Whither Defterology? A Review Article of Halil İnalcık, Evgeni Radushev & Uğur Altuğ, 1455 Tarihli Paşa Livâsı İcmâl Defteri

Abstract

The publication of seven Ottoman tahrir defters (tax registers) from the Bal- kans, or more correctly fragments thereof, compiled during the first sultanate of Mehmed II (November 1444 - May 1446), appeared in 2013 thanks to the efforts of Halil İnalcık, Evgeni Radushev, Uğur Altuğ and the Türk Tarih Kurumu (Turk- ish Historical Society). As someone who has studied and published this particular type of source throughout the past forty-five years,1 I am well aware of the amount of work involved in their undertaking. Future generations of defterologists, will benefit from their efforts, as we earlier have from Halil Hoca’s pioneering 1954