A Study on Oral History of Halalca

Abstract

The development of villages is of significant importance within local history studies. Thanks to these studies that have been gaining momentum in recent years, researchers have been trying to reveal the historical status of people living in rural areas. Thus, the evolution and social role of common people is revealed from past to present. In this context Halalca District (Balıkesir) establishes the framework of this study. Even though it is a district in today’s administrative structuring, it will be described as a village in this study due to the fact that it was a village a few years ago and throughout the historical process. The purpose of this study is to reveal the history of Halalca Village from the first records in Ottoman archives until now. When the historical adventure of Halalca Village in Ottoman history was analyzed, cadastral records, birth certificates, dividend books, estate accounts, gravestones and historical findings comprised the main data of our research. During the moments when the historical findings are inadequate, understanding the past of the people who lived in those times and the desire to pass the historical findings on to the next generation are the most important factor of our research. Accordingly, the witnesses of those times are the most essential oral source of our topic. In this study, which aims to demonstrate the evolution and sustainability from Ottoman times to present, demographical, economical and historical structure of Halalca Village has been evaluated by use of the aforementioned sources.