Contributions of foundations in Kütahya to social and economic life in XVIII. century

Kütahya came under domination of Turks in 12th century. Starting from this date, the city started to be shaped with Turkish-Islamic synthesis. Many constitutions such as Islamic lodges and zawiyahs at first, then mosques, madrasas (Moslem theological schools), imarets were established as foundations; and these were tried to be subsisted with the help of foundations. All foundations used to take on many services like religional, educational and municipal services which are main duties of the state nowadays. In consequence of being the state capital of Ottoman Empire for centuries, Kütahya is an important city in terms of functioning of the foundations. Therefore, examining the reflection of newly established and existing foundations in the 18th century to the city in social and economic terms forms the main object of this research. In addition, some problems that foundation system had been exposed to before the establishment of the Ministry of Foundation (Evkaf Nezâreti) have been observed in Kütahya. Thus, to shed a light on the reasons that connects the foundations to a ministry from a local point of view have been tried.