Slavery and conversion of the slaves to Islam in the Ottoman Society

Abstract

XIX. yüzyıl sonlarına kadar, hemen bütün dünyada köle ticaretinin oldukça yaygın olduğunu biliyoruz. Özellikle harplerde elde edilen esirler “köle pazarları”na getiriliyor ve burada el değiştiren bu talihsiz insanlar yeni ve zor bir hayatı kabul etmek zorunda kalıyorlardı. Bu yazıda kısaca harpkölelik ilişkisi ile bu harp esirlerinin Osmanlı toplumunda nasıl bir kültürel değişime uğradıkları – ihtidalar esas alınarak- bir belgenin ışığı altında değerlendirilmeye çalışılacaktır.

In Bursa as well as in other cities of Anatolia, among the groups who had converted to Islam, the slaves occupied an important place. We know that the slave trade, throughout the middle ages, was very widespread all over the world. There were naturally thousands of captives and slaves in Anatolia. At the period of Seljuks, Yabanlu (a small fair place in east Anatolia) was an important market where slave trade was made.1 From Kipjaks, Georgians, Armenians and Greeks living in Muslim countries, briefly from all nationalities, slaves were bought and sold at this market. One of the principal sources of slaves at this period, was wars. It was during and after wars that thousands of people were, reciprocally, captured and then often sold into slavery