ISKEÇE/XANHTI UNDER OTTOMAN RULE: SETTLEMENT, DEMOGRAPHY AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE (14TH - 18TH CENTURIES)

Abstract

İskeçe, or Xanthi, is a city in present-day Greece. It fell under Ottoman territories in 1373 during the reign of Sultan Murad I, following the Battle of Maritsa. In terms of administration, İskeçe was in the status of village affiliated with Yenice-i Karasu township under sanjak of Paşa of the Province of Rumeli. Financially, it was one of vakıf (foundation) villages within Sultan Bayezid II's külliye (Islamic-Ottoman social complex) in Edirne. İskeçe remained under Ottoman rule from the second half of the fourteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. Moreover, it had become an important Turkish city during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, even though it was a mostly Christian settlement. This study examines how İskeçe transformed from a long-time village into a Balkan city. It includes information about its name alongside its history, settlement, demography and economic structure. This study prepared based on Ottoman archival documents will make an important contribution to both the history of İskeçe and history of Western Thrace as the number of individual studies examining İskeçe region is limited.