New Data on the Main Features of the Social Structure of Istanbul in the Aftermath of the Vak‘a-i Hayriyye: A Summary Inventory of the Istanbul Population Census for the Period of 1830-31

Abstract

This article examines a Summary Inventory of the Istanbul Population Census of 1831. It is a synopsis of the population registers of the Istanbul census of 1831, which until now have not been recovered in the Ottoman archives. Though this document has been referred to in previous research literature, there has never been a thorough analysis of its content. The Summary Inventory provides data on Muslim and non-Muslim male population of Istanbul as well as of the three kadidistricts of Eyüb, Galata and Üsküdar. The Muslim population is covered in terms of its distribution within the twelve urban regions (kol ) and its neighborhoods while distinguishing the married males (müte’ehhil) from the bachelor provincials (bekârân) and also indicating underage males. The same data set is also provided for categories such as medreses, flour mills and oven, commercial inns (han), Imperial Palace and the Sublime Porte complex. The Greek, Armenian, Jewish and Catholic community population data, on the other hand, are represented in terms of different poll-tax levels, which in turn allows us to deduce income distribution patterns within each community. On the basis of these data, a population estimation of Istanbul of 1831 has been attempted.