The Contributions of Waqfs and Urban Development to the Settlement of Public Health Services: An Overview to Turkish Administrative History of Anatolian Seljuks

During the period of Anatolian Seljuks, a great importance was given to the urban development as the economic, political or military centers with a synthesis of Islamic, Turkish, Byzantine and Persian cultures. Special care was taken of the introduction of public services, especially the health services that have never been neglected. Seljuks have considered medicine of utmost importance and have contributed significantly to civilization. During the Seljuk period, a lot of pioneering madrasahs has been founded as a continuum of the Islamic history with significant contributions also affecting the Ottoman culture as a successor. It is evaluated that, as in the case of all public services of the period, the organization and introduction of the health services had also close relation with the urban development and waqf institutions (foundations). Hence in this study it is aimed to investigate the structuring related to the introduction of the health services during the aforesaid period within the scope of waqfs and urban development by a research process through original archive documents.