Bakhchysarai (1650-1675)

Urban history studies should be considered as important base for the elements that form society, its socio-economic structure, religious life and culture. This dissertation examines Bakhchyisarai, the capital city of Crimean Khanate, from spatial, administrative, social, economic and cultural aspects between the years 1650 and 1675. The lack of an extensive study on Bakhchyisarai neither in Turkey nor in other countries has made it necessary to address this issue. The purpose here is to shed light on the lives, ideas and expectations of urban people, their attitudes towards law and their roles in the social and economic life in the 17th century by writing the micro history of Bakhchyisarai over a certain period. In this context, the first part of the thesis attempts to make spatial analysis of the structures that form the city. The extent to which Bakhchyisarai displays the characteristics of a Turkish-Ottoman city is evaluated through the structure forming the city after enquiring how the city was founded and where its name came from, using the program called Edraw-Max, the visuals of the two neighbourhoods of the city were created to make judgements as to who the neighbours were and whether the buildings were constructed and laid out in a regular or random manner. The second part of tells about the residents of the city and explains some aspects of their life. The ethnic groups that formed the urban population, local elders, the houses they lived in, the things they ate and drunk are all studied. How they got married, why they got divorced, what kind of problems led to go to court and the crimes they committed are also examined. The third part reviews the artisans, production, consumption, agriculture, husbandry, goods and the money and measures they used. In the fourth part the activities of domestic and foreign traders and commercial relationship with the Ottoman Empire are explained and then slavery, slave sources, slave market, the master-slave relationship, desertion and legal struggles of the slaves as well as the methods of emancipation are studied.