SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES ON THE FORM OF EARLY TURKISH CITIES OF THE OTTOMAN PERIOD

Abstract

The scope of this paper is to examine the characteristics of Turkish cities of the Ottoman period through the spatial organization of the city of Bursa from the late fourteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century. The Ottomans applied systematic measure, such as resettlement policies through voluntary migration and forced transfer of population, rearrangement of the network of trade routes and the establishment of social service institutions, to develop strategic cities as administrative, commercial or cultural centers. They interpreted the wakf as an institution to supply the socio-economic needs of society through service facilities and buildings and created imaret centers (complexes) which were founded and managed by the wakf institution. These leading principles, especially the institution of the wakf-imaret system, played an important role in the creation and development of Turkish cities.