archival materials and research facilities in the cyprus turkish federated state: ottoman empire,...

Archival Materials and Research Facilities in the Cyprus Turkish Federated State: OttomanEmpire, British Empire, Cyprus RepublicAuthor(s): Mustafa Hasim Altan, James A. McHenry, Jr. and Ronald C. JenningsSource: International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jan., 1977), pp. 29-42Published by: Cambridge University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/162452 .

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Int. J. Middle East Stud. 8 (1977), 29-42 Printed in U.S.A.

Mustafa Haqim Altan, James A. McHenry, Jr., and Ronald C. Jennings

ARCHIVAL MATERIALS AND RESEARCH

FACILITIES IN THE CYPRUS TURKISH

FEDERATED STATE: OTTOMAN EMPIRE,

BRITISH EMPIRE, CYPRUS REPUBLIC

I

THE CYPRUS TURKISH NATIONAL ARCHIVE AND RESEARCH CENTER

(Kibrls Turk Milli Arsivi ve Arastirma Merkezi) Girne (Kyrenia)

Hours. Regular: 9 A.M.-12 NOON, 2:30-4 P.M. Monday-Friday; 9 A.M.-I P.M.

Saturday.

Summer: 8:30 A.M.-I:30 P.M. Monday-Saturday.

Admission. Scholars wishing to work in the Archive should write directly to the director of the Department of Youth, Sports, and Cultural Affairs, Cyprus Turkish Federated State, Lefkosa, Cyprus (for the present, at least, c/o Mersin

10, Turkey). They should define the nature of their proposed research clearly and

precisely, although not so specifically as to limit their research; a brief statement

regarding their academic background should be included. Limited photocopying and microfilming may be permitted by the director of the Archive. Photocopying is available at the Archive, although it is expensive by American standards. Micro-

filming is also available locally. Contents. The Cyprus Turkish National Archive was founded in June, I97I,

by its present director, Mustafa Hasim Altan, who first started collecting Ottoman and Arabic documents when employed in the office of the Mufti of Cyprus. He soon moved to the Evkaf Dairesi, where he was employed particularly to transcribe Ottoman documents into Latin script. After having persuaded others of the large number of vakfiyye and other documents concerning Cyprus to be found in Turkey, he was officially sent there to collect documents; in four months he returned with

1 A copy sent to the director of the Archive may expedite the procedure.

29



30 Altan, McHenry, and Jennings

over 20,000 documents on microfilm. So began the Archive in a small room in Lefkosa.

On November 23, I973, Turgut Islksal, the Director of the Conservation Sec- tion of the Basbakanlik Arsivi in Istanbul, arrived in Cyprus for a one-month visit to survey the holdings of the Turkish Cypriot Archive and then to make appro- priate recommendations. His report expressed the view that, despite the considerable expansion since the opening of the Archive, further expansion was essential.

Accordingly, in the summer of 1974, the director and three members of the staff

journeyed to Turkey and gathered microfilm copies of more than Io,ooo documents. The Archive was moved to Girne (Kyrenia) in December, 1974, and the new center was officially opened by Chief of State Rauf Denktas in January, I975.

The Archive is housed in an attractive air-conditioned building near the sea, amidst a grove of trees and extensive gardens. The new setting allows a broad

display of documents and other materials and provides a pleasant atmosphere for

working. Besides the director, there are three assistants, in charge of conservation and technical works, transcription and evaluation of documents, and publishing and international exchanges.2 The Archive plans to engage two other assistants, one to translate into Turkish and to evaluate English documents and a second for

Greek documents.

The documents available in the Archive may be divided into three general pe- riods: (I) from the Ottoman conquest in I571 to the beginning of British colonial

rule in 1878; (2) the years of British administration, 1878-1960; (3) from inde-

pendence to the present.

RECORDS OF THE SHARIA, EVKAF, AND OTHER

ISLAMIC INSTITUTIONS

A few random Sharia court records3 have been preserved from the late nine-

teenth century onward. For example: Eytam defterleri (dealing with orphans and their inheritances), 14 defters be-

tween I880 and I931 Tereke defterleri (inheritance), 3 defters, 1897-I907, 1911-1924, 1923-1927

807 individual records of inheritance and guardianship for the period I894-

I950, entitled "Tirk cemaat mahkemesinde bulunan mer'yet disi terekeler," inheri-

tance outside the law (?) in the Turkish communal court 12 defters called ilmihaber, containing replies to correspondence addressed to

kadi, court, office of mufti, office of evkaf, and to individuals holding those offices,

I915-I93I

2 Presently Mehmet Rifat, Erdogan Saracoglu, and Cevdet Mahmut, whose assistance in

the preparation of this paper is gratefully acknowledged. 3 The records of the Sharia courts are discussed below in regard to the Evkaf Dairesi.



Archives in Cyprus Turkish federated state 31

6 tahrirat defterleri (official letters), 1895-1915 12 zabit defterleri, dated 1271-1272 (1854-1855), I273 (1856), I276-I277

(I859-1860), 1280-I281 (1863-1864), 1281-1282-1283 (1864-1865-1866), I306-1313 (1888-1895), 1897, I913-I916, I916. These are records of the re- formed sharia court; they take the place of the traditional ser'i mahkenme sicilleri.

Several volumes of aidat defterleri, (recording the revenues of the court) Various defters concerning vasiyet (guardianship), kasa (cashier's office), kayzt

(registration), and pzl (stamps). The defters mentioned above are in Ottoman Turkish, except for a few after

I930. Except for the earliest zabzt deftlerleri, which antedate British rule slightly, they deal exclusively with the period of British rule in Cyprus. A study of them makes it possible to trace the course of reforms from the late Ottoman period to the I920S and I930s. They are especially useful for studies of the Turkish Muslim family on Cyprus.

Records that may broadly speaking be termed "judicial" illustrate to an extent the ability of the Muslim Turkish community in Cyprus to preserve its internal

authority after the British occupation whereas those in English illustrate the re- verse, the process by which the colonial power was increasingly predominant. An

analysis of the changing contents of the records in Turkish would do much to illu- minate the process by which the British government usurped the judicial functions in its colony. For example:

Correspondence between the Kadi of Cyprus and the Chief Secretary of the Government, 1878-I950.

Correspondence between the Kadi and various government department heads, I878-I950. Of particular interest are the files containing correspondence between the chief kadi of Cyprus, Ali Rifat, and the government during the years I9I0-

1927. Although in the early years the kadi was the chief spokesman for the Turkish

Cypriot community, by the I920S he clearly had been supplanted in this role by the Turkish delegate of the Evkaf, who collaborated willingly with the British in their attempts to centralize control over Turkish communal institutions. The Evkaf Dairesi of Cyprus experienced a notable growth in the I920S and I930s as the most

powerful institution within the Turkish community even though a pawn of the British government.

Copies of the outgoing correspondence of the Evkaf Dairesi between 1882 and 1895 are preserved in eleven volumes under the title Ez'kaf Dairesinin Kopya Defteri.

In addition, the Archive contains: An extensive collection of records of individual evkaf. A relatively rich collection of local fetvas, a kind of document that has been little

studied; all are the opinions of the successive muftis of Lefkosa. The earliest are from c. I650, but the vast majority come from the period I870-1969. Now they are divided into 76 folders on subjects as diverse as mnaarif (education), dahiliye (in-




ternal affairs), evkaf, miiftiiliik (Office of Mufti), Ba? Piskoposhane (Orthodox archbishopric), Defterdarlik (office of the director of finance), Abdullah Pasa Evkaf, Ziraat Dairesi (Office of Agriculture), Polis (Police), and Bank-i Os-

maniye. The fetvas are undoubtedly of considerable importance for understanding Islam

in Cyprus during the last century and should be of importance for studies of the

law, society, and economy generally, as well as for understanding the impact of British colonial rule and of westernization generally.

MATERIALS ON EDUCATION

Maarif Tutanaklarl, I890-I936. Maarif Komisyon Zabitlari, 1890-I936. These record official discussions within

the Turkish community of educational problems, both pedagogical and financial. Maarif ilgili yazismalar, I890-I936. The Archive has been able to secure records from the Ministry of Education up

to 1936.

RECORDS OF THE BRITISH COURTS

Notebooks of the Chief Justice, 1883-1940 (with some lacuna) Notebooks of the Puisine Judge, 1898-1933 (with some lacuna) Criminal Order Books, I923-I946 Records of the Criminal Courts, individual dossiers

Supreme Court Criminal Judgement Books, 1916-1921

Register of Appeals, I888; 1903-I933 The British courts were concerned with Greek as well as Turkish Cypriots.

They were "foreign" courts imposed by the colonial power which, gradually in-

creasing the scope of their authority over all the people of Cyprus, soon became the pre-eminent legal institutions. Naturally those records are in English.

The British regarded their legal institutions as a major contribution to the well-

being of the people of Cyprus.4 The dossiers and judgment books now available will make it possible for scholars to evaluate the degree to which impartial justice actually was administered. It would be interesting to learn, for example, how the

British treated the Cypriot Communists whom they incarcerated in the I930s.5

4 Sir Harry Luke, Cyprls: A Portrait and an Appreciation (London: George G. Harrap,

1957), PP. 90-93. 5 The Communist party and all related Communist organizations were officially banned by

Order in Council No. 1543, dated August I6, I933. See The Cyprus Gazctte, August I6, 1933, no. 2306, p. 534. The Report on the Cyprus Force (I934) notes that "Communism is now very much less in evidence in Cyprus as far as external activity is concerned, though this may be

largely due to the fact that most of the leaders are in gaol" (p. 18).




BRITISH GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

While the British penchant for details is helpful, the researcher frequently encounters in government publications what one observer quite correctly termed "glacial sanctimoniousness."6 The annual reports of the colonial office tend to be

standardized, sanguine, and superficial. Individual governmental units, with a

position in the budget to protect, frequently tailored their candor to accord with

political circumstances.7 Fortunately there are some reports that surmount these disabilities. B. J. Surridge did not flinch from describing the poverty-stricken state of the rural population in his probing study, A Survey of Rural Life in Cyprus, 1930 (Nicosia, 1930). Mehmed Aziz's Report on the Anopheles (Malaria) Eradi- cation Scheme (Karpas, 1946) is another good example of conscientious reporting. Studies dealing with the problem of rural indebtedness and with the creation of

cooperatives in Cyprus (I930s-I940s) also tend to be of high quality and have

important historical significance.8 Useful research tools in this category can be grouped under the following head-

ings:

Statute Laws of Cyprus, 1878-1928 Ceride-i Resmiye-i Kibrs, 1878-1927 The Cyprus Gazette, I878-1883; 1886-1953; I957-I960 The Cyprus Blue Book, I886-1938; 1946 Cyprus Government Standing Orders, I916 The Cyprus Civil List, I93I-1939 Staff Lists, I930-1959 The Cyprus Law Reports, 1892-1914 Handbook of Cyprus, I9o0-I909

Reports from Government Departments Report on the Cyprus Police Force, 1934 Annual Report of the Land Registration and Survey Department, I949 Colonial Office-Annual Report on Cyprus for 1946 Reports on Water Surveys Reports of the Department of Health

MISCELLANEOUS BRITISH GOVERNMENT RECORDS

Correspondence books, press copy books, and government minute books dating from the early years of British rule on Cyprus contain a wealth of information

6 For example, Labor Supervision in the Colonial Empire, I937-1943 (London: His Maj- esty's Stationery Office, I943), p. 25.

7 The Report of the Department of Education for the School Years 1930-31 and 1931-32 (Nicosia: Cyprus Government Printing Office, I933).

8 The Annual Report of the Department of Cooperation for the Year I936 (Nicosia: Cyprus Government Printing Office, I937).




regarding the administration of the island during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Registers of letters received indicate the kinds of problems that required the attention of local British officials. Also of importance are the records

dealing with the financial administration of Cyprus (cash books, taxation books, government ledgers, and the like). As cataloging proceeds at the Archive, the list that follows is certain to be expanded:

Registers and Taxation Books, 1879; I915 Government Ledgers and Cash Books, 1880-1923 Interest Books, e.g., I907 Water Describers No. I, I879 Assize Books, 1888; 1885 Press Copy Books of the Chief Secretary of the High Commissioner, I890-I892

Register of Letters received, I880; I889 Correspondence Books, I879-1880; 1891-1895 Correspondence in Turkish and Greek, I893-I898 Government Minute Books, late I8oos-early 19oos Prison Board Minutes, 191I-I922

Register of Writs and Sales, late i8oos-early I9Oos Proceedings of the Kavanin-i Kibris (in Turkish), 1878-188I Proceedings of District Education Committees, I916-I 928 Large topographical map of Cyprus, 1882, "A Triconometrical Survey of the

Island of Cyprus," Capt. H. H. Kitchener of the British High Commission

NEWSPAPERS

Period of Ottoman Turkish A few Cypriot Turkish newspapers in Arabic script have been secured by the

Archive; of course, they can only serve as samples of the early newspapers, except for Hakikat. The Kokonoz and Mirat-z Zamian are of particular interest because

they were edited and published by the Cypriot Turk Ahmet Tevfik Efendi.9 The

asterisk (*) denotes a complete set. Most of the early newspapers were of brief

duration.

On microfilm

*Kokonoz, I893-I894 *Kibrns, I894-1895

Mirat-i Zaman, I906-I908

9 Kokonoz was noted for its biting satires which were sufficiently well targeted to get Ahmed Tevfik sentenced to death by the Sultan's Courts in Istanbul. On Cyprus, however, the sentence was not carried out (Beria Remzi Ozoran, "Turkish Newspapers and Magazines Published in

Cyprus: i888-I915" [Ankara: Ayyildiz Matbaasi, I969], pp. 8-9).




Bound volumes Zaman, I897-I898 Akbaba, I898

*Ankebut, I920-I923

*Hakikat, I924-I933

Newspapers in Latin Script

The Archive contains a comprehensive collection of Turkish Cypriot newspapers in Latin script. However, important gaps remain to be filled, most notably the issues of Siz from I920 to I942.

Newspapers like Siz, Hakikat, Vakit, and Halkzn Sesi provide a good cross section of political views within the Turkish community from the I920s through the I940s. Most political commentary is devoted to grievances against the British

government and to the pro-Enosis activities of the Greek Cypriot community. One finds valuable insights into the internal divisions and rivalries within the Turkish

Cypriot community. At the same time the external and internal affairs of Turkey are closely followed.10

*Hakikat, I924-I933 *Ses, I937 *Vakit, I938 *SOz, 1945; I942-1946 are preserved

in library of the Tarih Kurumu *Hiirsoz, I946-1956 Istiklal, I949-I950

*Halkin Sesi, I95o-present; the years I942-I949 are preserved in the li-

brary of the Tarih Kurumu *Bozkurt, I95 -present

*Cumhuriyet, I962 *Nacak, I959-I963 *Devrim, 1963-1964 *Akin, I962-I969

The Cyprus Mail, I96I-I973 (English)

*Zafer, I965-I969 *Savas, I968-I972

Mucahit, I964-I965 *Zaman, I972-present

There are a few volumes of Greek Cypriot newspapers available at the Archive. These include:

Eleftheria, 1924-1936; I938-I940 Zoe, I926-I965

Fileleftheros, 1956 Gnomi, I968

Greek Books and Documents

The Archive houses a limited collection of Greek works, the majority of which deal with the history of Cyprus. They have not yet been cataloged, so a comprehensive list is not available. A glance at the shelves revealed books dealing with

10 See, for example, the study based on Siz by Beria Remzi Ozoran, "Cumhuriyet Inkilaplar ve Klbrns Tiirkleri," in Turk Kiiltiirii Arathrrmalar, 7-10 (1970-I973), 23-83.




the topic of Enosis, the folklore of Cyprus, the political development of Cyprus, the Greek Orthodox Church, histories of population and education, and assorted histories of various cities on the island (e.g., Limassol). There is a modest collection of Greek magazines, a variety of dictionaries, and two sets of encyclopedias. Until cataloging is further along it will be difficult to determine the precise limits and value of the collection.

NUFUS DEFTERLERi (POPULATION REGISTERS)

About twenty-five volumes of population registers, covering the thirteenth Islamic century, from the I770s to the beginning of British rule in 1878 (with a few entries as late as 1883). The keeping of these defters seems to have begun only in the late I83os.

The quality of the defters varies considerably, many being woefully incomplete. At their fullest they include names of all men-arranged by village or by quarter of city, and by family-dates of birth, physical descriptions (medium height, black

hair, black eyes), physical disabilities, various information on military service, dates of entering and/or leaving the district, dates of death, dates of birth of all

sons, and the like. Turks and Greeks are included.

These records must be the earliest providing such detailed information on lon-

gevity and fecundity of urban and village Cypriots and are potentially a very important source for understanding the social organization of the nineteenth

century.

MATERIALS ON MICROFILM

Ottoman materials on microfilm come from the Basbakanllk Arsivi and Topkapi Sarayi Miizesi Arsivi in Istanbul and from the archives of the Tapu ve Kadastro

Dairesi, the Vakiflar Miidiirliiuii, and the Etnografya Miizesi in Ankara. Others were collected from the Harp Tarih Dairesi of the General Kurmay Bakanllgi and the Milli Kiitiiphane in Ankara. Numerous archivists, librarians, and other scholars in Turkey made known to their Cypriot colleagues all the documents relat-

ing to Cyprus which they knew of, so the Archive undoubtedly has the largest single collection in the world of Ottoman documents concerning Cyprus. A researcher

specializing in Ottoman Cyprus might well be advised to begin his researches in Girne and then to consult the originals in Turkey as necessary later on. For ex-

ample, the microfilm includes all the maliye, timar, tapu, and mufassal defterleri, all the muhimme deftlerleri, the 'amme-i humayun, hatt-i humayun, kilise deftlerleri (which include some Greek documents), and vakfiyye, as well as all the cor-

respondence addressed to the beylerbeyi of Cyprus, including complaints (ahkam defterleri). There are more than two hundred firmans relating to the Orthodox




church of Cyprus, as well as numerous documents concerning Armenian Gregorian and Maronite minorities.1

One finds random documents such as a list of the foreigners resident in Cyprus in I824 (Yabanci uyruklu listesi).

MATERIALS RELATING TO THE PERIOD SINCE INDEPENDENCE

Press Summaries and Digests (foreign press-articles on Cyprus) French Press, I95I-I956 British Press, I956-1964 Turkish Press, I948-I974

Press Summaries from the Greek Cypriot Press compiled by the Turkish Em-

bassy in Cyprus (in Turkish) Basin Raporu, 1961-1967 Basin Ozeti, I967-1973

Publications of the Turkish Cypriot Administration

Cyprus Press Digest, I96I-I963 Special News Bulletin, I964-I973 Turkish Press Summary, I965-1973 Press Releases of the Turkish Cypriot Information Service, I967-I974

Greek Cypriot Publications Police Bulletin (in English and Greek) Press Release (in Greek) of the Republic Information Office Informative Bulletin (in Greek) Summaries from the Greek Press

Miscellaneous (press releases, etc.) USIS press releases, scattered issues American Viewpoint (in Turkish), scattered issues "The Blue Beret." Press Releases and information bulletin.

U.N.C. United Nations Force I. Cyprus, scattered issues Political Files

Assorted files and notebooks dealing with violence and disturbances in the years following the I963 troubles. Files also exist on the activities of Enosis groups containing primarily reports of actions and political state- ments. There are about thirteen files in this category which focus upon EOKA-B during the 1973-74 period. Assorted files also exist on Greek political organizations such as AKEL and PEO. Finally, the collection contains a variety of slides, tape recordings, and films which deal almost entirely with post-I963 events, focusing upon intercommunal confronta- tions.

11 The extent of these documents generally in the Basbakanlik Arsivi may be learned from Midhat Sertoklu, Mluhteva Baktmndan Basvekalet Arsivi (Ankara, I955).




FURTHER EXPANSION

Since the Archive has been so recently formed, much cataloging remains to be done. The staff has commenced work on the Ottoman documents and the materials

dating from the British period, but it will be some time before the process is com-

pleted. Researchers can expect, however, full cooperation from the staff in locating uncatalogued materials relevant to their projects.

The Department of Youth, Sports, and Cultural Affairs plans to expand the

holdings of the archives by securing copies of documents in England and Turkey. Mr. Fikret Kiirsat, director of the department, plans a trip to photocopy in England letters and dispatches that traveled between the colonial administration in Cyprus and the home office in London.

Because Turkish archivists are continually discovering new documents, because there are still archives in Turkey whose catalogs and directories the Turkish

Cypriot archivists have not yet scrutinized in detail, and because the passage of time allows the continuing declassification of hitherto secret documents, it is in- tended that researchers from the Cyprus Turkish National Archive should peri- odically visit Turkish archives and continue their microfilming. Further expansion is anticipated by the acquisition of private papers currently in the hands of private individuals and organizations: one may cite, for example, the recent acquisition of the papers of lawyer Fadil N. Korkut, a prominent Turkish Cypriot politician during the I930S and I940s. Also of interest are the papers for I942-I943 of Kibrls Adasi Turk Azintil Kurumu (KATAK), an organization established as a

political counterweight to Enosis. The Archive is the official repository of all state documents and contains exten-

sive files on the political, social, and economic conditions in Cyprus, particularly in regard to the Turkish community. Some of these are classified as secret but others can be made available to the researcher. In particular, the Archive holds detailed documents and maps on the settlement and resettlement of Cypriot Turks

during the past fifteen years. All inquiries concerning the nature or extent of the contents of the Archive

should be addressed to its director.

II

SULTAN MAHMUD KUTUTPHANESi

Lefkosa (Nicosia)

Hours. Regular. 8 A.M.-6 P.M. Tuesday-Sunday. Microfilm may be used. Summer. 8 A.M.-7 P.M. daily.

Admission. The library is now a museum open to the public. Those wishing to consult individual volumes for artistic, bibliographic, or other scholarly purposes may contact the Department of Antiquities, Lefkosa. The library is little used for




research, but a desk and table are available. Needless to say there are no facilities for microfilming or photocopying.

Contents. This library contains over 1,500 volumes (counting multiple hold-

ings and multivolume works singly), most of which were donated as a vaklf in

1829 by Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839), by whose orders the books were dis-

patched to Lefko?a. At least a few of the books came from an earlier vakif of Sultan Murad IV (I623-I640). The contents do not pertain especially to Cyprus; there are no local fetvas, histories, literature, or poetry. The subjects include religion, law, mysticism, fetvas, hadiths, biography, grammar, philosophy, history, literature, and poetry-the subjects of the traditional Islamic library.

Many of the volumes are manuscripts with fine quality illuminated pictures, and some have elegant bindings.

Unfortunately there exists no catalog of the library's contents giving authors' full names, complete titles of works, dates and places of copying or publication, or names of copyists. An official list of the titles of the works, in most cases with identifiable authors' names, has been prepared by Altan and may be consulted at the National Archive. The list is arranged in accordance with the shelving of volumes in the library. The volumes are Ottoman Turkish originals and transla- tions, and Arabic and Persian works.12

Among the most important manuscripts one may cite the following: Fihrist-i Kiitiib-i Sahane, the original catalog of the library, compiled in 1862. Kitab al-Rukft' an al-Shihadat min al-Muhit al-Burhani Khulasat al-Fatwa,

made vakif by Sultan Murad IV. Hulasat ul-Fetava, made vakif by Sultan Murad IV. Sifa-i serif tercumesi, particularly noteworthy for its calligraphy. Sahih-i Muslim, particularly noteworthy for its calligraphy.

III

EVKAF DAiRESi

Lefkosa

Hours. Regular. 8 A.M.-I P.M.; 2:30-5:30 P.M. Monday-Friday. Microfilm

may be used. Summer. 8 A.M.-2 P.M. Monday-Saturday.

Admission. Permission must be secured from the director of the Evkaf Dairesi. Information such as that required by the Archive should be provided.

Contents. Preserved are the oldest and among the most important documents from Ottoman Cyprus: (I) the judicial registers (ser'i mahkeme sicilleri) from the court of Lefko?a, and (2) the vakfiyye (vakzfname) and other documents relating to them.

12 Questions regarding the contents of this library may be addressed to M. H. Altan.




A recent article by V. Bedevi lists 54 judicial registers from Lefkosa, giving the dales (hicra) and number of pages in each.13 To that list should be added seven other full or partial registers at the National Archive:

I105-II06 (I694-1695), unnumbered, but over 200 pages; badly damaged

1138 (1726), 12 pages (fragment)

1212-1213 (1797-1798), 24 pages (fragment) 1290 (I873), 52 pages (fragment) I295-I300 (I879-I884), 172 pages 1302-1303 (I885-1886), 50 pages, incomplete, mostly tereke.

1288-1292 (I87I-I875), Girne, complete, unnumbered, but over 200 pages.

Of the known judicial registers in the Cyprus Turkish Federated State, all are

from the court of Lefkosa except for a single one from Girne. The records, how-

ever, give a broad coverage because people-even villagers and non-Muslims as

well as Muslims-from all over the island used the Sharia court. Land and prop-

erty transfers were registered in those books, as were many estate settlements.

Moreover, verbatim copies of correspondence to the Kadi and other high local offi-

cials from their superiors in the Ottoman hierarchy were preserved in them.14

The Evkaf Dairesi zealously guards the vakfiyye in its possession and indeed is

still actively concerned with the administration of Cyprus evkaf. A list of 131 evkaf

in existence at the time of the British occupation has been published: the names of

the evkaf and their locations are given, although unfortunately the dates of founda-

tion are not.15 The special importance of the Evkaf Dairesi in Cyprus under British

rule, and later, has been emphasized above. Evkaf supported much of the social

welfare, especially for the Muslim community. The well-known case of the Abdul-

lah Pasa Vakif, abolished in a high-handed manner by the British in 1937, gives a

lesson in some of the intricate problems the British created for themselves in at-

tempting to administer indigenous institutions.

Based on a very small sampling it is suggested that the records concerning evkaf

13 Vergi H. Bedevi, "A Survey of the Cyprus Sher'i Court Registers," in Milletlerarasi Birinci Kibris Tetkikleri Kongqresi (Congress of Cypriot Studies) (14-19 Nisan I969) Tiirk Heyet Tebligleri (Ankara: Turk Kultiiriirii Arastirma Enstitusii, 1971), PP. I49-157 (here- after cited as Congress of Cypriot Studies). At that time all were housed in the Etnografya Mizesi. Now only the oldest three, mentioned below, remain there. The rest have been removed to the Evkaf Dairesi. The researcher is advised that a volume that contains documents from three years, for example, may include only a few documents from one or two of the years. Complete transliterations into Latin letters of No. 2 and No. 3 have beenl prepared by Altan and may be consulted in the Archive.

14 On these records see the valuable article by J. Kabrda, "Les anciens registres turcs des cadis de Sofia et de Vidin et leur importance pour I'histoire de la Bulgarie," Archiv Orientalli, 19 (I95I), 329-392, 642-643; also the introduction to Halit Ongan, Ainkaranin Bir Nzumarali Fer'i Mahkelmie Sicili, I583-84 (Ankara, 1958).

15 M. Kemal Dizdar, "Cyprus Evkaf," Congress of Cypriot Studies, pp. 207-220, list on

pp. 216-220.




at the Archive deal more with financial and administrative matters of internal book

keeping, while the Evkaf Dairesi is more likely to hold the original vakfiyye and other essential legal documents.

Also of interest in the possession of the Evkaf Dairesi are: Law of Cyprus (English, some Turkish), 1902, I906-I924, I938-I947, 1950-

I952 Ceride-i Resmiye-i Kibris, I907-I914, I918-1925 Evkaf Dairesi fetva defteri, 8 volumes, I929-I946

IV

TURK ETNOGRAFYA MUZESi

(Formerly Mevlevi Tekke)

Hours. Regular. 8 A.M.-6 P.M. Tuesday-Sunday. Summer. 8 A.M.-7 P.M. daily.

Admission. The museum has neither an archive nor a depot. Whatever it has is on display, so its contents are open to all its patrons. Visiting scholars can be assured the full consideration of the staff.

Contents. The building was erected near Girne (Kyrenia) gate as a Mevlevi Tekke early in the seventeenth century and continued as such until the twentieth

century. The center of the museum is the room in which the Mevlevi dervishes per- formed their ritual, and the small collection of artifacts and pictures concentrates on the Mevlevi theme, although artifacts of general ethnographic interest are also on display. Unfortunately, the residential section of the tekke, which served as an

orphanage until July, I975, has been demolished to make way for a shopping center.

As specimens of Ottoman paleography and diplomatics the museum has on dis-

play thirteen official documents relating to Cyprus, I753-I9IO. Most are nine-

teenth-century berats or firmans relating to appointments to various religious and civil offices. One dated 1850 concerns certain changes in the tax system. Of special importance are the three oldest surviving judicial registers (ser'i tmahkeme sicil-

leri) of Ottoman Cyprus: 988 (I580) (fragment), 1002-I003 (I593-1594) IOI6-IOi8 (I617-I619) IOI8-IOI9 (1619-I620).

There is also an Ottoman mukata'a defteri dated 980-983 (I573-1575) which re- veals the settlement of at least 1321 nefer (adult male) Muslim Turks in Cyprus villages within four years of the conquest in 157I.

In the open courtyard of the museum are some 86 Cyprus Turkish tombstones from nineteenth and early twentieth centuries collected by Cevdet Qagdas, the founder and director of the museum, who is presently Assistant Director of An-




tiquities. He has published transliterations into Latin letters of the inscriptions on

thirty-two tombstones.16

v

MiLLi KjUTPHANE

Lefkosa

Hours. Regular. 8 A.M.-I P.M.; 2:30-5:30 P.M. Monday-Friday. Summer. 8 A.M.-2 P.M. Monday-Saturday.

Admission. Open to the public. Payment of a nominal membership fee brings the privilege of borrowing one Turkish and one English book at a time.

Contents. Not a research library, it is best conceived as the public library of Turkish Lefkosa. The library contains three small reading rooms and receives

daily the local press and three newspapers from Turkey. Its holdings include a few

general periodicals and government publications from Turkey, but it does not sub- scribe to the important scholarly journals. The dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference books, the small collection of secondary materials on the Ottoman

empire and Turkey, as well as the few shelves of random materials on Cyprus, may be of use to the researcher.

VI

CYPRUS TURKISH HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

(Kibrls Turk Tarih Kurumu) Lefkosa

Located in a municipal building east of Girne gate, the library is a new en- deavor with a very limited collection. Its most important holdings fill major gaps in the newspaper collection of the National Archive: Halkin Sesi (1942-1949) and So'z (I942-I946). The director of the Association is Dr. Vehbi Zeki.

16 Kibris Tiirk Miiuesi Tas Eserler Boliimiindeki Kitabelerden Se?nme Ornekler, Kibris Turk Miizesi Yayini (Lefkosa: Kibris, I967). Comments on the tombstones are also published in "Ottoman Culture as Reflected in Tombs and Tombstones in Cyprus," in Congress of Cypriot Studies, pp. 34I-345. For further information on tombstones and inscriptions on Ottoman

buildings, consult C. (agdas, Resiny ve Kitabelerle Ktbrzsta Tiirk Devri Eserleri (Lefkosa, I965).

