TRACING THE EMERGENCE OF A PERIPHERAL WATERFRONT NEIGHBORHOOD IN ISTAVROZ- BEYLERBEYI ON THE BOSPHORUS SHORES /BOGAZICI KIYILARINDAKI ISTAVROZ-BEYLERBEYI'NDE PERIFERIK BIR SAHIL MAHALLESININ ORTAYA CIKISININ IZINI SURMEK

This study investigates the historical traits of the emergence of a new waterfront neighborhood in the Istavroz-Beylerbeyi area on the Asian side of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, which corresponds to the periphery of the city in the second half of the eighteenth century. From the 1760s onwards, the nucleus of new waterfront neighborhoods, particularly on the northern and Asian shores of the Bosphorus, indeed began to emerge. However, their emergence was hardly spontaneous. Instead, it resulted from the efforts of sultans who utilized their own waqfs (pious foundations) to promote the development of new settlements in these areas. These efforts coincided with the initial steps taken by the central government to centralize the waqf system. The developments in the Istavroz- Beylerbeyi neighborhood, which began with the initiatives of Mustafa III (r. 1757-1774), Abdulhamid I (r. 1774-1789), and Abdulhamid I's Hamidiye waqf, shed light on these overlapping processes. This micro-historical study thus explores the interventions of these agents between the 1760s and the early nineteenth century by focusing on various sources, including Abdulhamid I's waqf deed, chronicles, travel accounts, published journals of the chief- of-palace gardeners, and imperial edicts found in the Ottoman archives. This investigation demonstrates how the Hamidiye waqf gradually gained control over the socio-spatial developments in Istavroz-Beylerbeyi by the turn of the nineteenth century. As a result, this study advances our understanding of the socio-spatial and institutional dynamics involved in the emergence of new waterfront neighborhoods and the early phase of the urbanization of the peripheral areas on the Bosphorus shores in Istanbul at the turn of the nineteenth century. It also reveals the socio-spatial landscape of this new waterfront Bosphorus neighborhood with both a quasi-urban and quasi-rural character. Keywords: Eighteenth-century Istanbul; the Bosphorus; Beylerbeyi; the Hamidiye waqf; Ottoman waqf system. Bu calisma, on sekizinci yuzyilin ikinci yarisinda kentin ceperine tekabul eden Istanbul Bogazi'nin Asya kiyisinda Istavroz-Beylerbeyi bolgesinde yeni bir sahil mahallesinin ortaya cikisinin tarihsel ozelliklerini incelemektedir. Nitekim 1760'lardan itibaren, Bogaz'in ozellikle kuzey ve Asya kiyilarinda yeni sahil mahallelerinin cekirdegi olusmaya baslamistir. Ancak bu mahalleler kendiliginden ortaya cikmamistir. Aksine, bu alanlarda yeni yerlesim yerlerinin gelismesini te