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This article investigates the relationship between inheritance and wealth in the context of eighteenth-century Ottoman Kastamonu. Based on the estate inventories of the deceased (sing. tereke ) as recorded in Kastamonu court records (sicils ), the article introduces a variety of quantitative techniques to measure the impact of Islamic inheritance practices on wealth accumulation across subsequent generations and to understand how it influenced wealth mobility among various socioeconomic groups. The estimations provided in this article suggest that while the inheritance practice in Kastamonu caused wealth fragmentation, the process also contributed to the durability of economic divisions within the provincial Ottoman society.

This article measures wealth levels and inequalities among the Muslim population of 18th-century Ottoman Kastamonu by utilizing information found in estate inventories (terekes). Also developed is a quantitative methodology that can predict the economic worth of specific noneconomic markers of social, religious, and gender identity, including honorific titles, religious epithets, and occupational markers. Our calculations indicate that inequality among different segments of the Muslim community was pronounced. Men from higher echelons of the military and religious establishments, as well as individuals who carried the epithet "pilgrim" (elhac), were significantly wealthier than the rest of the society. At the same time, economic disparities cut across career lines and title/epithet-based distinctions among legators. Finally, the regression analysis introduced in this article reveals that wealth transfers across generations may have contributed greatly to overall wealth levels.

WOS:000253035900008 ; This paper introduces methods to estimate wealth levels and disparities among Muslim inhabitants of 18th-century Ottoman Kastamonu. Our sources in this pursuit are estate inventories of the deceased (sing. tereke) as recorded in Kastamonu court records (sicils), mainly in the first half of the 18th century (1712–60). By analyzing information provided by these sources through a variety of quantitative techniques, we measure levels of inequality among Muslims of Kastamonu and describe the relationship between economic privilege and social, political, religious, and occupational status as well as gender identity. Our work outlines the contours of economic stratification in 18thcentury Kastamonu and reveals the relative positions of various social groups within this hierarchy