Halil İnalcık

A register of the population and the domestic and religious buildings of the city of Istanbul was drawn up on the order of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror in the year of 1455. Parts of the register survived in two pieces - one in the Ottoman Archives in Istanbul, and a copy of the other in a personal library. This book is the first publication of these two pieces as a whole. The first section of the book consists of the facsimile of the register, and a modern copy by Prof. Halil İnalcik, together with an English translation of the whole register. The second section consists of a summary and interpretation of the register's text -along with a glossary of terms and expressions, a list of personal names, essays on hâne and cizye, and an annotated list of churches, monasteries and mosques. An appendix offers a set of complementary documents and sources.

The Ottoman Empire was one of the major empires of modern times, covering an area extending from the borderlands of Hungary to the North African coastal areas. This book provides a richly detailed account of its social and economic history, from its origins around 1300 to the eve of its destruction during World War I. In the four chronological sections, each by a leading authority, developments in population, trade, transport, manufacturing, land tenure and the economy are charted and analysed; an appendix examines Ottoman monetary history over the entire period. The breadth of its range and the fullness of its coverage make this an essential book for understanding contemporary developments in both the Middle East and the post-Soviet Balkan world.