THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES OF WOMEN IN OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Abstract

There is no sufficient research that was conducted on the participation of women in the Ottoman Economic system. Most of the time, women in Ottoman State was described considering the framework of harem. However, truth is very different. When the Ottoman records are analyzed, the great economic contribution of Ottoman women to the family and social life has been seen. Of course during the classical period of the Ottoman empire, the given roles to the women is much more limited than the given roles to the men in the social , economic and politic fields. However in the Ottoman social life, the contribution of women to the family budget, the roles in the working life were so important which were thought. The women in Ottoman period have a significant role in the agricultural sector. When the archive documents checked, it has been countered that the women in Ottoman state were involved in agriculture and animal husbandry, gave the direction to the society during the war and peace, worked in the textile industry, home economics. and they had the right of heritage. But it has been that women in England participated in economic activities after the revolution of industry. Women in the West worked in the textile and production sectors in the beginning of the 19th century. But the women in Ottoman state started to work in the fields of industry and service after the Tanzimat. Furthermore, some examples show that women in Anatolia were dealing trade and running stores. For example, in the 17th century, most of the tread production factories in Bursa were owned by women. and the women workers were Muslim and non-Muslim. There were women who had grinder and bakery in their house beside the women who dealt with textile. In this study, it is aimed that to show the role of Ottoman women in the social life and investigated the subjects of women’s having properties, the rights of heritage, trading and participating in production by using Prime Ministry Ottoman Archive Documents.