A Study of the European Overland Exports to the Ottoman Empire: 1795-1804

Abstract

In this study, the merchants, the trade articles and the financial composition of the caravans coming from Belgrade to the interior of the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the 18th century are examined. The chief sources of the study are Cevdet Maliye, Cevdet İktisat and Bab-ı Defteri Başmuhasebe registers in the Ottoman Archives of Prime Ministry in Istanbul. In the course of the study the trade articles are categorized and together with the nationalities of merchants and taxes collected from the caravans are presented in tables. The aim of the study is to shed light on the Ottoman-European overland trade during the period under study and to show clearly the fundemental changes referred by some researches briefly as well as to determine the major tendencies of the trade. The results reached by the examination of 9 registery books (9 caravans, 318 merchants, 1036 items of goods) are presented in conclusion in seperate items.