| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the privacy, sociality and conviviality dynamics of urban khans in Ottoman Istanbul from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. Firstly, it looks at the professional and ethno-religious patterns in their use as commercial and residential spaces, then discusses khans as a private residential space, through inheritance records of those who live and die in a khan room. Finally, it turns to issues regarding the public spaces of a khan, namely its common areas, and in particular performative and theatrical practices located in khan courtyards. The article highlights the particular role played by urban khans as convivial spaces of residence, artisanal production, commercial exchange, and sociability.
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