TAWA had the third book club meeting on May 28th on “Ottoman Women: Myth and Reality” by Asli Sancar. The book was the winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award in 2008 in the history/political category and was also shortlisted for the best cover design in large format.
In the book, Sancar gives a detailed picture of Ottoman women by referring to different scholars who had chance to stay in Ottoman lands and conduct research on Ottoman history and especially Ottoman Women. These scholars all agree upon the idea that eastern women, particularly Ottoman women had a very different image than that of a feminine object, mostly depicted by Orientalists in the West.
Here is some excerptions and interesting facts from the book:
Scholarly research refute the false opinion of polygamy in Ottoman Empire: a study made on Istanbul court records from 1885-1906 shows a rate of polygamy of 2%.
Ottoman Women were especially active in buying, selling and leasing real estate, which provided them important financial security. In a study in 18th century, 40% of land and property transfers involved at least one women.
They were also actively involved in establishment of pious foundations. According to registrations in Istanbul in 1546, 36% of the the foundations were established by women.
Scholars also show that Ottoman women were well aware of their rights and actively pursued their rights in courts, on issues related to marriage and divorce, finance and personal property.
Categories: Book Club
