The Evaluation of the Words Türk-Etrak, Kürd-Ekrad as the Appear in the Ottoman Documents

Abstract

The various words and terms used in the Ottoman archival documents most of the times have connotations that differ from their actual meaning. One, therefore, should use such words and terms that are vital for making research on the social life in the Ottoman Empire carefully. Otherwise grave mistakes can not be avoided in carrying out such researches. The words of this type such as Türk and its plural Etrak and Kürd and its plural Ekrad used in various figurative meanings in the Ottoman documents. One often comes across the words mentioned above in the Ottoman archival documents, in particular in the Tahrir Defters that have very important statistical information, and in the kanunnames.