Agricultural Reform and Agrarian Change in North-western Anatolia (1830-1860)

Abstract

Among various topics, the & ccedil;iftlikization process led by the propertied class and its consequences have been scrutinized as the most visible symptoms of the breakdown from a self-sufficient rural economy, the commercialization of agriculture and agrarian change in most parts of the Ottoman Empire. In this study, we argue that rather than privileging one form of production such as small peasant agriculture over & ccedil;iftlik-style estates, the Ottoman state adapted its policies to regional conditions, based on the knowledge created by state-led agricultural reform programs in the mid-nineteenth century, and the interplay of local, imperial and external dynamics. Based on the empire-wide tax registers of 1840 and 1845, and the first detailed agricultural survey of Biga District from 1857, as well as reports produced by local and imperial actors, this study discusses the complex nature of agricultural change driven by the Ottoman government in the district of Biga.