Abstract
Studies on women and consumption are relatively new fields of inquiry for Ottomanists. In the highly hierarchical Ottoman society, where rank and status corresponded to material wealth, studies on consumption help to reveal differences of various groups. Majority of scholars who studied consumption of Ottoman women have focused on the female members of the imperial dynasty. No attention, however, has been given to lesser status female members of the imperial palace who belonged to the various ranks of the harem hierarchy.
The study of consumption habits of palace affiliated women who had both ongoing ties with the palace and lived among common people, is important in contributing to our understanding of consumption in the eighteenth century Ottoman Empire. This issue is examined in the context of the century, in which more and more individuals rose up the social and economic ladder, with an increase in the consumption habits towards the end of the century.
This paper explores consumption habits of palace-affiliated women through the eighteenth century based on the court registers, complemented with inheritance inventories of about four hundred palace slaves. As records of material possession of the deceased, inheritance registers are promising source for studying consumption. In order to comprehend the consumption habit in the context of the era, this study compares this group of women with female members of another segments of the society.
This paper argues that affiliation to the imperial palace had an impact on the consumption habit of this group of women who had both knowledge of courtly life style and they were also presented with gifts both during their stay and following their transfer from the palace. It further argues that consumption habit of this group changed towards the end of the eighteenth century, parallel to the changing consumption habit of the Ottoman society, with an increase in the number, quality and variety of items added with the imported luxurious objects.
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