Data Model
Like all databases, Ottgaz depends on a data model. Historians and Ottomanists might be tempted to consider this data model a theory about the spatial administrative structure of the Ottoman empire. Crucially, however, a data model is not meant to describe reality per se; instead, it is meant to organize information for recording, querying, and analysis. Therefore, this data model is a tool, not a conclusion.
Seats and regions
There are two major kinds of spaces in the Ottgaz data model: seats and regions. A seat is the administrative center of a region. A region is a larger area with a seat as its administrative center.
Seats (typically cities, towns, or villages) are one-dimensional points with a lat/long geolocation. They are instances of administrative center (Q287). There are more specific subclasses of administrative center, such as administrative center (Ottoman) (Q6421).
Regions (typically provinces, subprovinces, and districts) are two-dimensional spaces, but they have no specified boundaries or limits in the Ottgaz data model. Instead, they are conceived as the larger space surrounding a geolocated seat. They are instances of administrative territorial entity (Q6420). There are more specific subclasses of administrative territorial entity, such as administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman empire (Q1) and administrative territorial entity of Turkey (Q6419).
The terms "seat (merkez)" and "region (bölge)" do not correspond to commonly-used categories in Ottoman historical sources, and were chosen for that reason.
Hierarchy
Larger regions, such as provinces (vilayets), contain smaller regions, such as subprovinces (sancaks).
Exceptions and limitations
In theory, every seat has a region and every region has a seat. In practice, this is not always the case.
Structure
Insofar as possible, I am replicating wikidata's items and properties. My model is the JSTOR Labs Wikibase.
Regions
Ottgaz describes regions using the following subclasses of administrative territorial entity (Q6420):
| State level | Major subclasses | Count | Minor subclasses | Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire (Q1) | vilayet (Q5)/ eyalet (Q496) | 345 | müstakil sancak | 48 |
| sancak (Q4) | 1744 | |||
| kaza (Q3) | 7885 | |||
| nahiye (Q2) | 5413 | |||
| administrative territorial entity of Turkey (Q6419) | province of Turkey (Q6240) | 116 | yeni nâhiye (Turkey) | 77 |
| ilçe (Turkey) (Q6223) | 1105 | yeni belediye (Turkey) | 45 | |
| bucak (Turkey) (Q6222) | 1640 | belediye (Republic of Turkey) | 24 | |
| village (Turkey) (Q6226) | 967 | |||
| Other region | eyâlet (other state) | 57 | ||
| sancak (other state) | 43 | |||
| kazâ (Greece) | 49 | kazâ (other state) | 70 | |
| nâhiye (other state) | 45 | nâhiye (Greece) | 32 | |
| köy (Greece) | 28 | sancak (Greece) | 21 |
Settlements
Seats
Ottgaz describes regional seats (or capitals) using the following subclasses of administrative centre (Q287):
| State level | Major subclasses | Count |
|---|---|---|
| administrative center (Ottoman) (Q6421) | provincial seat (Q498) | 105 |
| subprovincial seat (Q505) | 200 | |
| district seat (Q6228) | 193 | |
| subdistrict seat (Q6227) | 76 | |
| sancak merkezi (Müstakil Sancak) | 9 | |
| Turkey | provincial seat (Turkey) (Q6241) | 18 |
| ilçe seat (Turkey) (Q6236) | 133 | |
| bucak seat (Turkey) (Q6238) | 177 | |
| Other region | kazâ merkezi (Greece) | 16 |
Other settlements
Subclasses of human settlement (Q497).
| Turkish | English | Count |
|---|---|---|
| kasaba (Q6225) | town (Q6225) | 388 |
| başkent | capital | 52 |
| şehir | city | 56 |
| kent | city | 62 |
| kale | fortress | 31 |
| antik şehir | 14 | |
| semt | 16 | |
| hanlık | 12 | |
| krallık | 9 |
other Sezen
Sezen uses other categories, in smaller numbers. I will slowly integrate these.
| status | count |
|---|---|
| bölge | 30 |
| ada (Greece) | 23 |
| eyâlet merkezi (other state) | 26 |
| köy | 21 |
| köy (other state) | 17 |
| vilâyet (other state) | 13 |
| kasaba (Republic of Turkey) | 10 |
| liman şehri (other state) | 9 |
| yeniden nâhiye | 9 |
| ada | 8 |
| eyâlet merkezi (Greece) | 8 |
| mahalle | 8 |
| vilâyet merkezi (other state) | 8 |
| yeni kazâ | 8 |
| yeniden nâhiye (Republic of Turkey) | 8 |
| ada (other state) | 7 |
| antik şehir (other state) | 7 |
| bucak (Republic of Turkey) | 7 |
| devlet (other state) | 7 |
| kasaba (Greece) | 7 |
| antik kasaba | 6 |
| emaret | 6 |
| eyâlet (Greece) | 6 |
| kasaba (İskele) | 6 |
| kazâ merkezi (other state) | 6 |
| sancak merkezi (other state) | 6 |
| ülke | 6 |
| voyvodalık merkezi | 6 |
| devlet | 5 |
| eyâlet (Kontluk) | 5 |
| ilçe (Republic of Turkey) | 5 |
| vilâyet (Greece) | 5 |
| vilâyet merkezi (Greece) | 5 |
| yeniden kazâ | 5 |
| beylik merkezi | 4 |
| Kale, Nâhiye | 4 |
| muhtar idare | 4 |
| Takımada | 4 |
| Başşehir | 3 |
| Belde | 3 |
| Emaret Merkezi | 3 |
| kale (other state) | 3 |
| Kale ve Kasaba | 3 |
| Liman şehri | 3 |
| Müdüriyet | 3 |
| sancak (Republic of Turkey) | 3 |
| Başkent (Greece) | 2 |
| Başkent, vilâyet | 2 |
| Boğaz | 2 |
| Eyâlet, Hanlık | 2 |
| Geçit | 2 |
| Hidivlik | 2 |
| İki köy | 2 |
| Kale ve Köy | 2 |
| Mahalle (Greece) | 2 |
| Mezraa | 2 |
| Müstakil İdare | 2 |
| Özerk Beylik | 2 |
| Özerk Cumhuriyeti | 2 |
| Prenslik | 2 |
| Şehir ve Bölge | 2 |
| Tekrar Nâhiye | 2 |
| Yönetim bölgesi | 2 |
| Yönetim Merkezi | 2 |
| Yönetim Merkezi (other state) | 2 |
| Ada (Çanakkale girişinde) | 1 |
| Ada (Cezâyir-Seb’adan) | 1 |
| Ada (Nâhiye) | 1 |
| Ada ve Kasaba | 1 |
| Antik belde | 1 |
| Antik kent | 1 |
| Antik şehir (Greece) | 1 |
| Bağımsızlık | 1 |
| Başkent (Republic of Turkey) | 1 |
| Belde, Nâhiye | 1 |
| Bir Köy | 1 |
| Bölge ve Devlet | 1 |
| Bucak Merkezi | 1 |
| Dalmaçya | 1 |
| Doğal liman (köy) | 1 |
| Dukalık | 1 |
| Emirlik | 1 |
| Eyâlet Dengi | 1 |
| Federasyon | 1 |
| Geçit (other state) | 1 |
| Hilâfet Merkezi | 1 |
| Hüyük | 1 |
| İdari bölge | 1 |
| İki Ülke | 1 |
| Irk ve Bölge | 1 |
| İslâmiyet Merkezi | 1 |
| İst. Belediyesi | 1 |
| İtibari eyâlet | 1 |
| Kale (iki adet) | 1 |
| kasaba (kale) | 1 |
| Kasaba ve Bölge | 1 |
| Kasaba ve tarihi şehir | 1 |
| kazâ (Ada) | 1 |
| kazâ (Dağ) | 1 |
| Kazâ Silifke | 1 |
| Kent (Liman) | 1 |
| Kırım oblaştı (other state) | 1 |
| köy (Ayyıldız) | 1 |
| köy (Durusu köyü) | 1 |
| köy (Esbiyalu) | 1 |
| köy (Gümrük kapısı) | 1 |
| köy (iki adet) | 1 |
| köy (İluh Köyü) | 1 |
| köy (Kayköyü) | 1 |
| köy (Mersin köyü) | 1 |
| köy (Tarihi bir köy) | 1 |
| Köy iken | 1 |
| Köy ve Göl | 1 |
| Köyler grubu | 1 |
| Küçük Takımada | 1 |
| Liman kenti | 1 |
| Liva | 1 |
| Mahal | 1 |
| Mahal (Nâhiye) | 1 |
| Mahalle (Bembo) | 1 |
| Mahalle, Semt | 1 |
| Merkez Kenti | 1 |
| Mevki | 1 |
| Müdiriyet | 1 |
| Muhâfızlık | 1 |
| Muhasıllık | 1 |
| Muhtar bölge | 1 |
| Muhtariyet | 1 |
| Müşirlik | 1 |
| nâhiye (Ada) | 1 |
| nâhiye (Kabîle) | 1 |
| Nâhiyelik’ten düşmüş Köy | 1 |
| Niyabet | 1 |
| Nomos M. | 1 |
| Oniki ada | 1 |
| Oniki ada (Greece) | 1 |
| Ova | 1 |
| Özerk Bölge | 1 |
| Özerklik | 1 |
| sancak merkezi (Greece) | 1 |
| Sancak Merkezi İd. | 1 |
| Sancak Müstakil İd. | 1 |
| Şehir (Greece) | 1 |
| Şehir (Semt) | 1 |
| Tarihi Kasaba ve Kazâ Merkezi | 1 |
| Tarihi Şehir | 1 |
| Tebriz | 1 |
| Tekrar Belediye | 1 |
| Üç Belde | 1 |
| Üç Nâhiye | 1 |
| Üçköy | 1 |
| Vaha | 1 |
| valilik | 1 |
| Vilâyet-i Sırkıntı-i Zîr | 1 |
| Yeni Belediye | 1 |
| Yeni Kazâ Merkezi | 1 |
| Yeni Nâhiye Merkezi | 1 |
| Yeniden vilâyet | 1 |
| Yönetim Müstakil | 1 |