The Role of Ottoman Settlement Policy in Urban Space and Identity Production: The Settlement Process of the Amasya Community in Trabzon

Abstract

Ottoman settlement policy has largely been evaluated as a demographic and administrative
strategy, whereas its role in the production of urban space and identity has remained relatively
overlooked. Transfer of population, but also foundational intervention that reshaped urban
morphology. This However, post-conquest settlement was not merely study examines the
role of Ottoman settlement policy in the production of identity and space in newly conquered
cities through the cases of Amasya and Trabzon, with particular emphasis on colonization and
population transfer policies. The study focuses on the demographic outcomes of the settlement
policies implemented in Trabzon following the Ottoman conquest, as reflected in the fifteenth
and sixteenth century Tahrir (tax) registers (1486, 1523, 1553 and 1583). Using these registers
as primary sources, the study demonstrates that among the nineteen communities recorded
under the heading of exiled communities, only the Amasya Community exhibited continuity.
In the 1523 register, this community was recorded as the “Amasya Mosque Quarter,” indicating
its transformation into a mosque-centered quarter structure. In this context, the study analyzes
the plan of the Amasya Mosque, its location within the urban fabric, and the neighborhood
structure that developed around it, thereby revealing the spatial boundaries and organizational
character of the community.