Doğan, Nejla2024-09-292024-09-2920211309-4688https://doi.org/10.9737/hist.2021.1030https://search.trdizin.gov.tr/tr/yayin/detay/488630https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14619/11445The concept of the local notables, as Khoury putsit, “groups with the most uncertain corners”, hasbeen discussed by historians for a long time. Themost notable issue in the literature review is thatayanship has not yet been clarified. Therefore, itis the general aim of the paper to reconsider andanalyze the local notables that need to beexplained through Kayseri sanjak. In order tobetter understand and explain the ayanlık thatdeeply influences the administrative, financialand social order of the empire, it is necessary toaddress some issues such as who they were andhow they were chosen, and then to answer thequestion of how they got stronger and left theirmark on the century. Without revealing thedetailed monographs of the notables, the conceptof local notables and related discussions werefocused. After giving information about Kayserilocal notables, the political, social, military, andadministrative foundations that affect thedevelopment of the local notables in Kayserisanjak are discussed. One of the main reasons forchoosing the region as a sample is the fact thatKayseri notables have not been studied in detailwithin the context of center-rural relations. Inaddition to this, being one of the sanjaks wherethere was intense social turmoil such as the Celali rebellions and banditry that took place in the 17thcentury and being one of the trade centers it hasacquired thanks to its geographical location arecrucial reasons for choosing the region. Thus, wehave a better chance for analyzing the social andfinancial foundations of local notables that affecttheir development in Kayseri sanjak. This studymainly based upon Kayseri court registers(şer’iyye sicilleri) provided an opportunity tomake a general evaluation and discussions onayanlık. Besides, some of the problems specificto Kayseri sanjak were discussed in the light ofprimary (Ottoman archival sources) andsecondary sources.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessArticle10.9737/hist.2021.103011844116348863013