ABSTRACT
The customs registers of Istanbul fill in an empty spot in the knowledge about slavery in the Ottoman Empire. With the help of these books, it will be possible to identify the slaves within the borders of the empire – at least those who were registered. The Ottoman Empire collected a tax called the pençik (pendjik) resmi from the slave merchant (esirdji) or slave owner. This tax, levied on each slave, is basic for identifying the number of slaves in the empire. Starting from this point, I inform the reader about the pençik tax and then analyse the slaves who arrived at Istanbul through Black Sea ports by examining the customs register dated 1606–07, according to the Gregorian calendar, for Istanbul, which was one of the most important slave markets in the Ottoman period. 1 This study will be limited to the data yield from the customs register; the last page of the register bears the date November 1607.
