Annals of the Academy of Romanian Scientists Series on History and Archaeology ONLINE ISSN 2067-5682 Volume 6, Number 2/2014 73 THE BUDJAK REGION IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE TREATY OF BUCHAREST (1812) Murat TU ĞLUCA * Abstract. The paper focuses on Budjak’s status after the Treaty of Bucharest, dated 1812. Ottomans abandoned Bessarabia to Russia with this treaty. Then, Russia seperated Budjak Region from Bessarabia. Before the treaty, both of them had been a whole with the name of Bessarabia. According to Ottoman archive documents, Ottoman Empire dealt with the demografic movements and security problems of Budjak after the treaty. The subject of this study is Ottoman and Russian officials’ diplomatic negotiations on these problems. Keywords: Ottoman Empire, Russia, Black Sea, Cahul, Izmail, Bolgar, Treaty of Bucharest Introduction Today being part of Odessa Province of the Republic of Ukraine, Budjak 1 is the historical southern region of Bessarabia encompassing Cetatea Alb ă, Cahul, Chilia, Tighina and Izmail provinces. 2 Situated between the Danube and Dniester rivers and the Black Sea, the region extends till Prut River, a tributary of Danube. 3 Known for serving as the homesteads for Scythian, Hun, Avarian, Bolgar, Patzinak (or Pecheneg), Cuman, Mongolian, Tatar and Romanian 4 civilizations among many others on the historical time line, Budjak's emergence as an * Assist. Prof. Dr. Instructorat Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Ahi Evran University/Turkey. 1 The region has been termed variously in the English language, including Budzhak, Budjak, Bujak and Buchak. In this study, “Budjak” phrase is preferred. Because, this phrase was used at The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition. See, Halil Đnalcık, “Budjak”, EI 2, Volume I, Leiden, 1986, pp. 1286. It is used as “Bucak” in Turkish. The Turkish meaning of the word Budjak is “triangle” or “corner”. In Romanian this phrase is used as “Bugeac”. In the Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Russian languages, the area is referred to as Budzhak (Cyrillic: Буджак ) 2 See, Map I. 3 Aurel Decei, “Bucak”, ĐA, Vol. II, Istanbul, 1979, pp. 742.; Halil Đnalcık, “Budjak”, EI 2, Volume I, Leiden, 1986, pp. 1286.; Kemal Karpat, “Bucak”, DĐA, Vol. VI, Istanbul, 1992, pp. 341. For an assessment of the geographical area covered by Budjak region, based on a historical background, please refer Alper Ba şer, Bucak Tatarları (1550-1700) , Afyon University Institute of Social Sciences, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis Study, Afyonkarahisar, 2010, p. 1-4. See, Map II: Budjak’s Borders. 4 Ba şer, p. 11-16. 74 Murat Tu ğluca autonomous political and administrative region under a distinct name and identity dates back to the Ottoman Period. Bayezid II conquered Chilia and Cetatea Alb ă, in 1484. To defend and secure the roads reaching at these two castles, he felt the need to bring the entire region under control. Thus Budjak emerged as an administrative, military and commercial region, due to the immense trade and strategic needs. 5 The final phase of annexation of Budjak Region into Ottoman soil took place in 1538, when Suleiman the Magnificent embarked on a military campaign over Boghdan (a.k.a.Moldavia). 6 In the aftermath, Budjakregion fell under the exclusive control of Ottoman Empire. 7 Thereby, Budjak ruled by Moldavians before Ottoman presence in the territory, was ceded from Moldavians and annexed to territories under Ottoman rule, directly with this conquest and a series of later arrangements that took place in the 15th and 16th centuries. 8 During the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the territory falling between Prut and Dniester rivers were organized as an administrative district, under the name Budjak. Budjak was initially brought under the control of the Greater Lordship of Rumelia, as Cetatea Alb ă Flag post, and then under control of Ozi State, in late 16th cc. 9 Settlement of Nogai Tatars first emerging with the initial Ottoman conquests of the territory, got even denser after 1538. The region had a large resident Tatar population (Budziak Tatary) during the 17th century. 10 The struggle against Russians in Balkans started by the beginning of 18th century, resulted in frequent Russian invasions of Budjak Region. Petro I had to evacuate the region, following his invading Budjak, for a short period of time. During the Russo-Turkish war (1768-1774), all castles of Budjak, consisting of Cetatea Alb ă, Chilia, Tighina and Izmail were occupied by Russian forces, however, they were returned back to the Ottoman administration with the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji dated 1774. 11 The Russians released and returned Budjak 5 Karpat, p. 341. 6 In this study, “Boghdan” phrase is used. Because, the Ottomans called today’s the north of Romania and Moldovia as “Bo ğdan”. Boghdan was ruled by Voivodes who appointed by The Ottoman central government. See, Aurel Decei, “Bo ğdan”, ĐA, Vol. II, Istanbul, 1979, p. 697. “Boghdan, originally Boghdan-ili or Boghdan-vilayeti (the land of Boghdan), Turkish name of Moldavia, so called after Boghdan who in 1359 founded a principality between the Eastern flanks of Carpathians and the Dniester. The name Boghdan-ili appears in the hükm of Mehemmed II dated 1455” (Halil Đnalcık, “Boghdan”, EI 2, Volume I, Leiden, 1986, p. 1252). 7 Ba şer, p. 18. 8 Decei, p. 742. 9 Karpat, p. 341. 10 For observations on Tatar settlements and activities in Budjak region, in this century, please refer Alper Ba şer, “Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi’nde Nogaylar”, Journal of Turkish World Studies , XI/2, (Winter 2011), Access: http://tdid.ege.edu.tr/files/AlperBaser.pdf, Date Accessed: 20.05.2012, p. 117-128. 11 Karpat, p. 342. > The Budjak Region in the Aftermath of the Treaty of Bucharest (1812) 75 together with all the castles they acquired during war, back to the Ottoman Empire through the Treaty of Jassy signed in 1792. 12 The Russians finally reoccupied the territory once and for all, as a non-returnable asset to Ottoman Empire, during the Russian-Turkish wars (1806-1812). During the final years of this war, the French threat directed towards Russia, put the country at unease. For this reason, Czar of Russia even thought of repealing all his soil claims due to the mandate of settling peace with Ottomans. However, improper functioning of Ottoman diplomacy led to the failure of Ottoman administration to fully exploit the situation and the Treaty of Bucharest, concluded against its favor. 13 In truth, the Ottomans were as much eager as Russians about immediate execution of the treaty, as they lacked any trust for the French. Consequently, when Russians waived from their claims on Anatolian soil in a number of negotiations, Ottomans consented to signature of the treaty. 14 It is learned from a decoding of an encrypted text originally sent to Istanbul, that Turkish negotiatorsdid not condemn with Anatolia, only. The letter dated January 16, 1812, reports that negotiations were restarted after being paused for a while. On this day, the dandruff hosting the talks was witnessing hot discussions about which parts of land were to be left to Russia. The Ottoman negotiators were insistent upon Budjak Region's remaining under hegemony of the Ottoman Empire, including the lands and neighboring areas of Chilia and Izmail Castles, remanding that Prut River is declared to form the new boundary. Also during the talks reported was a formal statement that nothing less than full coverage of Anatolian Boundaries before the war could be acceptable. The Serbian trouble was another sensitive issue. The Ottoman delegate revealed to their counterpart during negotiations that Serbians had been subjects of the Ottoman Empire since the past, wherefore; they needed no manipulations by others. According to them, no other claims on the matter would have possibly been accepted. 15 However, with reference to the Treaty of Bucharest signed on May 28th, 1812, it becomes clearly obvious that all efforts endeavored by Turkish negotiators yielded nothing beneficial to the Turkish crown, except those concerning Anatolia. As a result of the negotiations, Bessarabia and Budjak were left under the rule of Russia with Boghdan staying under control of Ottomans, but with concessions recognized for Serbians. 16 12 Muahedat Mecmuası, Volume IV, Türk Tarih Kurumu, Ankara, 2008, pp. 7.Ayla Efe, “Silistre Eyaletinde Osmanlı-Rus Sava şları Küçük Kaynarca’dan Berlin’e”, OTAM , Edition 19, Access: http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/19/26/191.pdf, Date Accessed: 20.05.2012, p. 145. 13 Karpat, p. 342. 14 Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Tarih-i Cevdet , Volume 10, Istanbul, 1309, p. 24-26. 15 BOA. HAT, 989/41825-A. 16 Reference can be made to the following studies for the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812 and the Treaty of Bucharest: Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, Tarih-i Cevdet , Volume 10, Istanbul, 1309; Johann Wilhelm Zinkeisen, Osmanlı Đmparatorlu ğu Tarihi, Trans. by: Nilüfer Epçeli, Volume VII, > 76 Murat Tu ğluca Budjakafter the Treaty of Bucharest Pursuant to the fourth article of the Treaty of Bucharest, Bessarabia and Budjak were left to Russia. 17 This shift of power over these two regions resulted in a number of events, which forced Ottoman Empire to lay interest upon Bessarabia and Budjak during the period after signing of the Treaty. As Budjak region forms the subject of this study, focus will mainly be laid upon the interests of Ottoman Empire on Budjak after the Treaty. Of course mentions will be made concerning the interest of the Empire on Bessarabia, where the context requires. The interest of the Ottoman Empire over the region caused conveyance of a variety of documents until the present day, in Ottoman archives. The present study has been conducted with much reliance upon these documents about Budjak, available in the Ottoman archives. Attempts will be made towards drawing ideas on such matters like due to which reasons had Sublime Porte (Bâb-ı Âli) laid interest over this land and how it managed to carry out the process of intelligence gathering about related issues, within the context of information provided in these documents.