1844 tarihli Beyşehir Kazası Nüfus Defteri, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü Osmanlı Arşivleri Daire Başkanlığında BOA, NFS.d katalogunda 3315 numarada kayıtlı bulunmaktadır. Tasnif sırasında verildiğini düşündüğümüz sayfa usulüne göre numaralandırılmış olan nüfus defteri 252 sayfadan oluşmaktadır. Defterle ilgili bilgi formunda verilen bilgilere göre, defterin başlangıç tarihi 7 Kasım 1844'tür. Her sayfada 8-10 satır ve her satırda da 3-4 isim bulunan defterin sayfa düzeni ve yazı bakımından itinalı tutulmuş olduğu söylenebilir. 1844 yılı Beyşehir Kazası nüfus kayıtları, hane esasına göre tutulmuştur. Kayıtlarda hane reisi esas alınmış, önce hane reisi yazıldıktan sonra sırayla o hanede yaşayan erkek nüfus kaydedilmiştir. Kadın nüfusa dair herhangi bir kayıt, bu defterde bulunmamaktadır. Deftere Beyşehir kaza merkezinde Hacı Armağan, Orta, Cami ve Dalyan olmak üzere 4 mahalle ve 34 köy kaydedilmiştir. Defterdeki kayıtlara göre, Beyşehir Kazası'nda 1844 yılında 2457 hane, 6480 erkek nüfus ve yaklaşık 13.000 kişi yaşamaktadır. 1844 yılı nüfus defteri verilerine göre, kaza merkezinde yaklaşık 400 hane yaşamakta olup, kentte 911 erkek ve 1822 kişi ikamet etmektedir. Beyşehir Kazası'ndaki yerleşimlerden yaşayan ailelerin yoğun olarak çekirdek aile özelliğini taşıdığı söylenebilir. Nüfus defterindeki kayıtlar Beyşehir Kazası'nda yaşayanların 3/2'sinin tarımla meşgul olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Beyşehir kaza merkezinde ise tarımla meşgul olanların oranı %30 civarındadır. Bu oranda bir ilişki bile şehirlerin hala büyük bir köy görünümünde olduğunu göstermektedir. Defterlerde düşülen notlara göre Beyşehir Kazası'nda kaydedilmiş 6480 erkekten 622'si İzmir, 63'ü İstanbul, 46'sı da başka yerlerde olmak üzere toplam 731 kişi, yani erkek nüfusunun %11,3 çalışmak amacıyla Beyşehir Kazası'ndan büyük şehirlere göç etmişlerdir. Bütün bunlara göre Beyşehir Kazası XIX. yüzyılın ortalarında tahminî 13.000 kişilik nüfusuyla orta seviyede bir yerleşim halinde kırsal nüfusunu büyük

Beyşehir District Civil Registry Book of 1844 is registered to number 3315 in BOA, NFS.d (Prime Minister’s Ottoman Archives, Civil Registry Book Catalogue) in the Department of Ottoman Archives in the Republic of Turkey Prime Minister’s General Directorate of State Archives. Having been numbered in accordance with the paging method which might have been chosen during classification, the civil registry book consists of 252 pages. According to the information given on the information form concerning the book, the starting date of the book was November 7, 1844. Containing 8-10 lines on each page, and 3-4 names on each line, the book was obviously kept with due diligence in terms of page layout and scripture. The civil registry of Beyşehir District in 1844 was kept based on household records. The head of the household was to be recorded first in the registry, respectively followed by the other male residents of that household. The book does not include any kind of registries concerning female population. The book specifies 4 neighborhoods called Hacı Armağan, Orta, Cami and Dalyan as well as 34 villages in the Beyşehir district center. According to the book entries, there were 2457 households, 6480 males and approximately 13,000 residents in Beyşehir District in 1844. According to the data on the civil registry book of 1844, there were 400 households in the district center, and 1822 residents of which 911 were males. It could be said that the majority of the families resident within Beyşehir District were nuclear families. The entries in the civil registry book show that 3/2 of the Beyşehir District residents were engaged in agriculture. The number of those engaged in agriculture in the Beyşehir district center was around 30%. Such a relation at even this rate indicates that the cities are still big villages. According to the notes taken on the books, of 6480 males registered in Beyşehir District, 622 emigrated to İzmir, 63 to İstanbul, and 46 to other places. In other words, 731 people, 11.3% of the male population emigrated from Beyşehir District to big cities to work there. Considering all, Beyşehir District in the mid-19th century was a medium level settlement of 13,000 people. Its demographic development pace was low due to the emigration of the rural population to big cities. One of the most important indicators of this situation is that a part of İzmir residents today are clearly of Beyşehir origin, regarding that 1 in 10 people living in Beyşehir immigrated to İzmir. The data given in the civil registry books of the 19th century of Ottoman empire are composed of the names, professions, appearance and age of the male residents of any region. The analysis of the registry books shows that the males were given a serial number according to which they were filed. Thus, at the first glance, the data in the registry books might seem as ordinary, simple and valueless statistics. What does it mean to know the names and ages of the people resident in a region 150-120 years ago or to see their professions were filed in sequence? To what extent do the subject data differs from the data from previous periods? What do all these data when put together? What kind 1844 Tarihli Nüfus Sayımına Göre Beyşehir Kazası 481 Turkish Studies International Periodical For the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic Volume 10/1 Winter 2015 of results can we infer from the data in the registry books? The primary question/conclusion of this study is to find out what kind of a picture is represented about Beyşehir, an Ottoman city, in the mid-19th century using the civil registry books. After all the inquiries, the study explicitly found out that the nuclear family structure was common among the people of Beyşehir and its surroundings and that the average number of children was 3, although the number of births were undoubtedly higher. This conclusion has resulted in repeating the cliche finding based on previous studies about even the Classical period Ottoman society that specifies the Ottoman family was a nuclear one containing 3 children and parents. Thus, the obtained data can be used only for repetition and approval. However, we can say that the Beyşehir distribution of population was a relatively young one, which is a new finding. The median age of men resident in Beyşehir was 21.3, which means that Beyşehir responded well to expectations of Ottoman State from this population census. 7.2% of the male residents in the city were still doing their military service; the large number of those who were not must have been recorded in this civil registry book. Some of the findings related the frequency and prevalence of some of the names display similarity with today’s Turkey. One out of six people in Beyşehir was named Mehmet. One out of five was named either Ali or Mustafa. One out of five was named either Hasan or Hüseyin. It is obvious that the people tended to name their children after their own fathers. It can be inferred that the love for the Family of the Prophet was quite common and strong. The Ottoman cities were not detached from agriculture as much as today’s cities are. Although the Books of Income offer quality information on this subject, the civil registry books confirm that Ottoman society and cities were not far from agricultural activities. The registry book of Beyşehir specify that 3/2 of the residents there were engaged in agriculture. Those who are engaged with agriculture in the Beyşehir city center amounted up to 30%. Such a large rate shows us that the cities still looked like large villages. The urban qualities of the city were displayed in practice of almost 40 industrial or commercial professions such as merchants, greengrocers, butchers, lumberjacks, coal dealers, saddlers, tailors, roasted chickpea sellers, bakers, pancake sellers, coffeehouse keepers, coffee stores, tobacco shops, oil sellers, draper, grocers, junk dealer, porters, painters, constructors, boatmen, whitesmiths, middlemen, cooks, muleteers, servants, potters, tanners, miller, saddle makers, carpenters, plumber, steward, hoopers, ironsmiths and blacksmiths. While some of the professions were practiced in the countryside to carry out agricultural activities, the urban population that could use the product of the countryside was involved more in industry and commerce. However, it is obvious that the Beyşehir registry books tell us that the land in Beyşehir and its surrounding and the industrial and commercial activities there were not large enough for the sustenance of the residents. If they had been, the residents would not have attempted to migrate to big cities. When the students and those at the military service are considered exceptional, the migrating population of 11.3% to big cities such as İzmir and İstanbul must have had a reason for such a movement. The civil 482 Hüseyin MUŞMAL – Müjgan ŞAHİNKAYA Turkish Studies International Periodical For the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic Volume 10/1 Winter 2015 registry books contain small notes of these motives, which are mostly called “destiny path”. In other words, the residents of Beyşehir were deprived of jobs that could provide them with their livelihood and sustenance in Beyşehir and around. Therefore, they left their homelands for the bigger cities looking for ‘the path of their destiny’. They applied for the jobs although they were not qualified. The registry books show that the total migrants from Beyşehir in big cities worked as porters, which means that they had to adjust to the services sector as porters without any qualifications. The fact that some of them continued in this job for 5,10 and even 15 years in the big cities does not guarantee that the income was satisfactory, but that their agricultural experience was not enough for any other job other porterage. Some people were registered as deaf, blind, one-armed, crippled, insane, disabled, sick, one-eyed, tongue-tied, deaf-mute in the civil registry books, which amount to 1.3% of the population. Considering that this rate is around 9-10% in Turkey today, such a level appears to be quite low. However, regarding that the perception of the disabled was different back in the mid-19th century, the rate becomes less surprising due to the low rate of survival. Although slavery was gradually fading away in the 19th century Ottoman society, it continued to a little extent among the socio-economically well-to-do families of Beyşehir and its surrounding. The number of the males specified as male guards was 0.5%.