Nomads, Migrants and Cotton in the Eastern Mediterranean the Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Nomads, Migrants and Cotton in the Eastern Mediterranean The Ottoman Empire and its Heritage Politics, Society and Economy Edited by Suraiya Faroqhi and Halil İnalcik Advisory Board firket adanir – antonis anastasopoulos – idris bostan palmira brummett – amnon cohen – jane hathaway klaus kreiser – hans georg majer – ahmet yaşar ocak abdeljelil temimi – gilles veinstein VOLUME 45 Nomads, Migrants and Cotton in the Eastern Mediterranean The Making of the Adana-Mersin Region 1850–1908 By Meltem Toksöz LEIDEN • BOSTON 2010 Cover illustration: A hand-colored postcard of Mersin Douane by Torossian Brothers, early 20th century, private collection. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Toksöz, Meltem. Nomads, migrants and cotton in the eastern Mediterranean : the making of the Adana-Mersin region 1850–1908 / by Meltem Toksoz. p. cm. — (The Ottoman Empire and its heritage : politics, society and economy, ISSN 1380-6076 ; v. 45) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-18576-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Çukur Plain (Turkey)—History—19th century. 2. Çukur Plain (Turkey)— Economic conditions—19th century. 3. Nomads—Turkey—Çukur Plain—History— 19th century. 4. Internal migrants—Turkey—Çukur Plain—History—19th century. 5. Migration, Internal—Turkey—Çukur Plain—History—19th century. 6. Cotton trade—Turkey—Çukur Plain—History—19th century. 7. Cotton growing—Turkey— Çukur Plain—History—19th century. I. Title. II. Series. DS51.C835T65 2010 956.4—dc22 2010024852 ISSN 1380-6076 ISBN 978 90 04 18576 0 Copyright 2010 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. To Emre, Zeynep and Bızdık CONTENTS List of Tables ...................................................................................... ix List of Maps and Illustrations ......................................................... xi List of Abbreviations ......................................................................... xiii Note on Weights, Measure and Currencies .................................. xv Acknowledgements ............................................................................ xvii Introduction ........................................................................................ 1 Between Local and Global: A Story of Ottoman Modernization? ......................................................................... 1 Reform in Provincial History: Toward a New Context .......... 7 Ottoman Çukurova: Beyond the Province of Adana or the Cilician Territory ...................................................................... 10 PART I THE LANDSCAPE, THE PEOPLE AND THE STATE Chapter One Spatial and Temporal Dynamics: Nomads and Settlers ............................................................................................. 19 The Landscape and the People: An Historical Geography .... 21 From Nomadic Life to Sedentarization: 18th and 19th Centuries ........................................................................... 29 Chapter Two The State: Political and Legal Dynamics from the Egyptians to the Ottoman Reforms .................................... 41 Egyptian Penetration and New Beginnings, 1832–1840 ......... 41 Ibrahim Pasha in Çukurova .................................................... 42 Laborers, Irrigation, Crops: New Measures ......................... 46 Administering Balance: Urban and Rural Çukurova ......... 49 Achilles’ Heel: What Egyptians Did Not Do ....................... 51 The Aftermath of Egyptian Rule ............................................ 53 Ottoman Involvement: New Frameworks, 1839–1880 ........... 55 Tanzimat and Provincial Reform in Çukurova ....................... 57 Provincial Networks: The Later Additions ........................... 59 viii contents Local Government: Çukurova Configured and Configuring Çukurova ......................................................... 61 Forced Settlement ..................................................................... 65 Settlement of Immigrants in the 1870s ................................. 73 PART II CONSTRUCTION OF THE REGIONAL ECONOMY Chapter Three Migration and Family Networks: Enterprising a Port-City ............................................................... 85 Spatial Beginnings: The Port and the Town ............................. 88 Surrounding Mersin: Roads, the Railroad and Caravans ... 94 Migrants and Merchants: The Human Network ..................... 106 Chapter Four A New Region: Landholders and Industrialists ................................................................................... 135 Producing Cotton: Setbacks and Prospects .............................. 138 Extension of Cultivation: Cotton, “everybody’s concern” 138 Registering Land and Importing Machinery: Wealth in Çukurova from the 1870s to the 1890s ............................ 160 Mechanization ........................................................................... 168 Estate Formation: The Ceyhan Sub-region .......................... 176 Industrial Production ................................................................... 182 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 189 By Way of an Epilogue: World War I and After ..................... 198 Bibliography ........................................................................................ 205 Index .................................................................................................... 219 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Population of Çukurova, 1831–1914 .............................. 82 Table 2. Population of Mersin, 1850–1914 ................................... 93 Table 3. Mavromatis Family Tree ................................................... 121 Table 4. Global Networks ................................................................. 134 Table 5. Steamship lines that stopped at Mersin, 1902–1915 .... 159 Table 6. Cotton production of Çukurova ...................................... 181 LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS Map 1. The Physical Geography of Çukurova ............................. 38 Map 2. Plains of Çukurova ............................................................. 39 Illustration 1. Adana Clock Tower and Covered Market .......... 64 Illustration 2. Mersin’s coast ........................................................... 86 Illustration 3. Mersin Central Square ............................................ 90 Illustration 4. Panorama of Mersin at the end of the 19th century ............................................................. 93 Illustration 5. Mersin Orthodox Church repaired by the Mavromatis Family ................................................. 117 Illustration 6. Adana Orosdi-Back Department Store ................ 128 Illustration 7. Adana Train Station (1917) ................................... 196 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AP Accounts and Papers, Parliamentary Papers, Great Briatin AMAE Archives du Ministère des Affairs Etrangères, Quai D’Orsay, Nouvelle Serie, Turquie, Paris, France BAA, PA Bundesarchiv Auswärtiges Amt, Politische Archive, Pots- dam, Germany BAA, HA Bundesarchiv Auswärtiges Amt, Hauptarchiv, Potsdam, Germany BOA Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi, Istanbul, Turkey FO Foreign Office, London, Great Britain IJMES International Journal of Middle East Studies JCCC Journal de la Chambre de Commerce de Constantinople RCL La Revue Commerciale du Levant, Bulletin Mensuel de la Chambre de Commerce Française de Constantinople USCR United States Consular Reports, Washington, D.C., USA USNA United States National Archives, Washington, D.C., USA NOTE ON WEIGHTS, MEASURE AND CURRENCIES Weights All weights are given in kilograms or tons (1,000 kg). Oke=1.28 kg=2.8 lb 1 kg=2,20 lb kantar=100 lb One of the most frequently used unit of weight, the cotton bale, is also the most problematic. In the nineteenth century, the bale ranged from 150 kilograms to 250 kilograms in the various regions of the Ottoman Empire. In Çukurova, it seems to have changed between 150 and 200 kilograms. Therefore, I have avoided conversion throughout the text using the bale when there was no other unit of weight available. Measures When not in the metric system, measures are in dönüms. 1 dönüm=919 square meters 1,000 dönüms=200 acres=100 hectares Currencies The Ottoman kuruş (100 kuruş=1 Ottoman lira) and the British pound sterling are the most common used throughout the text. The following exchange rates, unless otherwise noted, are from Şevket Pamuk, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda Paranın Tarihi. Istanbul, 1999. 1 Ottoman Lira=0.9 sterlings=20 German marks=25 French francs=5 US dollars ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many institutions and people for this undertaking into regional history. Walter Hauser of the University of Virginia where my scholarly endeavor in South Asian Modern Rural History began many years ago remains an inspiration, fostering