OSMANLI DEVLETİ’NDE YARIM KALMIŞ ‘MÜSTESNA’ BİR PROJE: BALKAN TOPRAKLARINDA XIV. YÜZYILA AİT BİR HAN

• Main Author: Ayşegül KILIÇ
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Osmanlı Mirası Araştırmaları Dergisi 2021-03-01
• Series: Journal of Ottoman Legacy Studies
• Subjects: müstesna vakıf; ferecik; kara kaplıca; evrenos bey han
• Online Access: http://www.osmanlimirasi.net/dergi//osmanli-devletinde-yarim-kalmis-mustesna-bir-proje-balkan-topraklarinda-xiv-yuzyila-ait-bir-han-ss-91-115202103a0518d8.pdf

Still this day, while talking about the lack of the historical sources belonging to the Ottoman Empire or the Ottoman Middle Age, the existence of the rare architectural works, which managed to survive from that period to today carries a special meaning. One of these works is a 14th century Ottoman inn/han, located in the territory of the contemporary Greece. In the Kara Kaplıca (Loutra), which was seized after the capture of Ferecik (Ferrai) Castle, the han was built by Evrenos Bey, an important conqueror chief of the period. Evrenos Bey Han, which is accepted as the oldest han that has survived on the area of Balkans till this day, has a special importance due to that reason. Evrenos Bey seems to have built this han possibly during the time he resided in Gümülcine (Komotini), when the conquests stopped and the Ottoman rule in the region including Ferecik became absolute. Furthermore, it is possible to limit the construction date of this han, which carries the symbol of the substantivity of the Ottoman Empire’s existence in the Balkan lands to 1375-1381, when a period of stagnation was experienced. In the Balkan lands, which always ranked first for the Ottoman Empire among the construction programs and state development projects during the reign of Abdulhamid II, that 14th century han was also wanted to be included in these programs. For this purpose, a correspondence was initiated in September 1898. As an initial step, the construction drawings of the building complex belonging to this han were prepared and all expenses to be made were recorded. The ground floor of the building was intended to be converted into a restaurant, a club and a coffee house, and the upper floor into a hotel. Exploring the fact that the han is a part of the Gazi Evrenos Bey Waqf, prolonged the correspondence, to take up to two years. In the Ottoman State, which we regard as a state of waqfs, some foundations were referred as “exceptional/müstesna” in line with their exceptional circumstances and their establishment purposes and were subjected to a separate rules and regulations. Apart from being the oldest Ottoman han in the Balkans, Evrenos Bey Han is also a part of an exceptional waqfs. Evrenos Bey Han project, as the building was a part of one of these exceptional waqfs, which even the state could not cut in, was left unfinished because its trustees could not be reached and the waqf had exceptional status. A solution was tried to be found by opening new guesthouses for the spa next to it. As it could be seen in the example of Gazi Evrenos Han, the "exceptional waqfs", which we try to describe with the example of an han from the 14th century, preserved their privileges until the 20th century.