ancient cities

406 Istanbul, Turkey
flow of immigrants to Istanbul. The population
reached to over half a million in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, and it continued to grow thereafter.
The first census of 1885 recorded 875,000 individuals
living in the city.
Urban Development
In the sixteenth century, the walled city of Istanbul
was administratively divided into 13 districts that
contained varying numbers of quarters. These districts
were identified by Friday mosques, the largest
mosques of the district and where Friday noon
prayer was held. Friday mosques were substituted
for quarter mosques over the years, and new
Friday mosques were founded within the existing
districts. But the number of districts remained
unchanged, at least until the end of the sixteenth
century. The three succeeding volumes of Istanbul
vakif (pious endowment) registers of 1546, 1578,
and 1596 show the development pattern over the
50 years. The first volume records 219 quarters
and 244 mosques in the city in 1546. Each quarter
had at least one mosque and some had two or
more. The number of quarters rose with the number
of mosques to 227 with 254 mosques in 1578,
and 230 with 256 mosques in 1596.
The rise in the number of quarters occurred in
two ways in this period: First was the appearance
of a new quarter under the name of an existing
mosque that was the second mosque of an existing
quarter. Second was the development of a new
quarter in association with a newly constructed
mosque. In the latter, the new mosque generated
the urban development in its surroundings, and
this was normally experienced in less densely
built-up areas. In the areas where the quarters
could not expand, new buildings had to be fitted
into the existing urban fabric. Some buildings had
to be pulled down to make room for the new
developments. And the quarters became denser.
Urban Production and Consumption
It was not easy to supply the city with a population
approaching half a million. Istanbul had
become a center of consumption but relied heavily
on imports. The Ottoman authorities tried to
impose controls on the system of supply, giving
priority to the walled city over the other places.
According to the regulations, various foodstuffs
shipped to the city were to be unloaded in specific
quays on the shore of Tahtakale. They were taken
to some authorized depots inside the walls to be
taxed and priced, and then to be distributed to
wholesalers, producer-retailers, or both. For
instance, many foodstuffs were brought to the
Balkapan Han (literally Honey-Depot Inn), where
they were to be distributed to grocers. And thus,
groceries were concentrated on the area. However,
often dealers smuggled goods outside markets to
sell them at higher prices. Probably for this purpose,
many possessed storehouses and shops in
this area. As a result, the shoreline area had
become highly congested. In 1579, the construction
of new shops in the Tahtakale area outside
the wall was prohibited.
The district of Unkapani, the other end of the
busy shoreline area, was authorized as the unloading
point for grain. It possessed the Grain/Flour Depot
on the shore outside the wall near the quay for
grain. Grain sent by ship and land was to be
brought to the Grain/Flour Depot to be taxed and
priced before it was distributed to millers and bakers.
However, it was difficult to monitor the system
of grain supply throughout the early modern
era. Because grain was in short supply and its price
was fixed, opportunist merchants emerged who
intended to make money in trading grain. They
either sold it on the way or hoarded it in their storehouses
along the shore outside the wall to export
it at a higher price. This caused a shortage and
price rise in the city. And in this case, the authorities
usually issued many decrees addressed to the
authorities of supplying villages and towns to send
grain immediately from their reserve.
The Grain/Flour Depot, giving its name to the
district, seems to have dominated the occupations
of the area. For example, grain merchants took up
lodgings and shops on the shore, probably not to
risk missing cargoes entering the city. Inside the
wall, there were many mills and baker’s shops.
They were conveniently located close to their suppliers.
However, mills and baker’s shops were also
scattered in the city. They were the two important
links in the process of bread making, and thus they
were established accordingly. Bakers were dependent
on millers for supplies of freshly ground flour,
and for this reason, most of them built their own
mills, which were attached to the back of their