On Death and Examination of the Dead in the Ottoman Empire: A Historical Perspective

The aims of this study were to examine the procedures performed during the death examination by scanning the qadi registry books of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th-18th centuries and to compare them with the procedures performed today. In our study, a total of 12 Konya qadi registry records from the period between 16th and 18th centuries (1563-1731) were examined. In our study, a total of 70 cases that underwent death discovery and examination were found out of 12 Konya qadi registry books. When the causes of death were evaluated in the cases in which the dead were discovered, being trapped in the wreckage was found as the most common cause with a total of 9 cases. This was followed by drowning (n = 8), being found dead in the open area (n = 8), and sharp injuries (n = 7). Because of the developments in all fields of medicine, it is understandable that wound descriptions are much more detailed today. However, descriptions such as "black bruise, battery, wounding" were found in the qadi registers as well. This case study is one of the most historic and comprehensive death series.