This book examines early modern Jerusalem’s waqf system through an Ottoman provincial lens, analyzing how diverse social groups engaged with these endowments in judicial contexts. Conceptualizing waqfs—central to the city’s socioeconomic fabric and urban identity—as an interconnected “waqf network”, the research demonstrates the commodification of waqf offices among elites, and their enduring control over pious foundations. These processes reveal how provincial power structures mediated between imperial standards and local interests. Focusing on notable families who monopolized waqf-related privileges, the work reconstructs Jerusalemite society through multiple frameworks: imperial waqf policies, social hierarchies, notable–commoner relations, and intercommunal dynamics—positioning endowments as both economic assets and instruments of governance.
Bu kitap, erken modern dönem Kudüs’ündeki vakıf sistemini Osmanlı taşra perspektifinden incelemekte ve çeşitli sosyal grupların bu vakıflarla hukuki bağlamda nasıl etkileşime girdiğini analiz etmektedir. Kentin sosyo-ekonomik dokusu ve kentsel kimlğinin merkezinde yer alan vakıfları birbiriyle bağlantılı bir “vakıf ağı” olarak kavramsallaştıran araştırma, seçkinler arasında vakıf görevlerinin metalaşması ve bu kesimin hayır kurumları üzerindeki kalıcı denetimlerini ortaya koymaktadır. Bu süreçler, taşradaki güç yapılarının imparatorluk standartlarıyla yerel menfaatler arasında nasıl aracılık ettiğini gözler önüne sermektedir. Vakıfla ilgili ayrıcalıkları tekelleştiren önemli ailelere odaklanan çalışma, Kudüs toplumunu çoklu çerçevelerle yeniden inşa etmektedir: imparatorluk vakıf politikaları, sosyal hiyerarşiler, seçkinler-halk ilişkileri ve cemaatler arası dinamikler. Böylece vakıflar, hem ekonomik varlıklar hem de yönetim araçları olarak konumlandırılmaktadır.
Şerife Eroğlu Memiş, Ph.D. (2016 Hacettepe University), is Associate Professor of Ottoman Institutions and Civilization at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University. She has published monographs and many articles on Ottoman Jerusalem, including Petitioning the Waqf Cases: Conflict over the Abu Madyan Waqf, Old City of Jerusalem, at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century' (in Die Welt des Islams 62.2, Brill, 2021).
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
1 Introduction: Waqfs and Daily Life in the Ottoman Provinces
1 Purpose and Scope
2 Methodology and Sources
3 Microscale Review: State, Society, and the Waqf Institution in Early Modern Jerusalem
4 Sources
5 Research and Studies
2 A Provincial Base: Jerusalem
1 The City of Jerusalem: Charitable Endowments (Waqf) in Urban Everyday Life
2 The District of Jerusalem: an Administrative Organization
3 The City of Jerusalem from the Ottoman Conquest to the Rule of Muhammad Ali Pasha (1516–1831)
4 Conclusion
3 Waqf Networks in Jerusalem (1703–1831)
1 Muslim Waqfs
2 Christian Waqfs
3 Jewish Waqfs
4 Conclusion
4 Between the Ruling and Ruled: Notables and the Reʿāyā in Jerusalem’s Waqf Network
1 Urban Conditions and Social Structure
2 The Endowers and Their Status in Ottoman Jerusalem’s Waqf Network
3 Socio-economic and Demographic Characteristics of Waqf Officials in Jerusalem
4 Waqfs as a Source of Wealth and Influence and the Local Elite of Jerusalem
5 Ottoman State as the Distributer of Waqf Resources
6 Conclusion
5 The Impact of the Center on Provincial Relations: Waqf Applications in Jerusalem
1 Network of Relations in Waqf Practices
2 Interventions in Waqfs
3 Conclusion
4 Collection of Waqf Revenues and Limits of State Taxation
5 Conclusion
6 Conclusion Glossary
Appendix Bibliography
Index
This book primarily targets Ottoman historians, Islamic studies scholars, and urban historians, particularly graduate students and researchers specializing in waqf systems, Jerusalem studies, or provincial governance in the early modern Bilad al-Sham.