Women in Exile in the Framework of the Ottoman State’s Exile Policy in the 19th Century

Abstract

The word of exile was used in two senses in the Ottoman history and the Ottoman legal system. The word emerges as a housing and placement policy in the Ottoman history and as a form of punishment in the Ottoman legal system. The word of exile, used as a form of punishment by all states in the history of mankind, will be evaluated in terms of this definition. The exile which is a serious crime and can be considered equivalent to the death penalty as a form of punishment, means removal of the offender from its location in a neighborhood for a certain period of time. In this sense, this penalty was applied to those who were guilty without any discrimination in the Ottoman State. The Ottoman women have also taken place among these people who were sentenced to this penalty. Relevant documents of the 19th century in the Ottoman Archives will be used as the source. In the study, first of all, I will give information about the application of the sentence of exile in the Ottoman State and then I will focus on the application of the sentence of exile among women. At this point the following questions will be answered in this study: -In the 19th century, from which crimes women were sentenced to exile in the Ottoman State? -Women, sentenced to exile, under what conditions, sent to where? -How the Ottoman women's life shaped during the application of the punishment? -During and after the application of the punishment, how affected the social status and families of women sentenced to this penalty? Within the framework of data obtained from the answers given to questions, an assessment will be done in the direction of how the penalty of exile affects the lives of women in the Ottoman social life in this study.