Ottoman Women - Softcover

Sancar, Asli

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1597841153 ISBN 13: 9781597841153

Publisher: Tughra Books, 2007

Synopsis

Guided by the accounts of such female travelers as Lady Montagu, Julia Pardoe, and Lucy Garnett, all of whom lived in Ottoman lands for significant periods of time, this beautifully illustrated book explores?and hopes to overturn?the 19th-century stereotypes of Ottoman women. Both Eastern and Western accounts of Turkish society during that time made much of the harem, with the Orientalists describing Turkish women as exotic, indolent, and depraved, while some European writers described them as noble and elegant. Then, with the advent of the first women?s movement in the West, the harem began to be criticized as an institution that trapped women and enforced their submission to men. All of these ideas were refuted by Montagu, Pardoe, and Garnett, who argued that Ottoman women were perhaps the freest in the world; this book backs up that claim with historical research showing that women frequently prevailed in cases against their husbands and other male relatives in the Ottoman courts.

About this title

About the Author:

Asli Sancar is a writer and lecturer on women's issues. She lives in Istanbul.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Women could inherit or purchase property or receive it in the form of mehr from their husbands or as a gift. Ottoman women were particularly active in the area of buying, selling and leasing real estate, which provided them with an important source of financial security.

In a study made on 17th century records of estates in Bursa, a third of the women studied owned houses. The Kayseri court registers show that "the women of Kayseri accumulated an extraordinary proportion of the lands and property in the city." For example, 40% of 1602 land and property transfers involved at least one woman. In another study made on 18th century Aleppo court records, women were involved in 63% percent of property sales. Ottoman women's ability to accumulate wealth is corroborated by statistics regarding the establishment of pious foundations. According to registrations in Istanbul in 1546, 36% of the foundations were established by women. In addition to extensive property ownership that included orchards, gardens and shops as well, Ottoman women also owned farm implements and animals plus household items, clothing, textile goods, jewelry and slaves. They made wide-ranging cash business investments and large formalized loans, all of which attest to the serious financial involvement of women in Ottoman society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tughra Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1597841153
• ISBN 13: 9781597841153
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 191