A micro perspective on social life through inheritance records of the janissaries residing in Istanbul (1748-1750)

As one of the world's important military factions, Janissaries and the janissary army have been examined from various aspects. Yet to this day, most of which have been on their military qualifiacations and the reasons for their achieving or losing these qualifications. Yet, after 1980s, the questions about the soldiers taking part in the socio-economic life started to attract interest. Which had the tendency to focus on the changes between 17th and 18th century because it is accepted that the Janissaries' taking part in the socio-economic life had their roots in the changes occured between the given centuries. In this study, how the janissaries adapted to life outside the hearth, in which ways they started to establish family ties, with which professions they participated in the business life of the city and how they build their personal wealth is examined. I examined the lives of Janissaries in Istanbul by studying the inheritance records of Janissaries in ten registers recorded by Istanbul Kısmet-i Askerîye Court between 1748-1750. It is known that these registers are records in which all the property of the deceased person is listed. Even though it is debatable whether these records illustrate all the wealth of a deceased person or not, nevertheless they are indispensable archive sources since they show the socio economic lives of Janissaries on the basis of, if any, family relations, professions, places of residence or neighborhoods, material relations with others, personal expenses and on what kind of materials they enjoyed spending their money. Due to these characteristics of these sources, the Janissaries should be examined through their own inheritance records. In this study, it is believed that analyzing 169 inheritance records supported with various other primary and secondary sources, will reveal the roles of the Janissaries of 18th century in Istanbul.