Vassilis Demetriades - Dionysia Daskalou (eds), Book of Sacrifices: Names and Confiscated Properties of Christian Rebels in Eastern Crete During the 1821 Revolution [in Greek], Herakleio: Crete University Press, 2003.

This is a joint publishing venture by Crete University Press and the Vikelaia Municipal Library of Herakleion, presenting the 'Codex of Martyrs', the Ottoman register preserved in the Turkish Archives of Herakleion. This register preserves the names of the Christian inhabitants of eastern Crete (organised by province and village name) who were killed, taken prisoner, sold as slaves or escaped during the 1821 revolution and whose properties were confiscated by the Ottoman authorities or given to the victims' heirs. The register also contains the names of those who reverted to Islam and of Christians who owned land outside the walls and houses or shops inside the city of Herakleion. Most of these inhabitants had died during the great massacre at Agios Minas in 1821 and their estates were sold or given to Muslims.

Besides its obvious importance as a valuable source of evidence on the history of the people who perished in that period, the codex is of immense value as a source of information on the consequences of military action against the Christian population, on rural economy, demographic conditions, evolution of names and place-names etc. The translation of the text is accompanied by a photographic reproduction of the document -which is written in Arabic script-, an extensive Introduction and Conclusions, detailed tables of the victims and their estates arranged by province and village, tables of place-names, glossaries, indexes etc.

To buy the volume, press here.