Waqfs founded by women in Ankara during the Ottoman period: A socio-cultural review (XIV-XIX. centuries)

During the period spanning the XIVth to the XIXth centuries, it is widely acknowledged that women held a significant social role within the Ottoman Empire, contributing substantially to family dynamics and engaging in various forms of constructive social participation. Beyond their roles as being mothers, wives, and sisters, women were active in manifold domains that proved beneficial to the community. Notably, they established charitable foundations in fields of education, religion, culture, and social welfare, which bore direct relevance to public life. Such waqfs, renowned for their contributions to society, fundamentally emanated from principles of mutual support and communal solidarity. In accordance with these principles, women in Ankara embarked upon the establishment of waqfs and endowments, perpetuating their legacy through charitable endeavors. Affluent women, In a manner analogous to their counterparts in other Ottoman urban centers, municipalities and also in Ankara, specifically within the temporal confines of our investigation, held between XIV-XIX. centuries demonstrated their philanthropic inclinations by either founding charitable institutions autonomously, augmenting the endowments of existing establishments, or assuming administrative roles within these waqfs. These women significantly enriched the city's developmental landscape, enhancing its infrastructure, addressing its deficiencies, and fulfilling its exigencies through a spectrum of charitable initiatives. Their benevolent activities ranged from the construction of medreses, mosques, and fountains to the establishment of endowments tailored to the sustenance of local mosques, medreses, and other charitable institutions within their immediate vicinities. Within this narrative framework, individuals lived in Ankara such as Melike Hatun, Baci Hatun, Ziyade Hatun, Bula Hatun, Zeynep Hatun, Sitti Hatun, and numerous other female benefactors, as referenced within the text, embarked upon the founding of charitable institutions or actively contributed to existing ones, each attuned to the community's needs and welfare. This study heavily relied on primary sources. During the period under study, the waqfs established by women in Ankara and the charity they established were tried to be identified by using the waqf tahrir records, waqfs and various waqf records, which are prominent among the archival materials related to the subject in particular; in addition, books, articles, theses and academic studies related to the research subject and field were used. In this context, based on primary and secondary sources, in this study, basic information was provided about the waqfss established by women in Ankara and the charity they do. At the same time, it has been tried to make determinations about the socio-economic status and individual identities of these women.