From Mahalle (Neighborhood) to the Market and the Courts: Women, Credit, and Property in Eighteenth-Century Istanbul FARIBA ZARINEBAF

Research on the social and economic history of Ottoman women has entered a new phase with the exploration of archival documents, particularly Islamic court registers (sicill) that have not been subject to deliberate destruction and the ravages of fi re.1 Taking into consideration certain gaps and biases inherent in any offi cial and legal documentation, I will offer some insight into the social and economic position of women in eighteenthcentury Istanbul based on a study of a sample of these records. Not only were these women property owners, investors in the real estate market (sellers and buyers), and managers and tenants of endowed residential and commercial property, but they also participated in credit networks, as both borrowers and lenders, with the spread of the cash economy in Istanbul. They came to the courts to register loans and property transactions, and to claim their inheritance shares.