Number of Wife and Children, Status and Wealth in Ottoman Society: Case of Sofia in 1671-1678

The situation in which a man has more than one wife at once, and which is expressed as ‘teaddüd-i zevcât’ in Ottoman society, is called as polygyny. This study investigates demographic structure of family, status and wealth issues in Sophia between the years of 1671 and 1678. Information regarding polygyny, amount of wealth, and status, average number of children in a family, and gender of the children is also included. Is it possible to mention a relationship between polygyny and wealth/status or status/ wealth and number of children? Tereke registers that involve inheritance records of deceased people are used in order to find answers to these questions. The tereke records included in Seriye (Court) Records kept in National Library of Bulgaria (St. Cyril and Methodius National Library) in Sophia are used in this study. Besides, this study involves the results of the study which discussed polygyny and number of children in Ottoman cities.