The structural and functional characteristics of the ottoman city : an interpretation of the multifaceted urban relations

Abstract

This work is a two part inquiry into the nature of the Ottoman urban settlements in a certain context. In the first part a broad classification of three important functional and structural characteristics of the Ottoman city are evaluated. In the second part follows a discussion regarding the urban relations experienced both internally and externally. While considering these relations grouped under some general headings, an interpretation of certain correlations between them and the previously examined urban characteristics is provided taking different cities of the Ottoman geography as examples. Original Ottoman documents from especially the Court Registers provide additional insight into the various administrative, social and economic mechanisms within towns and cities. They also shed light into a number of issues associated with some of the internal relations of cities as well as external ones which develop in conjunction with the socio-economic and geographic qualities of the near and distant environment.