Horváth M. Ferenc (szerk.): Vác The heart of the Danube Bend. A historical guide for residents and globetrotters (Vác, 2009)
Tartalom
90 VÁC IN THE OTTOMAN ERA The herds of cattle, horses and sheep walking along the walls below the castle and the town, had little influence on the economic life inside; this determined by the traditions of the indigenous inhabitants and the demands of the invaders. Turks or people from the Balkans, Muslims for generations required their usual foods and drinks, clothes, headwear, boots and slippers.They needed barbers-surgeons and bathhouse staff (or tellak) of their own, as well as those who cared for their soul even in this foreign environment, far from home. Generally, because they were exempt from taxes, the Muslim inhabitants of castles and towns were rarely registered. That is why we know so little about them. However, Vác is a lucky exception: at the beginning of the 1570s all the estates of the castle and the town were registered including not only the current owners but the former ones and neighbours as well. The clerk writing the register described each house, shop and garden as well as their owners in great details, but he hardly ever mentioned their jobs because it was irrelevant as far as ownership was concerned. But even this incomplete material contains some jobs as befitted the place and its Muslim inhabitants. Four ferrymen and a loader earned their living on the Danube; two saddlers, a sword-cutler and a blacksmith subsisted on the war and the soldiers; four butchers sold the lamb so favoured by Oriental peoples; two tailors and a boot maker took care of their clothing, while three barbers, a tellak (or Bathhouse staff) and a soap-maker cared for their health and cleanliness. There must have been many more Muslim tradesmen working in the town. For instance, boza, the favourite fermented drink of the Turks, must have been made locally. Its sale was a government monopoly and the profits derived from its sale were recorded as the income of the treasury from Vác. Most of the tradesmen were working and selling their goods in premises rented from the treasury in Buda. Ottoman financial person MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN TOWN CITIZENS View of Vác in the Ottoman period, with Szentendre (contemporary name Rosd) Island in the foreground The intelligentsia had a prestigious position in the Muslim society of the town. Some of them held secular posts at the town offices, especially in financial administration and at the customs office as clerks or leaders. The greatest fame was gained by Osman Chelebl the Chief Customs Officer of Vác, who got his post in about 1569-70 and held it for two decades. His house stood in the district named after Voivod Hasan mosque. He was wellknown by aristocrats as well as cattle dealers over the River Tisza, all over the country, including the parts ruled by the Hungarian king. According to his contemporaries he was the brother of the governor of Buda, Kalaylikoz Ali Pasha. His social status and financial position are reflected in his building one of the mosques of the Víziváros in Buda. Another group of the intelligentsia served religion and the congregation. The Church of Our Lady in the castle, deprived of its ornaments inside, was turned into a djami, a prestigious place of worship, named after Suleyman the Magnificent. It was grant-
