Men of Modest Substance
House Owners and House Property in Seventeenth-Century Ankara and Kayseri

A study of two contrasting towns in Anatolia, based on documents from the kadi registers.

Suraiya Faroqhi (Author)

9780521522557, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 8 August 2002

292 pages
23 x 15.4 x 2.3 cm, 0.478 kg

This is a study of two contrasting towns in Anatolia in the seventeenth century. As house ownership was widespread, data concerning value, description, location and ownership of dwellings constitute a valid manner of approaching urban society as a whole. Through her use of documents from the kadi registers of Ankara and Kayseri, Dr Faroqui follows changes in patterns of house ownership over approximately a century. The urban society thus revealed differs from the patterns generally associated with the 'Islamic city' model. Townsmen often bought real estate without selecting a quarter inhabited by their co-religionists, which throws light on the Muslim majority's attitude to the Christian minority. However examples of wealthy and poor quarters were not known. The kadi registers also indicate that despite passing through a period of crisis early in the century, both cultures managed a fairly rapid recovery from this.

Tables
Graphs
Illustrations
Figures
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
1. Setting the scene: two cities of central Anatolia
2. The physical shape of urban houses
3. The cost of buying a house
4. Urban property-owners
5. The difficulties of an urban property-owner
Conclusion
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]