ILLEGAL CRIMES COMMITTED IN USKUDAR AND KAYSERI

Abstract

Uskudar and Kayseri were two different settlements in the first quarter of the 17th century with their different locations, economic and cultural structures. In that period, Uskudar was in a central location as it was adjacent to the capital city. It was also a busy center that served as the gateway to Istanbul during the Celali Revolts. This situation made Uskudar an active place in terms of economy and culture. It can be said that the influence of the single chambers established in Uskudar, which especially enriched in terms of population, on crimes and the existence of business councils they organized, enriched Uskudar in a negative sense in terms of unethical cases. On the other hand, Kayseri was a settlement that became the capital city during the Seljuk period. In the first quarter of the 17th century, it came to the fore with its cultural and commercial dynamism, where the transportation routes in the east-west, north-south directions intersected, and attracting attention with its conservative structure far from the center. These two settlements, which attracted attention with their different characteristics in the same time period, played an active role in the pros and cons, the rate of crimes and the reflection of cases in the court. Especially in cases such as adultery, prostitution and rape, the cases reflected in the Kayseri court were limited compared to Uskudar. Especially in rural areas and in places where the conservative structure was effective, due to the existence of various factors -cultural pressure, material and moral difficulties in reaching the court, economic inadequacies - it makes us think that cases are less likely to be brought to court by women. It is known that there are many cases that were created by the notables of the neighborhood in places where it is more difficult to reach the court, and that acted like the court before the court mentioned by Leslie Peirce, and that were resolved through mediation and that were not submitted to the court. Thus, the possibility that the cases that were resolved did not reach the court, might be another reason for the scarcity of records reflected in the court. When many different factors are compared for both settlements, the existence of a common point is also striking. It has been observed that the neighborhood culture and its control over crimes are valid in both settlements. In this study, it will be tried to determine the crimes committed in both settlements and the driving and hindering situations in the occurrence of these crimes. Thus, the pulse of the society will be tried to be kept through the cases reflected in the Uskudar and Kayseri courts.