The Nufus Defters as a Source for Regional Researchm

Nikolay Todorov

"Angel Kanchev", University of Ruse (Bulgaria)

Aldzhan Dzhafer

History Museum – Omurtag

Gergana Georgieva, Nevena Nedelcheva

St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo

https://doi.org/10.53656/his2025-4-1-def

Abstract. Ottoman registers have traditionally attracted the interest of researchers. Also, they are a basis for historical reconstruction of the 15th – 19th centuries. The reforms of the imperial governing system also led to transformations in the methods of registration and changes in the structure of the registers of Ottoman subjects. A comparison of the early defters with those from the 19th century shows that the latter are more detailed, especially in describing the economic status of the taxpayers. In the 1830s, a policy of registering the Muslim and non-Muslim population of the Empire developed. As a result of this policy, in 1831, the first census of the population of the Ottoman Empire was carried out. In addition, a large number of registers, known as nüfus defters, were compiled in the 1830s and 1840s. The main purpose of this type of defter was to register Muslims eligible for military service, as well as to organise the taxation of cyzie from the non-Muslims. For researchers today, however, they are a valuable source for studying demography, anthroponymy, professional structure and migration processes of the Ottoman Empire. The present article aims to clarify the method of composition and the structure of the nüfus defters. In addition, some clarifications about the manner of registration of Ottoman subjects, such as the registration of their age or (possible) date/year of birth, are complemented.

Keywords: nüfus defters, demography, anthroponymy, migrations, re-emigrations, labor mobility, Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sources, Ottoman registers

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