Credit and financing in early modern Ottoman Empire: The Galata example

---

Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2012

Öğrenci: SÜMEYYE HOŞGÖR

Danışman: GÜÇLÜ TÜLÜVELİ

Özet:

The present study aims to reveal the credit practice in Galata region in seventeenth century, through dealing with the credit relations between religious groups and the position of women in economic relations as the main themes. Galata was one of the most important international trade ports in seventeenth century for not only the Otoman Empire but also the Mediterranean region. While it was expected that the credit organization in Galata should be different than the ones of priorly studied cities of Anatoli, Kayseri and Bursa, as a result of the combination of multinational structure of the region and its important trade port characteristics, it is seen that Galata was similar to the other cities with regard to the credit organization. Paralel to the results of other studies, it is observed that money exchange between religious groups was intensive and both Muslim and non-Muslim women were actively involved in economic life, by analyzing court records that belonged to the seventeenth century. The existance of credit relations without heed to religious or gender differences proved the existance of trust feeling between the groups. Like the previous studies about the practice of credit and credit organization in other Ottoman cities, this thesis attempts to help to understand the socio- economic structure of the Otoman society.