Between Ottomanization and Local Networks: Appointment Registers as Archival Sources for Waqf Studies. The Case of Jerusalem’s Maghariba Neighborhood

Abstract

This study presents the ʿatīḳ (old) and cedīd (new) appointment registers located in Ankara in the Archive of the General Directorate of Foundations in Turkey, and discusses their importance for the social and economic history of Jerusalem after 1840. They are composed mainly of records of appointments, promotions, and dismissals of waqf employees, and were continually updated. This article focuses on the registers of the Maghariba neighborhood, a unique example of an area founded as a waqf quarter; an unprecedented event in Islamic history. Although a number of studies have explored the establishment of the quarter and its awqāf (Ar. s. waqf; Ott. vakf, pl. evkaf), the changing nature of these institutions over time merits more attention.