Greetings, marhaba and welcome. Continuing with my series on using Ottoman records in Arab and Arab American genealogy research, we take a closer look at the Ottoman registry or census headings. Looking at an example of a basic registry or census heading, we see the topics of interest include biographic and status information. Using the translation provided below, those who know Arabic can read the relevant information in the document, even though it is in Ottoman Turkish. This information can lead to uncovering lost information about your family. It may be that you find the names of female members of the family, figure out unknown relationships, or confirm approximate dates of birth. Using Ottoman records can open up information on generations previously lost.
In the next instalment of my blog on Ottoman records, we will look at a case study – an example of how the FamilySearch.org records can be applied to a specific family.
