FROM BYZANTIUM TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL HISTORY OF FISH CONSUMPTION IN ISTANBUL

Zeliha Buket Kalaycı

Article Details

FROM BYZANTIUM TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL HISTORY OF FISH CONSUMPTION IN ISTANBUL

Authors:

Zeliha Buket Kalaycı

Publisher:

Ayla KAŞOĞLU

Main Topics:

Osmanlı Merkez Teşkilatı | Osmanlı Sosyoekonomik Tarihi

Journal:

Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi Vol.13 Issue 45, pp.249-269

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

9/2025

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001348547

pISSN:

2147-2610

Keywords:

Abstract:

 This article challenges the prevailing notion of weak fish and seafood consumption in the Ottoman Empire by examining the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of fishing and fish consumption in a historical continuum, with a particular focus on the capital, Istanbul. The central thesis of the study is that fishing activities and the culture of consumption in Ottoman Istanbul were managed within a sophisticated institutional framework aimed at securing the citys provisions, and that this framework was shaped by a strong institutional heritage extending back to the Byzantine period. Drawing on primary and secondary sources such as archival documents, price registers narh defterleri, travelogues, and cookbooks, the research reveals the central role of the state in the regulation of fishing. The institutional continuityextending from the Byzantine fishmongers guilds ikhthyopratai to the Ottoman fishermens guild esnaf organization, from the Eparch responsible for the citys supervision to the Balık Emini Fish Warden under the Bostancı Corps, and to the central distribution point, the Balıkhane Fish Marketis analyzed as an indicator of Ottoman administrative pragmatism. This system operated through a strict control mechanism, guided by the states principle of provisionism iaşecilik, ranging from the operation of fish weirs dalyan through the tax-farming system iltizam to the determination of market prices by fixed rates narh. The article also addresses the dual nature of fishs social status. On the one hand, it appeared as an element of diversity and refined taste in the palace cuisine, with products like caviar and oysters gracing the tables of rulers such as Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. On the other hand, fish, recorded with over twenty species in 17th-century price registers, was a mainstay of the diet for the general populace, especially for the Christian subjects during their periods of fasting. In conclusion, by centering on fish consumption, the study reveals both the Ottoman ability to transform the heritage inherited from Byzantium and the complex culinary relationships between the palace and the public, as well as the multi-layered economic and symbolic values attributed to aquatic products.

 This article challenges the prevailing notion of weak fish and seafood consumption in the Ottoman Empire by examining the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of fishing and fish consumption in a historical continuum, with a particular focus on the capital, Istanbul. The central thesis of the study is that fishing activities and the culture of consumption in Ottoman Istanbul were managed within a sophisticated institutional framework aimed at securing the citys provisions, and that this framework was shaped by a strong institutional heritage extending back to the Byzantine period. Drawing on primary and secondary sources such as archival documents, price registers narh defterleri, travelogues, and cookbooks, the research reveals the central role of the state in the regulation of fishing. The institutional continuityextending from the Byzantine fishmongers guilds ikhthyopratai to the Ottoman fishermens guild esnaf organization, from the Eparch responsible for the citys supervision to the Balık Emini Fish Warden under the Bostancı Corps, and to the central distribution point, the Balıkhane Fish Marketis analyzed as an indicator of Ottoman administrative pragmatism. This system operated through a strict control mechanism, guided by the states principle of provisionism iaşecilik, ranging from the operation of fish weirs dalyan through the tax-farming system iltizam to the determination of market prices by fixed rates narh. The article also addresses the dual nature of fishs social status. On the one hand, it appeared as an element of diversity and refined taste in the palace cuisine, with products like caviar and oysters gracing the tables of rulers such as Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. On the other hand, fish, recorded with over twenty species in 17th-century price registers, was a mainstay of the diet for the general populace, especially for the Christian subjects during their periods of fasting. In conclusion, by centering on fish consumption, the study reveals both the Ottoman ability to transform the heritage inherited from Byzantium and the complex culinary relationships between the palace and the public, as well as the multi-layered economic and symbolic values attributed to aquatic products.

 This article challenges the prevailing notion of weak fish and seafood consumption in the Ottoman Empire by examining the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of fishing and fish consumption in a historical continuum, with a particular focus on the capital, Istanbul. The central thesis of the study is that fishing activities and the culture of consumption in Ottoman Istanbul were managed within a sophisticated institutional framework aimed at securing the citys provisions, and that this framework was shaped by a strong institutional heritage extending back to the Byzantine period. Drawing on primary and secondary sources such as archival documents, price registers narh defterleri, travelogues, and cookbooks, the research reveals the central role of the state in the regulation of fishing. The institutional continuityextending from the Byzantine fishmongers guilds ikhthyopratai to the Ottoman fishermens guild esnaf organization, from the Eparch responsible for the citys supervision to the Balık Emini Fish Warden under the Bostancı Corps, and to the central distribution point, the Balıkhane Fish Marketis analyzed as an indicator of Ottoman administrative pragmatism. This system operated through a strict control mechanism, guided by the states principle of provisionism iaşecilik, ranging from the operation of fish weirs dalyan through the tax-farming system iltizam to the determination of market prices by fixed rates narh. The article also addresses the dual nature of fishs social status. On the one hand, it appeared as an element of diversity and refined taste in the palace cuisine, with products like caviar and oysters gracing the tables of rulers such as Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. On the other hand, fish, recorded with over twenty species in 17th-century price registers, was a mainstay of the diet for the general populace, especially for the Christian subjects during their periods of fasting. In conclusion, by centering on fish consumption, the study reveals both the Ottoman ability to transform the heritage inherited from Byzantium and the complex culinary relationships between the palace and the public, as well as the multi-layered economic and symbolic values attributed to aquatic products.

 Bu makale, Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda balık tüketiminin sınırlı olduğuna dair yaygın kanıya karşın, özellikle başkent İstanbul özelinde balıkçılığın ve balık tüketiminin sosyo-ekonomik ve kültürel boyutlarını tarihsel bir süreklilik içerisinde incelemektedir. Çalışmanın temel tezi, Osmanlı İstanbulundaki balıkçılık faaliyetlerinin ve tüketim kültürünün, şehrin iaşesini güvence altına almayı hedefleyen kapsamlı ve incelikli bir kurumsal çerçevede yönetildiği ve bu nizamın köklerinin Bizans dönemine uzanan güçlü kurumsal mirasla şekillendiğidir. Araştırma, arşiv belgeleri, narh defterleri, seyahatnameler ve yemek kitapları gibi birincil ve ikincil kaynaklara dayanarak, balıkçılığın düzenlenmesinde devletin merkezi rolünü ortaya koymaktadır. Bizans dönemindeki balıkçı loncalarından ikhthyopratai Osmanlıdaki balıkçı esnafı teşkilatına, şehrin denetiminden sorumlu Eparkhtan Bostancı Ocağına bağlı Balık Eminine ve merkezi dağıtım noktası olan Balıkhaneye uzanan kurumsal devamlılık, Osmanlı idari pragmatizminin bir göstergesi olarak analiz edilmektedir. Bu sistem, devletin iaşecilik provizyonizm ilkesi doğrultusunda, dalyanların iltizam usulüyle işletilmesinden pazar fiyatlarının narh ile belirlenmesine kadar uzanan sıkı bir denetim mekanizmasıyla işlemiştir. Makale ayrıca, balığın toplumsal statüsünün ikili doğasını da ele almaktadır. Bir yanda, Fatih Sultan Mehmed gibi hükümdarların sofrasında yer alan havyar ve istiridye gibi ürünlerle saray mutfağında bir çeşitlilik ve incelmiş zevk unsuru olarak belirirken; diğer yanda, narh defterlerinde yirmiyi aşkın türüyle kaydedilen balık, halkın, özellikle de Hristiyan tebaanın perhiz dönemlerindeki beslenmesinin temel direği olmuştur. Sonuç olarak çalışma, balık tüketimini merkeze alarak Osmanlının hem Bizanstan devraldığı mirası dönüştürme becerisini hem de saray ile halk arasındaki karmaşık mutfak ilişkilerini ve su ürünlerine yüklenen çok katmanlı ekonomik ve sembolik değerleri gözler önüne sermektedir.

Article Details

FROM BYZANTIUM TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE INSTITUTIONAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL HISTORY OF FISH CONSUMPTION IN ISTANBUL

Authors:

Zeliha Buket Kalaycı

Publisher:

Ayla KAŞOĞLU

Main Topics:

Osmanlı Merkez Teşkilatı | Osmanlı Sosyoekonomik Tarihi

Journal:

Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi Vol.13 Issue 45, pp.249-269

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

9/2025

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001348547

pISSN:

2147-2610

Fish

Istanbul

Ottoman

Matbah-ı Âmire

ProvisioningBalık

İstanbul

Osmanlı

Matbah-ı Âmire

İaşe.

Issues

Article Details

Authors: Zeliha Buket Kalaycı

Publisher: Ayla KAŞOĞLU

Main Topics: Osmanlı Merkez Teşkilatı | Osmanlı Sosyoekonomik Tarihi

Journal: Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi Vol.13 Issue 45, pp.249-269

Document Type: Article

Publication Date: 9/2025

Document Language: Turkish

Document ID (Org No.): 2001348547

pISSN: 2147-2610

Issues

Authors:

Zeliha Buket Kalaycı

Publisher:

Ayla KAŞOĞLU

Main Topics:

Osmanlı Merkez Teşkilatı | Osmanlı Sosyoekonomik Tarihi

Journal:

Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi Vol.13 Issue 45, pp.249-269

Document Type:

Article

Publication Date:

9/2025

Document Language:

Turkish

Document ID (Org No.):

2001348547

pISSN:

2147-2610