Selim III, Social Control and Policing in Istanbul at the End of the Eighteenth Century

Book excerpt: Table of Contents The eighteenth century: defining the crisis -- Rebellion, migration and fear of crime in the "well-protected" city -- Migration and public order -- Customary state policies and mechanisms of control -- Maintaining order in the city: urban police and law enforcement agencies -- Istanbul's economy and population at the end of the eighteenth century -- Natural disasters and epidemics -- Wartime crisis and the new order: the policing of istanbul, 1789-92 -- Accession of the "reformist" sultan -- Defining the new order -- Life in Istanbul and the demand for order -- "A sweet fountain is always crowded"--Investigations and surveillance of the population -- Legal theory and the justice of the sultan -- The inspection registers of 1791-93 -- Observations on the kefalet registers -- Exploration of the register using correspondence analysis -- Economic activity in intra-muros Istanbul according to the register -- Janissaries, immigrant networks and the inspectors -- About coffeehouses and Janissaries.