Yilmaz, Ozgur

Yilmaz, Ozgur

Due to its geographic location and agricultural potential, Samsun began to develop rapidly and became a new trade center in the middle of the 19th century. A factor was the Crimean War that created new opportunities for the southern ports of the Black Sea. But the real and most important factor was the European demand for Ottoman agricultural products in the 19th century. The rise of Samsun as a gateway for wide region like Merzifon, Amasya, Tokat, Sivas, Yozgat, Sebinkarahisar, Kayseri, Kirsehir and Diyarbakir resulted the steady increase in agricultural production supported by this foreign demand. In this way, at the end of the century Samsun became the primary port in the southern Black Sea. As a reflection of this international interest, foreign consulates established in the city. French consulate, established in 1863 was one of them. Annual commercial and maritime reports in detail prepared by consuls for each year are among the most important sources for the economic structures in the 19th century Ottoman cities. There are very valuable documents on trade in the French archives about Samsun that attracting more attention especially in the second half of the century. It is possible to observe the rise of the city from annual commercial reports prepared by French consular agents. The reports of Henri de Cortanze who served in the city between 1895 and 1906 reflect the situation of Samsun at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. In this context, this study aims to investigate Cortanze's detailed report on the port of Samsun in 1903. By using other reports about Cortanze's consular period, the subject is evaluated in a broad sense.

Yilmaz, Ozgur

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Yilmaz, Ozgur

Undoubtedly the most important change in Ottoman provincial administration in the 19th century was the centralizing activities taken by Mahmud II. The new government policy based on the limitation of power of ayan families who had a long history in the ottoman provinces, and on the reestablishment of central control demonstrated its impact in the Eastern Black Sea region. The region was a scene of long term struggle between governors that represents the central power and local notables in the first thirty years of the 19th century. The implementation of Tanzimat reforms in the area, as a next phase of this struggle period, created a large discontented group that their interests damaged by new Tanzimat reforms which required not only administrative but fiscal centralizing and other new applications. Although a part of this discontented group was integrated into the new system, this process was a little more painful in some part of the empire like eastern side of Trabzon Province. The period of disorders lasted between 1840-1846 in Adjara, a buffer zone on the Ottoman-Russian border, revealed an example of the own system of local notables (ayan) of Black Sea Region and showed the vulnerability and fragility of the region to the internal and external developments. In this context based on the Ottoman and French archival documents, this study aims to evaluate the emergence and causes of rebellions of Kor Huseyin Bey, who was a member of the Selim Pasazadeler, one of the most important ayan families in Adjara in 1840 and 1846 which led to a climate of anarchy and their effects on the region.

Yilmaz, Ozgur

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