Ottoman Tax Receipt 1922 Armenian Merchant Pickle Shop İstanbul Aksaray Armenia 1

Ottoman Tax Receipt (Temettü Vergisi Makbuzu) 1338 (1922)

Description:
An Ottoman tax receipt issued in 1338 (1922) for the pickle shop (turşucu dükkânı) located at No. 48, Bayazid Ağa, Aksaray (Istanbul). The document records the payment of 1 lira 72 kuruş for the Temettü (income/profit) tax, bearing an official stamp and signature.

The tax record lists the shop owner as Turşucu Tatos, an Armenian tradesman, likely the son of Araksi Hanım, who was recorded in earlier documents as the owner of the same establishment. The continuity of these records first in Araksi Hanım’s name, and later in Tatos’s indicates a family-run Armenian business sustained across generations in late Ottoman Istanbul. I have more documents about this shop, you can check my website to see more documents.

The Aksaray–Bayazid district, where the shop was located, was a significant commercial hub during the late Ottoman period. Close to the Yenikapı port and customs zone, this area attracted Armenian, Greek, and Jewish merchants and artisans, whose workshops and shops contributed to the city’s diverse and vibrant economic life. The survival of such documents provides a rare glimpse into the economic history and integration of non-Muslim Ottomans within the urban commercial framework of the empire.

Key Features:

• Date: 1338 (1922)

• Location: Bayazid Ağa, Aksaray (Istanbul)

• Shop number: 48 (pickle shop / turşucu dükkânı)

• Taxpayer: Turşucu Tatos (Armenian Ottoman citizen)

• Document type: Temettü Vergisi Makbuzu (Income/Profit Tax Receipt)

• Amount paid: 1 lira 72 kuruş

• Language: Ottoman Turkish

• Features: Official stamp and signature

• Historical context:

  • Follows earlier documents from the same address previously owned by Araksi Hanım, confirming continuity of the same Armenian family business.

  • Demonstrates the persistence of Armenian commercial activity in postwar Istanbul (after 1918).

  • Reflects the multi-ethnic and economically active character of the Aksaray–Beyazıt area, central to Ottoman urban trade life.