notebook offers rich content related to the social and legal situations experienced in the range of date it was written. The aim of the Ottoman judicial system was to ensure equal justice to the subjects of the state through the unification of "şer'i" and customary law. For this purpose, the study covering the years 1798-1804 sought answers to questions such as what was considered a crime, how the judicial and decision-making process worked, how the same crime ended if it was committed by people of different religions and statuses, and what kind of penalties were applied. In the Kal'abend Notebook, there are rulings related to the forgiveness of criminals as well as rulings related to punishments. In these rulings, the persons who demanded forgiveness could sometimes be criminals, sometimes be family members, and sometimes be officials of the military class of the state. The offender was not directly forgiven and was subjected to certain conditions in order not to be involved in the crime again. In addition to these, an inspector was appointed for the transfer of the offender to the penal place. If the offender did manage to escape, the officials in the area were sent relevant orders that assigned them to arrest him. Ottoman legislators tried to ensure public order in society with the sanctions and measures they applied and to reintegrate criminals to society. In the study was the assessment and transcription of the Kal'abend Notebook No. 28 performed. In addition, information was given from the rulings in the book about the crimes in the Ottoman Empire, the regions where the crimes occurred, the penalties applied to the criminals and the regions where the criminals served their sentences. The Notebook also contains information on the release of offenders. The reasons on which the criminals were released, and the duration of their sentences are also determined from the rulings in this book. In addition, information about the administrative, social, and economic structure of the Ottoman Empire can be obtained from the Kal'abend Notebooks. Keywords: Law, crime, punishment, Kal'abend, exile, forgiveness.