Mosques and Masjids in Balıkesir in the Light of Hurufat Registers: Registration Discipline and Institutional Transformation

Abstract

This study examines the institutional structure, staff cadres, and appointment processes of mosques and masjids operating in the center and villages of Balıkesir during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries on the basis of the Hurufat Registers. The study aims to reveal the differences between the established religious organization in the urban center and the religious structures in rural areas, and to evaluate these differences within the context of the Ottoman policies of bureaucratic centralization and registration discipline that intensified during the eighteenth century. In this framework, four different data groups—central mosques, central masjids, village mosques, and village masjids—were analyzed. The findings demonstrate that central mosques were highly institutionalized structures with diversified staff cadres including imams, khatibs, muezzins, kayyims, ferrashes, and mutawallis. The presence of muallims in some mosque-related waqfs also indicates the close relationship between religious and educational functions. Central masjids, although possessing more limited staff structures, functioned as the main institutions sustaining neighborhood-based religious life. In rural areas, high rates of original appointments indicate the rapid increase in newly established places of worship and the conversion of masjids into mosques during the eighteenth century. The absence of detailed reference information in many village records suggests that appointments were largely shaped by local social consensus. In some villages, the fact that imams also served as teachers points to the continuity of mosque-centered religious education in the provinces. In conclusion, the Balıkesir case reflects an institutionalized and stable religious structure in the urban center, while rural areas display a more dynamic model shaped by bureaucratic centralization, new constructions, and community-based organization. The study demonstrates the significance of the Hurufat Registers for revealing regional variations in the Ottoman provincial religious-administrative structure.

Citation: Temel, Eşref (2026). “Mosques and Masjids in Balıkesir in the Light of Hurufat Registers: Registration Discipline and Institutional Transformation”, Erdem, June, Issue:90, pp. 175-214.