Glossary
Terms and concepts
On this page you can find short explanations of the historical, administrative, and cultural terms that frequently appear in the history of Mesudiye village and on this site. The terms are grouped alphabetically.
Alphabetical
A — F
Avşar
One of the 24 tribes of the Oghuz Turks. A large Turkmen community that played an important role in the Turkification of Anatolia and preserved its nomadic traditions for a long time.
Ayan
In the Ottoman period, the notables and influential figures of a region whose word carried weight. From the 18th century onward they became a powerful class in the provinces.
Beylik (Principality)
A small Turkish state ruled by a bey. Structures such as the Karamanid Principality, founded after the fall of the Anatolian Seljuk State, are known by this name.
Binbir Kilise (The Thousand and One Churches)
An archaeological region on Mount Karadağ, north of Karaman, where the remains of numerous Byzantine-era churches are found. It was one of the important centres of the early Christian period.
Go to the Geography page →Bucak (Township)
In the old administrative division, a governance unit below the district (ilçe) that encompassed several villages. It was used for a long time in the Republican period as well, but was later largely abolished.
Celâli Revolts
Peasant and sipahi uprisings that broke out in Anatolia in the 16th and 17th centuries and lasted for many years. During this process many villages were emptied, and part of the population was forced to relocate.
Front (Cephe)
A theatre of war. In the First World War, Ottoman soldiers fought in different regions such as the Yemen Front, the Iraq Front, the Gallipoli (Çanakkale) Front, and the Caucasus Front.
Go to the Martyrs page →Çanakkale (Gallipoli)
The general name for the battles fought in 1915 on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in which the Ottoman army won a great victory. There are soldiers from Mesudiye village who fell as martyrs on this front as well.
Go to the Martyrs page →Deliorman
A region in the northeast of Bulgaria where a dense Turkish population has lived throughout history. A significant part of the Turkish settlements remaining from the Ottoman period are located here.
Dobruja (Dobruca)
A historical region between the Danube river and the Black Sea, today within the borders of Romania and Bulgaria. In the Ottoman period it was an important Turkish-Tatar settlement area.
Durayda
The former name of Mesudiye village. A toponym thought to date from the pre-Turkic period, also pronounced locally as "Duraydası". The village took the name "Mesudiye" after the resettlement of 1907.
Go to the History page →Fırka (Division)
A military unit in the Ottoman army corresponding to today's division. It consists of more than one regiment, and several divisions combine to form an army corps.
Alphabetical
G — L
Gazi (War veteran)
A soldier who took part in war and returned alive. In the Turkish-Islamic tradition, gazis are remembered with great respect; many gazis have come from our village as well.
Go to the War Veterans page →Hane (Household)
A concept denoting a family, used especially as the basic unit in Ottoman population and tax records. A hane generally corresponds to a family living under the same roof.
Go to the Population page →Höyük (Tumulus/Mound)
A hill of archaeological value formed of superimposed settlement layers. Mounds bearing the traces of millennia-old settlements are quite common in Anatolia.
İskân (Settlement)
Settling in or settling people into a region. In the Ottoman period a "settlement policy" was applied to bring nomadic communities into a settled life or to settle migrants in certain regions.
Go to the History page →Closed Basin (Kapalı Havza)
A geographical basin whose waters do not reach the sea but end in a lake or marsh. The Konya Closed Basin, in which Mesudiye village is also located, is the largest closed basin in Turkey.
Go to the Geography page →Karabağlar (Karaballar)
The Turkish tribe that founded Mesudiye village in 1907. They migrated from the Silistra region of Bulgaria and settled on these lands. In local records it also appears in the form "Karaballar".
Go to the Families page →Army Corps (Kolordu)
A large military unit composed of more than one division (fırka). It is one of the highest-level combat units in the armies of the Ottoman and Republican periods.
War of Independence
The Turkish struggle for independence waged between 1919 and 1922 to liberate Anatolia from occupation and to lay the foundations of the Republic of Turkey.
Go to the Martyrs page →Kuvâ-yı Milliye (National Forces)
The national resistance forces formed voluntarily by the people during the years of the War of Independence, before the regular army was established. It is the general name for the local resistance organisations.
Larende
The Ottoman-era name of the city of Karaman. An important centre from the Karamanid period onward, Larende was known by this name until the early years of the Republic.
Go to the History page →Alphabetical
M — S
Mesud
A word of Arabic origin meaning "happy, auspicious, fortunate". The village name "Mesudiye" is derived from this root and carries the meaning "place of happiness".
Go to the History page →Muhacir (Migrant)
A person who migrates, an émigré. It is used especially for the Turkish migrants who came from the Balkans to Anatolia. In the local dialect it is most often pronounced "macır".
Go to the Families page →Muhtar (Headman)
The elected administrator of a village or neighbourhood. He represents the village community before official authorities and carries out administrative affairs.
Go to the Headmen page →Mücerred
A term used in Ottoman population records for an adult unmarried man. In the tax registers (tahrir defterleri), households and mücerreds were counted separately.
Census (Nüfus Sayımı)
The process of counting and recording the people living in a region by official methods. It was carried out regularly both in the Ottoman period and in the Republican period.
Go to the Population page →Ottoman-Russian War
Known among the people as the "War of '93", the war fought between the Ottoman State and Russia in 1877-1878. Following this war, great waves of migration from the Balkans to Anatolia took place.
Go to the History page →Oymak (Tribal clan)
A community bound together by kinship ties that sits beneath a tribe. Structures such as the Karabağlar clan are one of the basic social units of the Turkmens.
Rumelia (Rumeli)
The name used in the Ottoman period for the Balkans. Meaning "the land of the Romans", this term referred to the Ottoman territories in the Balkans.
Silistra (Silistre)
A historical city on the bank of the Danube river, today within the borders of Bulgaria. The Karabağlar clan that founded Mesudiye village migrated from this region.
Go to the History page →Surname Law
The law enacted on 21 June 1934 making it compulsory for every Turkish citizen to bear a surname. The present-day surnames of the families in Mesudiye were also taken after this law.
Go to the Families page →Süvari (Cavalry)
A soldier who fights on horseback. In the armies of the Ottoman and early Republican periods, cavalry units constituted an important combat force.
Şehadet (Martyrdom)
A person losing their life in war or for a sacred cause. It is a concept meaning "to become a martyr", carrying religious and national value.
Go to the Martyrs page →Şehit (Martyr)
A soldier who loses his life in war for the sake of homeland or faith. Mesudiye village has given many of its sons as martyrs in various wars.
Go to the Martyrs page →Alphabetical
T — Z
Tabur (Battalion)
A military unit composed of several companies. More than one battalion combines to form a regiment, regiments combine to form a division (fırka), and so on into larger units.
Tahrir Defteri (Tax register)
An official register in the Ottoman State containing the population, tax, and land records of certain regions. It is among the most important first-hand sources for the history and demographic structure of a region.
Go to the References page →Türkmen (Turkmen)
The general name taken by the Oghuz Turks after they adopted Islam. They are the nomadic and semi-nomadic Turkish communities that played a fundamental role in the Turkification of Anatolia.
Vakfiye (Endowment deed)
An official document showing the establishment, properties, and conditions of a foundation (vakıf). In the Ottoman period, endowment deeds carried great importance as both a legal and a historical source.
Go to the References page →Yörük
Turkmen communities living a nomadic or semi-nomadic life in Anatolia. These groups, migrating with their animals between summer and winter pastures, are an important part of Anatolia's cultural heritage.