Аннотация:The paper contains findings of a complex research study of the transformation of social institutions, extension of their role in socio-economic and political life of the Ottoman and Turkish society (19th – early 20th centuries) and alterations in the model of state-society relations. The study bases on wide corpus of primary sources including foundation charters of waqfs and associations, code of laws and bylaws, decrees of central government and local authorities, diplomatic reports, as well as periodicals and memoirs.