A spiritual family in the service of the Ottoman Empire: The Saruca Pasha family and foundations (1400-1910)

This study deals with the Saruca Paşaoğlu Umur Bey Foundation, which was founded by Saruca Pasha and united under a single roof by Umur Bey, its units, the types of services, it offered, the values it added to the socio-cultural field. The study consists of an introduction, six main chapters, a conclusions and appendices. In the introduction, includes the aim and the scope, of the study, an a literature review discussing the conquest of the Rumeli Region by the Ottoman Empire and the policies implemented in the region. In the first part, the origin of the foundation, its development process, the legal status of the foundation, developments in the Ottoman period, the status of the founders, the types of trusts established and the services provided by the foundation are covered, in the second part, the lives of Saruca Pasha, Umur Bey and Ali Bey, their duties in the Ottoman Empire and the wars they participated in. Are presented. In the third chapter, the foundations established by Saruca Pasha and Umur Bey, the service areas of the foundations, the settlements they serve, the rental income donated to the foundation and the types of rental income are discussed. In the fourth section, information is given about the administrative management of Saruca Paşaoğlu Umur Bey Foundation and the terms of office and wages of the personnel working in the facilities registered with the foundation. İn the fifth section information about the foundation's accounting is provided. In the last part of the study, the problems experienced in the foundation are discussed. After the conclusion section, which includes a general evaluation, the appendices section is added where documents and translations belonging to Saruca Paşaoğlu Umur Bey Foundation and current visuals of the buildings are shared.