Arhavi Kazası’nda İskân ve Nüfus (1486-1583)

Abstract

AYDIN, Kenan. Settlement and Population in Arhavi Town (1486-1583), Master‟s Thesis, Ankara, 2018 The Ottoman State established its own hegemony over a very large territory in which different communities from different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds lived together. It gave great importance to the system for counting the population in order to rule the territory under its own authority in a best manner possible. The system for counting the population was used with different names such as cadastral record books or population books. Today it is also an important historical source for the studies related with population and settlement. In this context the study aims to determine the population, settlement and the continuity of settlement locations in Arhavi between the years of 1486-1583. For this purpose detailed cadastral record books, brief books, brief account books, and population books were examined as an important source in terms of the Ottoman history of population and settlement. At the end of the examination the obtained findings show that Arhavi was affected by the ongoing struggle for domination between The Ottoman State, Safavids and Georgian principalities in the Caucasian territory. However, the findings also indicate that Arhavi and its affiliated villages kept their names without any changes between the years of 1486-1583. Moreover the findings points that the ongoing struggles for domination in the region led to some population movements (migration). The Muslim and non-Muslim population movements in the region which is located among Fındıklı, Arhavi and Hopa between the years 1564 and 1583 can be exemplified to this. The data obtained from the research also indicates that there are more questions needed to be answered regarding the history of the region. Key Words XV th century, XVI th century, Arhavi, Cadastral record books, Population, Settlement, The Ottoman State