Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, cilt.1, ss.1-23, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
Originally founded through the waqf system to provide medicalcare for the poor, gureba hospitals gradually evolved into keyinstitutions within the Ottoman modernization and social welfarepolicies. Focusing on the Mecca Gureba Hospital, this study arguesthat health institutions served as strategic instruments to sustainthe Ottoman Empire’s social, administrative, and symbolic presencein the Hejaz. Located in Mecca—a city of profound religious andpolitical significance—the hospital addressed the medical needs ofboth the local population and Muslim pilgrims. Drawing onOttoman archival documents, this study examines the hospital’sfinancial resources, personnel structure, and daily operations,including its role during cholera outbreaks. It also analyzes theadministrative organization, central oversight mechanisms, andprocedures for appointing physicians and staff, illustrating pro-cesses of institutionalization within the Ottoman provincial healthsystem. The study shows that gureba hospitals functioned both ascharitable institutions rooted in waqf traditions and as instrumentsof modernization, enabling the central authority to project itslegitimacy in the provinces amid Pan-Islamic policies.