Family in Ottoman Uskudar at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century

The family, recognized as the smallest and most fundamental social unit, is shaped by a dynamic interplay of social structure, cultural norms, economic conditions, religious frameworks, and geographical environment. These variables produce distinct familial models across societies. To reconstruct the characteristics of family life and legal practice in Uskudar (Üsküdar) between 1700 and 1725, this study examines fortynine ser’iyye (court) registers, numbered 325 to 373. These records—comprising probate inventories as well as documents concerning marriage, divorce, alimony, guardianship, and domestic disputes—serve as primary archival sources that illuminate the socio-legal order of the period. The material analyzed offers insight into marital customs, the typology and causes of divorce, the structure of deferred dowry (mahr), alimony obligations, and guardianship arrangements. It also reveals patterns of household composition, including the number of spouses and children, biological and step relationships, and the distribution of social and legal responsibilities within families. Taken together, the findings provide a comprehensive picture of familial organization in early eighteenthcentury Uskudar, illustrating how Islamic legal norms were enacted in everyday life and how social practice and law intersected in an Ottoman urban setting.