2026/04/20 by Mehmet Çetinkaya · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Turkey's Politics and Society #Ottoman Empire History and Society #Media Discourse and Social Analysis
paper · doi:10.1177/03631990261442741
openalex publication_date 2026/04/20 · openalex created_date 2026/04/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/27
From the early nineteenth century onward, rising marriage expenses, the spread of bridewealth practices, and high mehr payments made marriage increasingly difficult in the Ottoman Empire, prompting state intervention. Within Circassian society, a comparable practice known as vase occupied a central place in marriage arrangements. By the Second Constitutional Era, Circassian intellectuals criticized this custom. Drawing on articles published in Guaze and Ottoman archival petitions, this article examines how vase was reinterpreted not merely as a cultural tradition but as a practice shaping marriage age, population growth, social order, and religious legitimacy within debates on modernization and reform.