@article{2020,title={Rumelia Districts and Their Status in the First Half of the XVIII. Century (According to Kadi’asker Agendas)},abstractNode={Districts in the Ottoman state are administrative units ruled by civil administrators with a scholarly background, called kadi. The structure of districts which cannot be seen in the pre-Ottoman Turkish-Islamic states were also not present in early periods of the Ottoman administration system. Based on reasons like the fact that as from the XV. century grounds were expanded, the number of sandjaks increased, and a single kadi was not able to manage administrative business in a sandjak resulted in the establishment of district/kadiship regions aside from the sandjak organisation. Kadiships in the Ottoman state have been divided into two main groups named mevleviyet and kasaba kadiships according to their population, place and the type of income of their kadis, and personnel affairs like assignment, promotion, dismissal of kadis who were assigned to these group of subprovinces have been carried out by the kadi’asker (military judge) until the second half of the XVI. century. Thereafter, mevleviyet kadiships were delivered to the authority the shaykh al-islam, while the kadi’asker was responsible for the personnel affairs of kadis appointed to kadiships called kasaba (village). Assignments to mevleviyet kadiships were registered in ruus journals, however, the assignment and promotion affairs of kasaba kadiships were recorded in kadi’asker agendas kept at the kadi’asker departments under the authority of Anatolian and Rumelia kadi’askers. Therefore, kadi’asker agendas contain important information about the Ottoman district organisation. In this study determinations with regard to the operation of the Ottoman district organisation have been made by using kadi’asker agendas containing kadi assignments made by the Rumelia kadi’asker in the first half of the XVIII. century, H.1118-1170 (1706-1756). On base of data obtained from these agendas the number of districts attached to the Rumelia kadi’asker in the first half of the XVIII. century has been compared with the number of districts in the XVI-XVII. Century. The status of rank, subsistence and dismissal in districts as well as their disposition by kadis have been explained with examples. Furthermore, the effect of changes in the status of districts, and measures taken as well as annexation and subdivision of districts have been included in this study. },author={Levent KURU},year={2020},journal={Turkish Studies - Historical Analysis}}