Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi (Feb 2020)
Under the Light of the Population Register Dated 1857 An Evaluation upon the Socio-Economic Lives of the Gypsy Living in İstanbul
Abstract
The Gypsy having abondoned India and scattered to different parts of the worls are known wiith different appelations such as“Gypsies”, “Zigeuner”, “Gitanos”, “Cigani”. The Gypsyies having become the focus of interest since the date the historical records started to mention have been one of the interesting sujects of both popular culture and academic studies. They draw the attention with some differences unlike the others and generally called as nomads. In addition, in some records it is seen that they have been mentioned as nomads who draw the attention with some differences unlike the others. Actually the interest shown in the Gypsies is closely related to their ethnic origins, their life styles and their physical traits. Thus, they have always appeared as one of the colorful layers of the community in which they live and more probably the most interesting one. The Gypsies who spread to several parts of the world generally constitute a dense population in Anatolia, the Balkans and Europe. The Gyspies having spread to the different geographic regions existed in the Ottoman subjects as well. However, it is seen that in terms of their population they were densely populated in the Balkans during the period of the Ottoman Empire. It is assumed that the Gypsies in İstanbul were settled in İstanbul from the sandjaks of Gümülcine and Menteşe during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed. More probaly, due to the fact that the Ottoman state had a suspicious look at them, they were not included in the classical “Millet Sistem”. The Gypsies have generally been followed from an eye outside and some information pertaining to them has been obtained from some historical records or the narrations romanticized. Therefore, they have become a community perceived and described under the light of this information. In a sense, they became the “other” of the Ottoman State. They have been considered as different owing to their life styles, the way they dress and their language. Therefore, they have been marginalised. Their destiny as “the other” seems to have caused them to lead their lives without getting changed, to preserve some of their authentic traits and identities and also seems to have led them to having some occupations, which were despised by the other communities. Hence, the most widely adopted occupation by the Gypsies engaged in several occupationsin the socioeconomic Ottoman structure has been çengilik dancing which has continued up to modern times. The purpose of this study is to handle and evaluate the socio-economic structure of the Gypsy in the districts of Eyüp, Galata and Üsküdar in İstanbul in the Population Register dated 1857 and numbered 00474. Since there has been very limited studies in the native literature as to the subject, it is aimed to make some contributions to the literature
