Constructing Ottoman Beneficence

Amy Singer

Description

Ottoman charitable endowments (waqf) constituted an enduring monument to imperial beneficence and were important instruments of policy. One type of endowment, the public soup kitchen (imaret) served travelers, scholars, pious mystics, and local indigents alike. Constructing Ottoman Beneficence examines the political, social, and cultural context for founding these public kitchens. It challenges long-held notions about the nature of endowments and explores for the first time how Ottoman modes of beneficence provide an important paradigm for understanding universal questions about the nature of charitable giving.

A typical and well-documented example was the imaret of Hasseki Hurrem Sultan, wife of Sultan Süleyman I, in Jerusalem. The imaret operated at the confluence of imperial endowment practices and Ottoman food supply policies, while also exemplifying the role of imperial women as benefactors. Through its operations, the imaret linked imperial Ottoman and local Palestinian interests, integrating urban and rural economies.

List of Maps and Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Note on Ottoman Turkish and Arabic Transliterations

Introduction

1. "Devote the fruits to pious purposes"

What is a waqf?
The roots of waqf
Why found a waqf?
The Ottomans

2. A Bowl of Soup and a Loaf of Bread

The written record
Institutions of the endowment
Endowed properties
Personnel
Soup
Why Jerusalem?

3. Ladies Bountiful

The conflated traditions: Hurrem-Helena
Beneficence and women in Islamic history

Early examples
The Byzantine factor
Turco-Mongol heritage
The Ottomans

The Gender of Beneficence

4. Serving Soup in Jerusalem

A report from the 'imaret
On management
Getting started
Tax arrears and firewood
Food for all
Building a bath
Dealing in grain
Adding to the endowment

5. Feeding Power

Provisioning

Istanbul and Topkapı Palace
Provincial towns
The army on campaign
Janissaries
Hajj caravans

On the word 'imaret
Pre-Ottoman precedents
An Ottoman institution

Conclusion: Practicing Beneficence

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Charities
• Charitable organization
• History of the Middle East
• Middle East
• Islam

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791488768
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

C ONSTRUCTING  O TTOMAN  B ENEFICENCE

SUNY SERIESIN  N EAR  E ASTERN  S TUDIES

C ONSTRUCTING  O TTOMAN  B ENEFICENCE

A I S K J N MPERIAL OUP ITCHEN IN ERUSALEM

A MY  S INGER

S TATE  U NIVERSITYOF  N EW  Y ORK  P RESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2002 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Singer, Amy. Constructing Ottoman beneficence : an imperial soup kitchen in Jerusalem / Amy Singer. p. cm. — (SUNY series in Near Eastern studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-5351-0 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-5352-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Waqf—Jerusalem—History. 2. Endowments—Jerusalem—History. 3. Turkey—History—Ottoman Empire, 1288–1918—History. I. Title. II. Series.

BP170.25.S56 2002 361.7’5’09569442—dc21

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2002024171

To my teachers

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C ONTENTS

List of Maps and Illustrations Acknowledgments Abbreviations Note on Ottoman Turkish and Arabic Transliterations Introduction

Chapter One“Devote the fruits to pious purposes” What is a waqf? The roots of waqf Why found a waqf? The Ottomans

Chapter TwoA Bowl of Soup and a Loaf of Bread The written record Institutions of the endowment Endowed properties Personnel Soup Why Jerusalem?

Chapter ThreeLadies Bountiful The conflated traditions: Hurrem-Helena Beneficence and women in Islamic history Early examples The Byzantine factor Turco-Mongol heritage The Ottomans The Gender of Beneficence

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ix xi xiii xv 1

15 17 22 25 32

39 44 46 48 54 58 65

71 73 81 81 83 86 88 93

VIII

C ONTENTS

Chapter FourServing Soup in Jerusalem A report from the ºmaret On management Getting started Tax arrears and firewood Food for all Building a bath Dealing in grain Adding to the endowment

Chapter FiveFeeding Power Provisioning Istanbul and Topkapı Palace Provincial towns The army on campaign Janissaries ‹ajj caravans On the word ºmaret Pre-Ottoman precedents An Ottoman institution

Conclusion: Practicing Beneficence Notes Bibliography Index

99 99 104 105 108 112 117 121 125

131 132 133 136 138 140 140 143 145 152

159 171 207 229

C ONTENTS

L ISTOF  M APSAND  I LLUSTRATIONS

IX

Cover illustration“Die großherrliche Küche,” #12 in F. Taeschner, Alt-Stambuler Hof- und Volksleben, Ein Türkisches Miniaturenalbum aus dem 17. Jahrhundert (Hannover: Orient-Buchhandlung Heinz Lafaire, 1925, reprinted Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1978). This album includes a rare glimpse of many scenes from everyday life. The illustration depicts the kitchen of a well-to-do notable, probably similar to, though smaller than, that of the HaÍÍeki Sultan ºmaret. Three, possibly four, stages of food preparation are depicted: preparing the cooking fire with large pieces of wood; cooking soup in a huge cauldron over a blazing fire; carrying the cauldron full of soup, heavy enough to re- quire four men to lift it; and, possibly the head cook, supervising service of soup into bowls. The several smoking chimneys emphasize how much activity such a kitchen generated, with the chimneys in the background suggesting the presence of a baking oven and/or another hearth in an adjacent room. Courtesy of Widener Library, Harvard University. Permission from copyright holder Biblio Verlag (Bissendorf).

Figure 2.1

Figure 2.2

Figure 2.3

Map I.1

Map 2.1

North façade, an eighteenth-century drawing.

Doors in the north façade.

Overall ground plan.

The Old City of Jerusalem.

Endowed villages.

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