A Neighborhood in Ottoman Istanbul: Fruit Vendors and Civil Servants in the Kasap Ilyas Mahalle

4. “End of Empire”: Portrait of a Neighborhood Communityin the Late Nineteenth Century

131 4 “End of Empire” Portrait of a Neighborhood Community in the Late Nineteenth Century Thank God, the terrible earthquake was over. Facing the tombstone that stood in the small cemetery behind the Kasap ƒlyas mosque, Osman efendi, the muhtar, addressed a prayer (fâtiha) to the soul of Kasap ƒlyas, founder of the mosque and of his neighborhood. As every morning, he had just left his house situated just behind the mosque and was on his way to his haberdasher’s shop in the Great Bazaar. Large parts of that large and central commercial complex were left in ruins, as well. By an extraordinary coincidence, the seismic catastrophe had hit Istanbul on July 10, 1894, a year that marked the quadricentennial anniversary of the death of Kasap ƒlyas. The wooden houses of the neighborhood in which, rich or poor, almost everybody in the mahalle lived, had not suffered much and, fortunately , there were few casualties. But the stone buildings of the neighborhood were in a pitiful state, and, naturally, these were buildings of public utility. The tiled roof of the four-centuries-old Kasap ƒlyas mosque had caved in and what was left of the walls was rather shaky. The pointed upper part of the slender minaret had crumbled down. Services could not be held and the believers had to climb up the road and pray in the Davudpaœa mosque. The public bath, the only other large stone building of the neighborhood, was in need of heavy repair as well. All this caused Osman Efendi genuine concern. 132 “END OF EMPIRE” His concern had grown after his conversation with Ahmet Necati Efendi, the imam of the Kasap ƒlyas mosque and the trustee of the local foundations attached thereto. Ahmet Necati Efendi had made it clear that what was left of the pious foundations (vakıfs) attached to the Kasap ƒlyas mosque, of their endowments and revenues, was insufficient to cover the expenses that the extensive repair work required . Osman Efendi was not really surprised. He had been helping the imam of Kasap ƒlyas with his book-keeping for some years and he knew that the vakıf revenues that now accrued were barely sufficient to cover running expenses, to pay for the müezzin’s wages, and for operating costs and maintenance. So, what was to be done? How were they to collect the large sums of money necessary to do the repair work? There appeared to be no other way but to try to raise funds from the wealthier inhabitants of Kasap ƒlyas. And that was something that only he, Osman Efendi, could do. Though a direct stakeholder in the repair work, it was unlikely that Necati Efendi, the imam of the ruined mosque, could ever muster sufficient support alone. After all, Necati Efendi was not a local of Kasap ƒlyas. He was a native of the faraway eastern Anatolian city of Merzifon and he had been posted in the neighborhood only a short time ago. Besides, he was too young. Necati Efendi had recently been asking for Osman Efendi’s help in many instances. So much so that Necati Efendi had come to relinquish part of his traditional imam’s prerogatives to the benefit of the muhtar. It was now Osman Efendi who was keeping track of the marriages that the imam had celebrated. Osman Efendi had also come to check whether these nuptials were being celebrated in accordance with the shari’a law. Osman Efendi had also helped to settle a small financial disagreement that had occurred a few years ago between the imam and Ahmet, the müezzin of the Kasap ƒlyas mosque. Although the obvious legal recourse was the Davutpaœa shari’a court, the parties had come to him instead, further proof of the confidence that the neighborhood as a whole placed in him. There had occurred a de facto transfer of local prestige and authority . Authority had been transferred from the traditional religious to the new and secular local leadership, that is, from the imam to him, Osman Efendi, muhtar of the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle. Osman Efendi therefore thought that his own personal status, position , and prestige within the mahalle was the only thing that could 133 Cem Behar warrant the success of such an extensive fund-raising operation. Hadn’t he been a muhtar of the Kasap ƒlyas mahalle for more than ten...