XVII. Yüzyılın İlk Yarısında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Köylü-Devlet İlişkileri: Ankara ve Aydın Örneği

Abstract

The Ottoman State built its economy and state order on the traditional agricultural society. For his reason, peasant have a vital role in society in terms of the contitnuity of production and the develeopment of the economy. Because the state tried to guarantee the rights of the peasants with certain laws and contracts, thus wanted to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and loyalty. However, in practice, this order did not work as flawlessly as it might seem. The change, confusion and crisis environment, especially in the late 16th and 17th centuries, brought some problems in peasant-state relations. On the one hand, the peasant, who tried to deal with the bandits, also had to deal with the corruption of local administratos and tax officials. The state on the other hand, tried to ensure the peace and security of the peasants and the society, sometimes by assigning duties and rank to the rebels and sometimes by punishing them. The aim of this study is to present a different perspective on the peasant-state relotionship through the examples of Aydin and Ankara, based on various sources. Accordingly, the issues of how the developments in the said period were perceived by the peasant-state, what attitudes and strategies were developed in the face of problems, and how this situation affected the social order are examined in a comparative and holistic way.