1. Communities with simple internal organisation

In the 19^th century and until the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey, the ethno-religious groups (millet) were the main divisions on which the communal organisation of Cappadocian settlements was based. Head of the community and, in the case of larger settlements, of each quarter (mahalle), was the muhtar, who came from the same ethno-religious group and was elected by the members-inhabitants. As regards Christians, the assembly that elected him comprised the adult male members of the community, the youngest being between 20 and 25 years old. The election was validated by the senior administrative authority. The muhtar usually served an annual, and sometimes a two-year, term.

During his term he was assisted by the board of muhtars, an elective office as well, who served the same term. Its members came from the community as well and they were elected at the same election with the muhtar. Their number ranged between 4 and 7. They were called azades (in Ottoman Turkish: aza), tsorbatzides (in Ottoman Turkish: çorbacı), teskilet (from the Ottoman Turkish teşkil, organization) and metzilides (from the Ottoman Turkish meclis, council).

The muhtars and their boards belonged to the administrative mechanism of the state, being an organic part of it. They were responsible for observing security and order, distributing and collecting taxes, registering the newly-born boys for the collection of the military tax - or for the recruitment of soldiers after 1909- and, finally, for keeping the land register. They were often assisted by community officers, either paid or unpaid, such as night watchmen and field guards. However, it should be underlined that there were many exceptions to the rule. Considerable variations have been recorded in different settlements. In any case, the communal organisation described so far is more or less traditional and already known in the Ottoman Empire since the previous centuries, long before it was officially established in the period of Tanzimat.

2. Communities with complex internal organisation

In parallel with the muhtars –sometimes in competition with them– there was another communal administrative mechanism, much more concerned about the internal affairs of Christians, under the respective metropolitan, either of Caesarea (Kaisareia, Kayseri) or Ikonio (Konya), as the case may have been. The supreme communal authority was the eldership (dimogerontia). Its elective members served an annual term, which could be extended to either two or three years in special cases. As it happened with the muhtars and their board, the candidate members of the eldership belonged to the powerful strata of the community, being socially prestigious and economically prosperous. However, these credentials were not always sufficient, as in some settlements the members of the eldership had to be literate and be fluent in Ottoman Turkish. The above were often coupled with a rather advanced age, especially in communities with high rates of migration.

The number of the dimogerontes varied depending on the population of the community and was usually between 4 and 12. They were also elected by the assembly of the adult male members of the community. The election was then validated by the relevant metropolitan, who sent the respective document validating the election.

The duties of the board of muhtars and the eldership often overlapped. Thus, the eldership was often assigned the duty of observing community order as well as distributing and collecting some taxes, mainly the military tax, which the Christians had to pay in lieu of military service. Apart from the above, they also were responsible for the keeping of the unwritten moral codes that determined the correct behaviour of the members, which was particularly important in communities with a high migration rate, where the migrants' families still lived in the settlement. Finally, they settled disputes among community members, aiming to reach a compromise and avoid entanglements with the Ottoman judiciary. They also observed social coherence by dealing with charity matters and, lastly, they supervised the operation of the churches and schools.

The last two issues were practically assigned to the relevant specialised committees of the church and schools, the last being often called eforia ton scholeion (school board) or eforoepitropi. The members of these committees were usually elected by the assembly of the community members, although occasionally they were directly appointed by the eldership. Their number varied according to the population of each community. There were cases when the eldership was directly responsible for the supervision of education and accordingly changed its name into eforodimogerontia.

The church committee was responsible for keeping the churches clean and for observing their smooth operation, as well as for their financial management. The eforia ton scholeion (schools committee) had to preserve school buildings in good condition and construct new ones, whenever necessary and feasible, find and pay teachers, supervise the progress and behaviour of students as well as aid poor students. It also had to manage school property and find the necessary financial resources. At the end of their term both the church and the schools commitee reported to the eldership on the economic management and balanced the cash.

Not all Cappadocian settlements had an eldership, for in some cases it was either incorporated with or absorbed by the board of muhtars. This usually happened in settlements with a brief and recent tradition of communal organisation and in settlements with more traditional economic activities and, as a result, low migration to the cities of the Ottoman Empire. Besides, the church and schools committees could operate independently of the existence of an eldership, the above being rare in the case of school committees.

In lots of Cappadocian communities there was increased migration to the cities of the Empire and particularly Constantinople (Istanbul), where the most active and economically powerful part of the active male population often lived. As a result, a special mutual collaboration and interdependence between the "colony" and the place of origin was established. Their collaboration in matters concerning education in the immigrants’ places of origin should be examined in this context. The established form of this collaboration was the operation of another school committee in the migrant colony, mostly in the capital of the Empire, together with the local committee in the place of origin. These two committees were in close collaboratation, with the committee of Constantinople actually taking precedence in most cases.

Quite often the immigrants, either individually or through guilds at first and clubs later, backed the schools of their place of origin, supported charity and, finally, sponsored the publication of books. There were also educational and charitable clubs based in the Cappadocian settlements.

In any case, all communal posts gave social prestige and, thus, they were in great demand. As a result, lots of major or minor intracommunal disputes arose at times, originating in the appointment of communal officials.

3. The regulation of the communities of the province of Kaisareia

It has already been underlined that at least from the period of the Tanzimat reforms the communal authorities of the provinces were under the administration of the relevant metropolitan. When Gervasios was metropolitan of Caesarea and, more specifically, on 5 December 1903, a competent committee published the ‘Regulation of the Communities of the Province [diocese] of Caesarea’ in the Caramanli dialect.¹ This document defines in detail the qualifications of the candidates and the way the members of the eldership should be elected as well as their duties. It also defines the process for appointing the rest of the communal administrative bodies supervised by the metropolitan, that is, the church and the schools committees, as well as their duties.