ANDLEGALPXOCEDU"nEIN17th C. OTTOMANKAPSERI I I I !- THEKADIANDTHELEGALSYSTEM 4: I C .= iY'natist o beconsideredhereisthepract i ceoftheOt,toman IslamiclegaisystemofKayseria ttheturnoftheseventeenth 1:century.Therecordedcasesummariesintheger' imahkeme 1: sicillerimake noreferencet oIslamiclegists or legal philosophy, I< ! * pastorcontenporsry. Neverisfikh(Islamicjurisprudence) i inoritsprinciplesmentioned,thoughothersourcesmakec!ec;r In1583thepopulationofKayseriwasohout'?5,00C,makingi t oneofthe largetscitiesin-4natolia.I t wastheadministrativecenterofIcayserisancak (subprovince) intheeyalet(province) ofKararnan.See"Kayseri",El " seealso R.Jenniags,"UrbanPopulationinAnatoliainthe16bhe.:ast udyofKayseri, Karaman,...", InternationalJournal ofMiddleEaslSludies7(1976) 21-57, ThispaperisbuiltupontwochaptersfrommyPh.D.dissertationinIslamic Studiesa t UCLA,"TheJudicialRegisters(3er. i,l.lnlikemeSicilleri)ofKayseri (15?0-:630ja3a source for OttomanHistory"(1972).The researchwas supported bygrantsfromthe.AmericanResearchInstituteinTurkeyandfromUCLA( an NDEAtitleIVgrant). KayserisicilsarehousedintheEtnografyaMiiresiin Ankara,whereIhavebeentreatedwiththegreatesthospita1it.y. Arcliivalsources arc cited as follows: #15 38-7 meansKayserisicilnumber15, p.56,entry4.Thepagcsinmostvolumcsarenotnumbered;insuchcasesthe authorbegancountingwiththefirstpagecontainingcourtbusiness.Cases cited in thetext havebeensummarized selectively onthe basis oftheir importance andrelevancet othetopic.I tshouldbenotedt hat averdict.isnotpart oft he formalregistrationofcasesinthesici!s. Studia Islamica 48 (1978) 133-1724 i3M : - - " .5 4 h -- C: '2 3 "5 42 L -om 0, c x m3 c ..p P - =z 2 c'3 = i;) mg a & a 3 n 22 42 i;)l m i;) m szs 4 i;) 3 2 6 .'Z 42 - n ?L C .,! 32 i rn - v) 0-C i;) -. m-0 2 =* c: 2 om oC2 5s" n 2 ;. 5s "2 .0 5 2 5 h- " i;) m C := rn .; 2 2 2 = .- 3 a- 0 93 2 5 5 - - 2 -2 ao- S? 2 aLE k- n S -k c E 2 34 2 7 I -+ - d- 2 - y =s cn L 3- 0 5:- V ir- .e 55 a92 m 2 " '3 - z m .2 2 3% cem a1c L w .2 9 ai;) g 2 g:, - n- - -2 t hejs~ihud 111-ha1 oruelcils,aswerethoseofotherulema. For example,ARlaedtlinefendiliadbeenfortwodecadesavery regular;~tt,endarita t courtasnaib,i mam, andmuderris,butwhenhehecarnerriuft,ihenolongerplayetlanactiverolea tcourt,.l i i s successorInayet~illahefertdililcewise ceasedatterid- ingcourtsessiollswhenhebecomemufti. The1n11fti aside,i t ispossibletodividethecourtintothree parts:ka~Ji , "Muslirns,"arid"police."Theltadiwasthekey figure, t he real sol ~rccofjudicialinitiative.'The"police"seem t.ohave beenrather directly subject t o the kadi, an arruilgemcnt wltichprob;ll)ly atl\riinoetlLhccause ofjustieo.'I'l-to "Musljms" -----wllorri;iyhec;onsitlered"localcitizens"representativeofan inforrnec-l cit,izenry,ora t leastinformedr e~~r esent al i vesofthe localeilizcnry--wereindependentandprobablyexercisedsome influencea t thecol~rt,infavoroflocaliiiterest,~aridneeds. I tisiniljor1,anttokeepinmindLhaLlraclishadt omainlaina rapportwitht he"hluslims"and"police"inordertocarryouttlicirduties. , , Becausethecolirl;representedbothlocalandOttoman interests,it, wasastableinstitution.1) Professionalkadisin alarge11ier;irchy wereappointedLo majorkatiililcslikeKayseri. Theyserveclayearortwoinacityil11dthenworetransferred (:lsewliere.2)However, the naines ofulema, whoare the most pr on~i nent a r ~ d iderltifizlblegroupamongthe"RIuslirns,"recur int11esicilsthro~lgliyearsandevendecades,anindicationof t.liestabilityandcontinuityt.heygavethecourt.Aslocal people,the M~lslimsweremore sensitivet o t.lle needs ofIcayseri t hanLo thoseoft hecrr~pirc.3)RlosLoftheIcayseri"police" (ehl-i'or.f)--tnuhzir-s,gukudars,rnuhtt:sibs,cityandregionalsu bagis,andthesancalrbegis'lce1hudas.--werelocalpeople,and many ofthem servetllong term:;inone office or in a succession of local ol'fices.TlieItayseri sancak begisbetween1600 and1625 wereusually outsiders, hutthey hodliltle impact or1 the court or t he communitybecausemilitarycampaignsIreptt hemaway for extendedperiods,andsomeapparently werejustnot interested incomingt oIqayserit oholdolfice.Thesubugis,kethndas, n~iitesellirns,iindkagmmulcamswhomt he al ~sent eesancalcbegis appointedtocarryout theirduLieswereoflenimportantlocal members ofthe rnilitary class, who wereable toperpetuate their powert h r o ~ ~ g h theirlifelinlesbyholdingthesameordifferent oftices under a series ofsancalt begis, and some oftheillappeared regularlye l cour.1,evenw1lt:ntheytemporarilywereholding noofficeat,all. 1.TheOl'ficeoftlieIcatli. ?'hekadi' sauthority(orB,morcproperly,tlieaut l ~or i t yofl ~i soffice)partakesofallthree lrinds of"legitimateauthorityH-tlie rational-bureatrcr.at,ic,thetraditional,ant1[.hecl~arismatic- analyzedbyMaxPVeber.AnexplanationinWebcrianlerlns ofthe peculiarle(;it.irnacyoF the office ofltadiinI.he seventcenth cenl,uryOt,tom:inEmpircsuggestssomeofLl~esourcesoftlie unusnaldurablil,jrandstrengllioft hat ofice. ( I )ThekacliwiisabureaucratintheOttomanadministrative system.'Theempirewastlividedintostandardizedjudicial districts quite like one another, and eachpositionrequiredmore orlesstheearneduties.Altllougttassignmen1Lo aparticular districtwasforatermofasingleyear,appointmenttothe olliceofkadiwaspermanent. ( 2 ) Eachkadiwasaninter- changeablepart i nthesystem,whocouldservesuccessivelyin Baghdad,I -3am 2 goo, 2 uzm-2 PZ 2~ E 2-,g.- .- -, u7 2 $Z2% = - r 2-; .-- o m ,a c CmZN S g9.za 2 'gUga m kci 2 zg:E 0 a 4 k c ;$?; E d"; " a,: ;< - - - - 3 - @?-2 2; zgzz. a d 2T= 2 Zcmu - T L =-E_g c .92* m c.5- 2 5'.2cd 2 - a "i :&-,22s " LQ.=- z 2s ,=g u-5 NZkE ZE - ZiEg - ;; % oo? .C uD.Lz; -".i?:;zg a- a 2 a L c gSESo 0 Q) 3"" ms4 2 5 a w ~53.;~ 9) "gSs - Qa~ a w . -3 - 32s 0 4 a222 -3 ge4, c r3sz 0 0 +" 0 c.% w , a 0 0 2- .z 2- a 9; c "Y 2 s23 ;soah dQCC2 - w : 2- d 0 :72= 0 Q.= "l 2: 0 CG 3 aoc .*;: 22 $4.e a C c.~wLQ, . ma2 x &$eUo 4 2 $3 3 5 mu, h Q- x .6- ;$ - 5 vidualst oinitiatecomplaints,andt heoverwhelniingn~aj or i t y werebeguninthisway.But occasionallywhen"public interest"or "expediency"required,t11c courtort he policetook t heinitiative. Thestutlyoft he"police"isextremelytlifrIcult. At t he imperialpalacetherewasarnuhziragoandajanissarycorps of muhzirswhichwasurlrelatetltothejudiciary.l i kewi set he palacehada~ul i adar agaand~ukadur s . 'l'herewerejanissary subagis, s ubagisofthesancakbegi,andprobablyolllerlrinds. Practicallyeverychiat'ofrIcerint heOttonlailmilitaryand admiilistrativesystemhadakethuda. (1)Mostoftheseoffices hadfullofficialtitles,whichinakei t possiblel odistinguish amongIheln,hut unfortunatelyt hefulltillesoftenwerenotused,andt-jesitlcsoftenmoret hanonetitleinighl, appl y t otho sameoffice.Ift hat isnot obstacleenoughonemust also reinernberIllattheorganizationandoperationoft he"police" czinstitutionswasnot t hesarneforallprovinces.Itisnotsurprisingtlli-ttnoonel ~ a s madeasuccessfulst udyof"police" i nt heOt t omanEmpi re.Thiseflorl,,t oo,istentative.Thereisscantevidenceofthe nat ure ofpoliccactivities inKayseri. I1 hasnot beellpossible t ogivetheol'ficet l ~ e fullconsiderationi t merits. a. Muhzir MuhzirsinOt t omancourtswerechargedwit,hsummoni ng people.'Thewordmuhzirisapparentlyderivedfromt he Arabicihzar(ihclar),meaning to summon,t o cause t o bepresent (1)Forex:lrnpIe,intheKayserisicilsoneflndsmentionofkethuday-i~ e h i r ,kelhuday-ikale, mirliuakelhudasi,kelhudayeri,kelhudaofthezirnmis,andthere wasakelhudaloreverysir~glevillageandtribei l l thekaza. hlanytimesonly thesir~glcwordkelhudaisgivenforidentification.ItorOltornanEgyptShaw mentionskelhuday-isehir,Belhuday-iuali,kelhudau-ikul, kelhuday-iGauuSan, kelhuday-iyonlilliiyan,kelhuday-il i i f enk~i yan,andkelhuday-i~e r aki s e . See indexofStanforclJ. Shaw,TheFinancialaridAdmiliislraliueOrganizationand DevelopmentofOllornanEgypl , 1517- 1798, Princeton,196'2.Uzun$argilimentions eleven kelhudasonly two ofwhich havcbeenmentioned above. 1.H. Uzun~argili,OsmanliL)evlelininhlerkezveBahriyeTe ~ki l dl i , Ankara,1948. ---hencemuhzirisone wllosummons. ( I ) Peoplewhoneededa miihzircamet ocourl t oget one. ( 2 ) Tllem~i hzi rmightgo alonewi l hordersfronii,hecourt(murasele)totliepersonwho wasbeingsun~moned, orhemightgowitht heplaintiff,with several"hluslinls,"or\villibotliLlieplaintiflandanumberof "Muslims."(3)Thenirihzirwasnot autliol.izedLOforcethe i ~ccusedt.o ~ x t u r n t o court inliiscustody, or even in his company,kjot heaccusedcouldaccepl,Lliesummons andl l ~c n ignorei t ,or hecouldeven refusei ttot hefaceoft he m~i hzi r. The accused mi ghtmalreafornialst at ementforthemuhzirtobringbackto 1,hecourt,ast hehafi b ofBat,talGazimosquedid. ( 4 ) When muhzi i ~Pervanetravelled;illt hewayto'Somarzatosummon peoplefromt ha l townforal,LackinganimperialofGcer,t hey clecliriedt ocorno.( =)Apersistenteffortt o(leterrnineifmuhzirswereguhudul-ha1 for particular kiricls ofcases provedfruitless.Ifthey were more liltelyt obeguhutlul-ha1for"criminal"casest hanfor"civil"or "non-contested"ones, this was onlyarelative distinction, for no mlihzirswerepresent,a t Ilearingsonmanycriminalcases,and rniihzir.~oTLa11werepresenta thearings onnon-criminalcasesof every sort,.Altliougllnluhzirswere notoften notedinthe sicils for having ])layad an active role in a judicialcase, one or more of idhem wereguhudul-ha1foraverylargenumberofcases. Occasionally nllihzirswere senton errands bythe court. For ~:xanlple,;lrnullzirwas sentt o investigateaclaimt hatacertain womanhadbeenass:iull,ed.Thernuhzirbagiwassent oulLo bringadifferentwomanlocourt. (' )Anothermuhzirbugi was sentt o delivera warningtot he sancakbegi.Amuhzir rnightbesentoutt o retrieve stolen propert y,or even kidnapped ( 1 ) An11shoror1)ailiflofkadi'saollrts,whosometimesadministeredla'zir. Heyd, C~.irninillLnw,PI).2361,27211. (2jE. g.#2065-1. (3) E. g. Karaman# 110-2. ( 4) #1546-6,# 15159-2. (5) # 1538-7. (6) # 124-14. (7) #12212-16. (8)# 1062-2.women.( I ) Sometimest hepersonsummonedbyt hemuhzir refusedto come t o t he court: Milcail once complaiiletlto t he courtt hathe had been st ruck and cursedbyapersonhe11nd sumrnon- ed,whileAlioncecomplainedt ha t ilwomanhadcalledhim "lcizilbag."( 2 )Aluhzirswereappointeda tthecourt. MalrsudbiiRainazan wasappointedt hereint hepresenceofMevl;~ila Dnvudefendi andIvIevlanaAbdul-Irir~girlgcl.inliriol suils. Crirninc~lLaw,p. 242. 11 (2) # I 3 13-1.i'(3) #1214-Y.j( 4 ) Cf . # 1 2 1 7 - 2 , 6 8 - 2 ; # 1 i 1 2 - 1 ; # 2 5 0 1 - 3 , 1 0 4 - . L.3 1 (3) Cf.# I23-8;# 1771-2,s; #2583-3. l l eyddescribestheprocedureof j inveriligalionbyacourtclcrltselll,l o invt:sligale,somelirr~es "accompaniedby ;s1:veralpeoplewllowcrc!Lo aclaswitncsses." Ifasubagiwcritalorlg,"rnosl j pr0l)oblyU ili:"nrilillodLo collecltheIiiii:dllcl i i ri l..." CrirrtirialLuw, p. 2461. 1 Since alllegalctisputesweresettleda tt hecourt byt helradi, tliepositioninlocalgovernmentoft hesancalibegiwasnot a verystrorig one.Heandhisinenweresubj ectt o t he jurisdic- [,ionofLhc:coui ~l likeallol,herpeople.Hasanmadeaformal accl ~sat i onagainstLhesaricakLegi'sinanHarnzeforst abbi ng liimwitliaIri~ife.( 1 ) Sancalr1)egi ELuElelrrboghadcollected cer l ai ~i revenlloscl11c Lo Ll~e I