Description:
<jats:p>Studies on Ottoman society and law through the so-called court <jats:italic>sijills</jats:italic> have lately proliferated, surpassing in volume all previous studies based on other archival sources, including tax and land registers. The comparatively massive size of these <jats:italic>sijills</jats:italic>, and the fact that their majority did survive, even in a good state, have led some scholars to the conclusion that only the Ottoman qāḍīs kept records of their court proceedings in a systematic fashion, and that they were the first to establish the <jats:italic>sijill</jats:italic> as a formal institution. Even those who do not share this view of a uniquely Ottoman achievement seem in no sense clear as to the pre-Ottoman history of this important institution. My purpose in this article, therefore, is to attempt to unravel some important aspects of the <jats:italic>sijill</jats:italic>'s history, including the less consequential issue of the terminological confusion which has engulfed it in modern scholarly discourse.</jats:p>