To introduce the fundamental concepts, theoretical approaches, methods, and sources of urban history; to examine the historical formation, development, and transformation of cities through their political, administrative, social, economic, demographic, cultural, and spatial dimensions. To provide a general framework for urbanization in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, while conducting a comparative analysis of cities that emerged or evolved within various periods and geographies of Islamic civilization—with a particular focus on Ottoman cities. To enable students to develop original research in urban history by critically engaging with works on historical geography, urban histories, *şer‘iyye sicilleri* (court records), *tahrir defterleri* (tax/cadastral registers), *vakfiyeler* (endowment deeds), travelogues, maps, and other historical sources.

Concepts of the city, the urban, and urbanization; the development of urban historiography and its relationship with social history, the history of space, and urban sociology; theoretical approaches and sources in urban historical research; cities of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, as well as urban continuity and transformation from Late Antiquity to the early Islamic period; the concept of the "Islamic city" and critiques thereof; the development of early Islamic settlements—such as Medina, Kufa, Basra, and Fustat—as well as cities in other regions of the Islamic world, including Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Kairouan, and Córdoba; the founding, settlement, and development of Ottoman cities; urban administration, including the roles of the *qadi* (judge), *subaşı* (chief of police/security), and *muhtesib* (market inspector); neighborhoods, family, and social life; markets, guilds, production, and trade; population, migration, epidemics, and disasters; architecture, urban space, water infrastructure, and *waqfs* (endowments); research into urban history using *shari‘a* court registers (*şer‘iyye sicilleri*) and other archival documents; the transformation of Ottoman cities during and after the Tanzimat era; and the comparative study of cities across different periods and geographies.