1830’LARIN NÜFUS DEFTERLERİNDEN HAREKETLE OSMANLI’DA ASKERE ALINACAKLARIN TESPİTİ

Abstract

It is known that the first general census of the Ottoman Empire was carried out in most of Anatolia and Rumelia between H. 1246-1830-1831 during the reign of Mahmut II. In all of the pioneering studies on the subject, there is a consensus that the main purpose of the censuses is to determine the human resources for the newly established Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammadiye Army after the annexation of Yeniçeri Corps and to determine the cizye taxpayers. These pioneering studies undoubtedly correctly identified the original purpose of the census. However, no instructions have been found on how the first general census of the Ottoman Empire should be carried out. In this context, the literature puts the census documents produced in the center and the provinces as the basis for this explanation of the purpose of the census, as well as the population registers that have the reflections of the census results on the practice, and explains the process and process regarding the counting through them. Within this scope, it is stated by the researchers that the letter mim (م) is placed under the names of those recorded in the population registers specifically for the determination of the population who can serve, and that this is a password that secretly identifies those who can eligible in the military. Despite the accuracy of the above explanations, when the population registers are investigated singularly, there is an inexplicable situation in the explanations made on the subject. This means that there is no standard age group for people eligible to serve in the population registers. Because, as mentioned in the study, there are markings in the population books of various regions of the Ottoman geography stating that different age groups are suitable for military service and it is not possible to say that there is a standard age range in this regard. In particular, the study focused on this issue and concluded that the works written on the count ignored the connection between the legislation on the formation of the Mansûre army and the census. In this context, the article evaluates the links of the censuses made in 1830-1831 with the Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediye Codex of 1826 and the reflection of the relationship in the population registers.