Constructing Ottoman Beneficence

Amy Singer teaches in the Department of Middle Eastern and African History, Tel Aviv University. She is the author of Palestinian Peasants and Ottoman Officials: Rural Administration Around Sixteenth-Century Jerusalem.

• List of Maps and IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsNote on Ottoman Turkish and Arabic Transliterations Introduction 1. "Devote the fruits to pious purposes" What is a waqf?The roots of waqfWhy found a waqf?The Ottomans 2. A Bowl of Soup and a Loaf of Bread The written recordInstitutions of the endowmentEndowed propertiesPersonnelSoupWhy Jerusalem? 3. Ladies Bountiful The conflated traditions: Hurrem-HelenaBeneficence and women in Islamic history Early examplesThe Byzantine factorTurco-Mongol heritageThe Ottomans The Gender of Beneficence 4. Serving Soup in Jerusalem A report from the 'imaretOn managementGetting startedTax arrears and firewoodFood for allBuilding a bathDealing in grainAdding to the endowment 5. Feeding Power Provisioning Istanbul and Topkapı PalaceProvincial townsThe army on campaignJanissariesHajj caravans On the word 'imaretPre-Ottoman precedentsAn Ottoman institution Conclusion: Practicing Beneficence NotesBibliographyIndex

"…Singer's study … will be a major landmark in this field, and in the social history of the Ottoman Empire at large. Its clear and concise style will help to make it a standard assignment for undergraduate and graduate courses … In its attempt to bring together the historiography of social and political life in the Ottoman Empire … [this book] breaks important new ground." — H-Net Reviews (H-Turk)"Constructing Ottoman Beneficence is an admirable example of what a monograph can be. Singer has read a rich body of archival sources deeply, producing an excellent analysis of the Hasseki Sultan waqf and imaret." — International Journal of Middle East Studies"…the book contributes to our understanding of Ottoman philanthropic policy … and of the role of highly placed women in this policy … it provides insight into life in Jerusalem in the mid-sixteenth century." — Journal of Palestine Studies"A tightly argued look at a remarkably rich set of records about a royal patronage institution in the grand imperial age of the Ottomans." — Virginia Aksan, McMaster University"This book will be useful because of its readability, clarity, and the way it unites the different strands of political, religious, social, and economic history." — Linda T. Darling, University of Arizona