HEALTH SERVİCES GİVEN TO HACİS İN THE OTTOMAN STATE

Abstract

The Ottoman State, which began to reign in the holy lands with the conquest of Egypt by Yavuz Sultan Selim, also undertook the task of providing the organization of pilgrimage. With the passing of these lands from the Mamluks to the Ottomans, the prestige of the Ottoman sultans increased in the eyes of muslims from all over the world who wanted to fulfill the pilgrimage obligation. With the pilgrimage, important ties have been established and maintained between people from different parts of the world. During the hajj period, various practices were made here for the health of both the people of the region and the pilgrims. Services in these areas have been made permanent, and services have been provided with the most up-to-date technology, medicine and other fields. In these days when the fight against epidemics brought life to a standstill, the Ottoman State provided health services to all pilgrims in a controlled manner without stopping life under the conditions of that period. One of the most important points that the Ottoman State observed during the pilgrimage period was the health of the pilgrims and the people of the region. It was possible for the pilgrims to fulfill their pilgrimage duties in a healthy way and return to their homeland in good health, with the opportunities created in line with the responsibility of the state. When we look at the health policy of the state in the holy lands in the 19th century, general administrative and regional applications were made. The decisions taken by the sanitary administration to create the health infrastructure of Haramayn were put into practice in the region. In addition, during the pilgrimage period, studies that took care of the health of people (purification of water, building the toilets, opening the sacrificial wells, etc.) were carried out. With the establishment of hospitals, doctors, surgeons, pharmacists, midwives etc. Health officials were appointed and more permanent health policies were produced. On the other hand, the outbreak of epidemics due to various reasons during the pilgrimage season paved the way for quarantine practices. The developments in the field of health in the 19th century showed that there are environmental and social factors under the causes of diseases. Since the elimination of these factors will only be done by the state, the state's duty to carry out health services has been a representation of the power of the caliphate on behalf of muslims from all over the world.