Modern banka gibi kurumların yeterince gelişmediği dönemlerde tüccarların, esnafların ve hatta sıradan halk için nakit paranın nakli ve finansman meselesi kişileri farklı yöntemleri kullanmaya yönlendirmiştir. Avrupa’da bu işlemler bankacılık faaliyetlerinin gelişmesiyle ve faizli borçlanma usulü ile gerçekleşmiştir. İslamiyet’in faize karşı uzak tutumu ve Avrupa’daki finansman yöntemlerinin İslam topraklarında görülmemesi Müslümanların bu konuda zorlandıkları izlenimi yaratmıştır. Ancak İslamiyet’in kendi içerisinde geliştirdiği kredi düzenlemeleri, borç alışverişi, iş ortaklıkları ve kredi mektupları gibi yöntemler ile Müslümanlar finansman işlerini halletmişlerdir. Osmanlı da Müslümanların geliştirdikleri bu yöntemleri 17. yüzyıla kadar kullanmışlardır. Galata, İstanbul’un fethinden önce ve sonrasında ticari etkinliği sürekli yüksek olan bir merkez olarak varlığını sürdürmüştür. Yüksek ticaret hacmine paralel olarak Galata şer’iyye sicillerinde finansman yöntemlerinden biri olan borçlanma ile ilgili pek çok kayıt bulunmaktadır. 1642-1643 tarihleri arasındaki Galata sakinlerinin borç davalarındaki eğilimlerini açığa çıkarmayı hedefleyen bu çalışmanın ana kaynağı 64 numaralı Galata şer’iyye sicilidir. Şer’iyye sicillerinin verdiği önemli bilgiler kullanılarak kişiler dinlerine, sosyal statülerine, borç alma-verme şekillerine ve mahkemeye gelme amaçlarına göre tasnif edilmiş ve bulgular, önceki çalışmalar ile karşılaştırılmıştır. 64 numaralı Galata şer’iyye siciline göre gayrimüslimler Müslümanlara nazaran borç davalarında daha fazla yer almışlardır. Kişilerin dinsel tasnifinde özellikle borç verme konusunda kapalı bir görüntü çizmediği ancak borç alma konusunda genellikle dindaşlarını tercih ettiği görülmüştür. Çalışmada görülen önemli bir başka sonuç ise kadınlar da dâhil olmak üzere her kesimden kişilerin borç davalarında yer aldığıdır. Sosyal statüsü sıradan halktan ayrılan askeriler, esnaflar ve hacı unvanını taşıyan kişilerin incelendiği kısımda ise her bir grup için farklı eğilimler gözlenmiştir.

In periods when institutions such as the modern bank were not sufficiently developed, the issue of cash transfer and financing for merchants, artisans and even ordinary people led people to use different methods. In Europe, these transactions were realized with the development of banking activities and the method of borrowing with interest. Islam's aloof attitude towards interest and the absence of European financing methods in Islamic lands created the impression that Muslims had difficulties in this regard. However, with the methods such as credit arrangements, debt exchange, business partnerships and letters of credit developed by Islam within itself, Muslims handled their finances. The Ottomans used these methods developed by Muslims without changing them until the 17th century.Galata continued its existence as a center with a high commercial activity before and after the conquest of Istanbul. The traces of the financing methods used by traders, tradesmen and even ordinary people can be seen in the Galata court registers. Parallel to the high trade volume, there are many records related to borrowing, which is one of the financing methods, in the Galata sharia registers. The main source of this study, which aims to reveal the tendencies of the residents of Galata in debt lawsuits between 1642 and 1643, is the Galata sharia register number 64. Using the important information provided by the Sharia registers, people were classified according to their religion, social status, borrowing and lending methods, and the purpose of coming to court, and the findings were compared with previous studies on different venues.The first thing to understand when looking at the records is that these proceedings were brought to court in the face of a problem. As a matter of fact, people could perform debt exchange transactions without ever going to court, based on the trust among themselves. The reasons for people coming to the court were situations such as not being able to collect the debt, not recovering the things that were pledged, collecting the debt from the person's estate after the death of the debtor, delaying the debt and paying the debt in installments.When we look at the 108 debt records in the Galata şer'iyye register number 64, it is seen that people from all religions and ethnic groups came to the court. When we look at the religious classification of the people who come to the court for any of the reasons mentioned above, we see the following picture; Muslims did not show a closed image about lending, but when it came to borrowing, they preferred their coreligionists to a high extent. Compared to Muslims, non-Muslims, whose effectiveness in lawsuits we see more, have a more liberal image. Among non-Muslims, the debt exchange between Jews is very low compared to Christian circles. It is thought that the reason why the transactions of the Jews are not reflected in the book is due to the attitude of the Jewish community to use the religious courts within itself. In addition, Jews did not see foundations as a source of debt or credit.In the classification made according to social status, the debt exchange transactions of the military class, tradesmen, pilgrims and official officials were examined. In these evaluations, persons belonging to the military class constitute the majority among those whose social status can be determined. It has been observed that the military invested in economic life in some debt cases. Craftsmen, on the other hand, are the group that constitutes the majority after the soldiers. The most important result that draws attention with the artisans is the financing interactions with the ordinary people. It is seen that the first choice of ordinary people whose status cannot be determined are the tradesmen in terms of borrowing. In addition, there are records that the tradesmen, whose efficiency is obvious in commercial life, made their transactions such as the supply of raw materials through debt exchange. The last group examined is the pilgrims who are registered with the title of el-Hâc. It was seen as an interesting nuance that the pilgrims were in the position of a lender except for one record. In addition, it is noteworthy that all the circles with which they enter into debt exchange are Muslims.