Alternative claims on justice and law: rural arson and poison murder in the 19th century Ottoman Empire

Abstract

This study examines the ordinary Ottoman subjects "interplay with justice and law from the mid- to late nineteenth century Ottoman Anatolia and Rumelia at a time when the Ottoman state's centralization efforts escalated and its claim on justice was much stronger than ever. It explores the Ottoman state's interventions to the everyday life by regulations and instructions in order to show their impact on the ordinary subjects while at the same time concentrates on the subjects" perceptions of and reactions to these interventions from a perspective informed by gender studies and social history. Rural arson and poison murder, in this study, are regarded as two unique means to implement justice unofficially and assert agency by peasants and women. Based on archival evidence yielded by the nizamiye court records and particularly by the interrogation reports, this dissertation explores the way justice was perceived by common people and to what extent this perception overlapped or differed from the justice as defined by the Ottoman state. In doing so, it aims to uncover alternative claims on justice and law by common people and their own narratives of conflict. By focusing on intra-peasant disputes and domestic conflicts, it investigates the ways these people found solutions to their very real problems and implemented justice unofficially when the official mechanisms proved to be incapable of providing an outlet in situations of everyday crisis.