THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CENTRE AND PERIPHERY IN THE OTTOMAN ERA OF EXPERIMENTATION WITH AND ADAPTATION OF INSTITUTIONS FOR FISCAL DEMANDS: THE CASES OF KOZANI, SERFICE, AND VELVENDOS, CA.1690-CA.1820 by DIMITRIOS K. LAMPRAKIS A Thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies School of History and Cultures University of Birmingham October 2017 I University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This dissertation is an attempt to describe and analyse the history of the relationship between the imperial centre and a minor peripheral area, but also the first step towards a more complete understanding of the history of the areas of Kozani, Serfice, and Velvendos during the 18th century, on the basis of both Ottoman and Greek primary sources, in an attempt to replace the old and, rather obsolete, nationalist narratives prevalent in the writings of the local amateur historians. Through the examination of the tax-farming system, on the one hand, and the timar system, on the other, in the areas under study, this dissertation addresses the developments that occurred at a local level in a period of Ottoman history marked by great changes and experimentation with new fiscal practices. It is also the aim of this dissertation to prove that the centre was represented locally by the local magnates and notables, who, by serving the interests of the absentee Istanbul-based élite, acted as representatives of the centre in their localities, and formed factions which vied for supremacy and served their respective interests at a local level. Thus, it supports the idea that the centre made the local notables, for as long as local notables made the centre in their given society and locality. ii To my mom and dad, always grateful for making this possible iii PREFACE This dissertation is the result of a long research and studying of a considerable number of primary and secondary sources, which allowed me to examine the history of a relatively unexplored area and, in accordance with the revisionist theories dominating the modern Ottomanist historiography, confront the traditional schemes of the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the tyrannical rule of the Ottomans over their subject populations. Now, after four long years my research is finally complete and I feel the need to express my gratitude to all those who assisted me on my arduous and lengthy course. My vision and ideas would have never been expressed and realised, had the Centre of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Modern Greek Studies of the University of Birmingham not offered me the opportunity to become part of its scholarly community. I also need to express my graditude to the University of Birmingham for the financial support which I was provided with for parts of my research at the Prime Minister’s Ottoman Archives in Istanbul. I am grateful to my two supervisors, Dr Rhoads Murphey and Dr Archibald Dunn, who assisted me from the very beginning of my course and encouraged me to express my ideas and thoughts. Moreover, I need to thank them both for their patience and their contribution to the amelioration of my research and academic skills, which I have experienced under their meticulous supervision. Dr Murphey helped me put my thoughts in due order and set, therefore, the foundations on which this dissertation was later structured and built, whilst Dr Dunn, by proposing and instructing me as to the combination of the information provided by the Ottoman and Greek documents, contributed to my final approach to the large number of sources at my disposal. His remarks and corrections were iv always of paramount importance and determined the final shape and form of this dissertation. I am also grateful to Dr Seyyed Muhammad Tagi Shariat-Panahi, whom I initially met as a tutor, but proved a true friend. By sharing with me his knowledge of the secrets of the science of the Ottoman diplomatics, he introduced me to the particularities of the Ottoman bureaucracy and documentation. His advice and adminitions helped me find my way and take the great decision of leaving Greece. Thus, I thank him for all of the time, which he devoted as a scholar and, above all, as a true friend. I would like also to thank Dr Georgios Liakopoulos for his lessons and discussions that we had together, long before I had taken the decision to leave Greece and move to Birmingham. As I came to realise, his experiences proved of invaluable help. My thanks go also to Dr Konstantinos Kambouridis, Dr Georgios Salakides, Dr Chariton Karanasios, Dr Georgios Tsotsos, and Dr Konstantinos Ntinas, who welcomed me into the community of the scholars who study the history of Western Macedonia and introduced me to the history and particularities of the Kozanite microcosm. All of them stood by me as true scholars, companions, and friends. I also am deeply indebted to the directory and staff of the Prime Minister’s Ottoman Archives in Istanbul, who always responded promptly to my demands and needs, whilst their interest in my project and assistance at a time when I lacked the necessary skills and experience for conducting research in the maze of the Ottoman Archives rendered my working in the archives a fruitful and pleasurable experience. The same feelings do I reserve for the staff of the Gennadeios Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, who always responded in the most positive manner and assisted me on my research and exploration of the plentiful collections preserved in the Gennadeios Library. v I also need to express my gratitude to my professors, Stephanos Papageorgiou and Alexandros Koutsis, who instilled at an early stage of my undergraduate studies into me the passion and love for the Ottoman Empire and history of Early Modern Greece and Middle East. I would like also to thank Dr Sophia Laiou and Professor John Alexander who assisted me at the earliest stages of this project, before I had made the great decision to move into the UK and the University of Birmingham. I am deeply grateful to both of them. I am also grateful to my friends, whose contribution is also necessary to be remembered. They were always eager at discussing my research and, through exchanging of opinions and lengthy discussions, each one of them contributed in every possible manner to the completion of this project. Yannis Tzortzis and Onur Usta are the best example of such good friends and scholars, for they never rejected my calls to discuss and analyse my ideas. Thus, I need to thank them both for all of the time and energy that they devoted, whenever I called for their assistance and counselling, sometimes even at the expense of their own research. I also thank for all their good advice and help Alex M. Feldman, Maria D. Petropoulou and Georgia Michael. Last, not least, and above all I need to express my deepest feelings of gratitude to my family. My parents and my brother always supported me and never hesitated to show their understanding of and theır patience and stamina to endure the vicissitudes characteristic of this lengthy and tiresome process. My parents proved a real treasure, not only because they allowed me to attempt to realise my dreams and vision, but also because they assisted me throughout this four-year-long period, which coincided with a period of an unprecedented financial and socio-economic crisis in Greece, a fact that further magnifies and intensifies their sacrifices and contribution. Therefore, I can only stand in awe before vi them and thank them for all the sacrifices that they have done, sometimes at the expense of their own welfare and quality of their life. Thus, for all their hopes, visions, love, endurance, and perseverance I dedicate wholeheartedly my dissertation to my mother, Maria, and my father, Kostas. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..ii PREFACE…………………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………iv TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………………………………………..viii ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….x NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION…………………………………………………………………………………………..xii NOTE ON DATE CONVERSION AND CALENDARS………………………………………………………………xv GLOSSARY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………xvi CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION……………………………..……………………………..……………………………...1 1.1. The Ottoman 18th century: A period of experimentation and modernisation………..4 1.2. The Thesis……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 CHAPTER II: TAX-FARMING IN KOZANI, c.1750 – c.1820………………………………………………….17 2.1. Ottoman tax-farming methods and the Ottoman 18th century…………………………….17 2.2. Kozani during the 16th and 17th centuries…………………………………………………………….30 2.3. The tax-farm of Kozani during the 1750s……………………………………………………………….33 2.4. The tax-farm of Kozani during the 1760s……………………………………………....................44 2.5. The tax-farm of Kozani between 1770 and c.1795………………………………………………...62 2.6. The tax-farm of Kozani between c. 1795 and c.1820……………………………………………..83 2.7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..90 CHAPTER III: COMMUNAL AFFAIRS AND BILATERAL FACTIONALISM IN KOZANI, c.1750 – c. 1820……………………………………………………………………………………………….....................................93 3.1. 18th-century Ottoman notables and magnates in modern bibliography………………95 3.2. The structure of the local communal administrative mechanism……………………….107 3.2.1. The role of the bishop of Servia and Kozani………………………………………………………….108 3.2.2. The role of the kocabaşı as the leader of the Kozanite community……………………….116 3.3.