Demographic and ethno-religious change in 15th and 16th-century Ottoman Dobrudja (ne Balkans) and the related impact of migrations

Abstract

This essay examines the main aspects of demographic and ethno-religious change in Ottoman Dobrudja (NE Balkans) from the Ottoman conquest in the late 14th century till the late 16th century. Paying due attention to Dobrudja's pre-Ottoman historical legacy, and utilizing an array of narrative and administrative sources, the essay discusses Dobrudja's turbulent political history during the 15th century, which led to the continuation of negative demographic trends that had developed in the pre-Ottoman centuries, such as outward migrations and demographic losses due to armed conflicts. The political stabilization of Dobrudja in the late 15th century led to a marked change in demographic trends, whereby from the late 15th and throughout the 16th century, Dobrudja became the venue of inward migrations of Turcomans from Anatolia and Thrace and of Christians from other parts of the Balkans. The demographic growth and stabilization of Dobrudja in the 16th century is the subject of the second half of the essay, based on Ottoman tax registers and the attendant law-codes.