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This paper discusses the interrelations between migration, agricultural production, class, and cultural belonging, focusing on the economic and demographic transformation of Gemlik, an Ottoman district that underwent substantial change over the course of the nineteenth century. Based on the mid-nineteenth-century population and tax registers of the town of Gemlik and of two villages in the district, Kurşunlu and Kumla-i Sagir, we demonstrate that the agricultural economy in the district was heavily shaped by commodity production in the context of the district's increasing integration into global markets. By tracing specific patterns of mobility and settlement over time, we show that the process of global integration was entangled with class and cultural differentiation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to document the age structure and mortality by age in the Ottoman city of Bursa that served as a politically and commercially significant urban center over centuries. It uses a set of hitherto unexamined Ottoman population registers kept in 1839 and updated until 1842 that provide detailed self-reported data on all male inhabitants regardless of age, including deaths, births, and migration. The study tests the quality of age and mortality data in conjunction with the Coale and Demeny regional model life tables and compares the results to historical demographic studies conducted for European regions. The results point to a demographic structure marked by high birth and death rates and prove promising for extending back the study of Ottoman demographic transition and establishing historical comparison points with the global experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]