Surviving Istanbul
Struggles, Feasts and Calamities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
9786258022407
Distributed for Koç University Press
Surviving Istanbul
Struggles, Feasts and Calamities in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
A fascinating exploration of everyday life in premodern Istanbul.
In Surviving Istanbul, Suraiya Faroqhi takes the reader to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Istanbul, with occasional forays into earlier and later periods, focusing in particular on the city’s ordinary inhabitants. From the foods eaten and the streets traversed, to the miseries endured because of recurring fires, Surviving Istanbul illustrates a city of immigrants, slaves, artisans, and rural dwellers supplying the urban markets, with all the struggles that living in (and around) the city entailed. At the same time, Faroqhi shows, the city’s relatively young population also found ways to have fun, such as celebrating at public festivals or taking a swim in a river emptying into the Bosporus. Drawing on archival and narrative sources, with particular reliance on the impressions of Evliya Çelebi (1611–about 1685), this book offers a mosaic of daily life in premodern Istanbul.
In Surviving Istanbul, Suraiya Faroqhi takes the reader to seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Istanbul, with occasional forays into earlier and later periods, focusing in particular on the city’s ordinary inhabitants. From the foods eaten and the streets traversed, to the miseries endured because of recurring fires, Surviving Istanbul illustrates a city of immigrants, slaves, artisans, and rural dwellers supplying the urban markets, with all the struggles that living in (and around) the city entailed. At the same time, Faroqhi shows, the city’s relatively young population also found ways to have fun, such as celebrating at public festivals or taking a swim in a river emptying into the Bosporus. Drawing on archival and narrative sources, with particular reliance on the impressions of Evliya Çelebi (1611–about 1685), this book offers a mosaic of daily life in premodern Istanbul.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations 7
Acknowledgements 9
On Editorial Decisions and Copyrights 11
INTRODUCTION 13
The Travails and Occasional Pleasures of Life in Istanbul
PART ONE 43
Commentaries
CHAPTER ONE 45
Istanbul and Crete in the Mid-1600s:
Evliya Çelebi’s Discourse on Non-Muslims
CHAPTER TWO 65
What Happened in Istanbul’s Gardens and Beauty Spots?
Evliya Çelebi on Religion, Domination and Entertainment
CHAPTER THREE 83
Streets as Contested Spaces:
Istanbul against a Parisian Backdrop (1600–1850)
CHAPTER FOUR 115
Resat Ekrem Koçu Among the Historians:
Academic Credibility vs. the Enjoyment of History
PART TWO 139
Food and Water
CHAPTER FIVE 141
Before Döner: “Fast Food” in Pre-Tanzimat Istanbul
CHAPTER SIX 161
Should It Be Olives or Butter?
Consuming Fatty Titbits in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
CHAPTER SEVEN 177
No Business without Water!
Operating Khans, Baths and Factories in Nineteenth-Century Istanbul
PART THREE 195
Festivities and Calamities
CHAPTER EIGHT 197
Fireworks in Seventeenth-century Istanbul
CHAPTER NINE 211
Fires in Istanbul: Eighteenth-Century Reflections
on the Sultans’ Legitimacy
PART FOUR 229
The Working World
CHAPTER TEN 231
The Parades of Ottoman Guildsmen:
Self-assertion and Submission to the Sultan’s Command
CHAPTER ELEVEN 257
Making and Marketing Rough Woollens:
From Balkan Looms to Istanbul Shops
CHAPTER TWELVE 279
Did Cosmopolitanism Exist in Eighteenth-century Istanbul?
Stories of Christian and Jewish Artisans
CHAPTER THIRTEEN 299
Manumission in Seventeenth-century Suburban Istanbul
CHAPTER FOURTEEN 323
Captured in Üsküdar during the 1550s:
Fugitive Slaves and Their Clothing
CHAPTER FIFTEEN 335
Rural Conflicts Swirling around Istanbul’s Food:
Gegbuze/Gebze (District of Üsküdar) in the Mid-1700s
CHAPTER SIXTEEN 371
Istanbul in the Early Modern Period: A City of Migrants
Bibliography 399
Index 437
Acknowledgements 9
On Editorial Decisions and Copyrights 11
INTRODUCTION 13
The Travails and Occasional Pleasures of Life in Istanbul
PART ONE 43
Commentaries
CHAPTER ONE 45
Istanbul and Crete in the Mid-1600s:
Evliya Çelebi’s Discourse on Non-Muslims
CHAPTER TWO 65
What Happened in Istanbul’s Gardens and Beauty Spots?
Evliya Çelebi on Religion, Domination and Entertainment
CHAPTER THREE 83
Streets as Contested Spaces:
Istanbul against a Parisian Backdrop (1600–1850)
CHAPTER FOUR 115
Resat Ekrem Koçu Among the Historians:
Academic Credibility vs. the Enjoyment of History
PART TWO 139
Food and Water
CHAPTER FIVE 141
Before Döner: “Fast Food” in Pre-Tanzimat Istanbul
CHAPTER SIX 161
Should It Be Olives or Butter?
Consuming Fatty Titbits in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
CHAPTER SEVEN 177
No Business without Water!
Operating Khans, Baths and Factories in Nineteenth-Century Istanbul
PART THREE 195
Festivities and Calamities
CHAPTER EIGHT 197
Fireworks in Seventeenth-century Istanbul
CHAPTER NINE 211
Fires in Istanbul: Eighteenth-Century Reflections
on the Sultans’ Legitimacy
PART FOUR 229
The Working World
CHAPTER TEN 231
The Parades of Ottoman Guildsmen:
Self-assertion and Submission to the Sultan’s Command
CHAPTER ELEVEN 257
Making and Marketing Rough Woollens:
From Balkan Looms to Istanbul Shops
CHAPTER TWELVE 279
Did Cosmopolitanism Exist in Eighteenth-century Istanbul?
Stories of Christian and Jewish Artisans
CHAPTER THIRTEEN 299
Manumission in Seventeenth-century Suburban Istanbul
CHAPTER FOURTEEN 323
Captured in Üsküdar during the 1550s:
Fugitive Slaves and Their Clothing
CHAPTER FIFTEEN 335
Rural Conflicts Swirling around Istanbul’s Food:
Gegbuze/Gebze (District of Üsküdar) in the Mid-1700s
CHAPTER SIXTEEN 371
Istanbul in the Early Modern Period: A City of Migrants
Bibliography 399
Index 437