The Hyena Monster of Sinop and the Vagaries of Ottoman Population Counts

Samuel Dolbee, New York University

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The Ottoman state's efforts to count its far-flung populations were met with resistance on the part of people who generally wished to elude the state's meddling hand, whether this meant taxes, military service, or other matters. Often these types of resistance could take a collective form.

Late Ottoman Sinop

One of the most basic state functions related to its relationship with the general population is censusing or counting population. In order for the Ottoman government to tax or conscript an individual, it was necessary for that individual to be "seen" by the state and counted in its records. This enigmatic document above may demonstrate an elaborate attempt at collective resistance to population counts.  In 1872, an Ottoman official in the area of Çatalzeytin in the Black Sea province of Sinop received reports of a "hyena monster (sırtlan canavarı)" decimating the population.  Locals told of the creature's "evilness", its penchant for "stealing children from houses," and its use of "various tricks" to escape traps set for it.  Casualties from the beast allegedly numbered in the hundreds.  But the official initially considered the hyena to be a fiction cooked up by villagers keen on concealing their real population count.

Yet after inspecting relevant records, the official found that over the past three or four years, 84 deaths had been catalogued in the area, not too far off from the estimates according to local rumor.  This revelation prompted him to conclude that the story of the hyena monster was not "a ploy or tricks" on the part of the local population.

So with the help of provincial and district authorities, the official gathered a group of hunters who spent a specified day stalking the provincial population gobbler.  But they failed to return with the hyena's head on a pike.  Instead, they only learned that the animal was "entirely absent" from the area in the winter.  The document concludes with plans for a hunt in the spring as well as the establishment of a bounty on the beast's head, leaving much room to wonder whether the unsuccessful winter time hunt was a product of the wily hyena's tricks or those of the crafty villagers.   

Source: BOA ŞD 1641/4 (16 Ca 1289)

beasts

census