Claiming Rights via Telegraph Wires: Telegrams from Batumi Refugees in Ladik to Istanbul (1881-1889)

Mahir Melih Güneş

Makale detayları

Claiming Rights via Telegraph Wires: Telegrams from Batumi Refugees in Ladik to Istanbul (1881-1889)

Yazarlar:

Mahir Melih Güneş

Yayıncı:

Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Yakınçağ Osmanlı Tarihi

Dergi:

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.41 Issue 1, pp.274-286

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001317260

pISSN:

1301-5737

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 This article examines how twenty households of refugees from Batumi who settled in Ladik, an administrative district of Amasya, after the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878, used the telegraph in their attempts to present their urgent grievances over such basic issues as finding accommodation, food, and work to the government in Istanbul. As they were unable to get any satisfaction for their grievances from the local authorities, and as no telegraphic infrastructure existed in Ladik, the refugees went to Samsun and Amasya, the nearest places where there were telegraph services. This action represents an unusual instance of the using of telegraph technology as a complaint mechanism, for while examples of a similar nature can be found in regions where telegraph technologies, which had appeared in Anatolia only twenty years earlier, had already been established and were in use, there was no telegraphic infrastructure in Ladik at that time. The fact that the refugees in Ladik thus chose to travel a considerable distance in order to use the telegraph to communicate with Istanbul thus sets their actions apart. By providing direct access to Istanbul, bypassing local authorities and local channels of complaint, the telegraph played a vital role in state-society relations. It was as a result of the telegraphs sent to the Ottoman Refugee Commission in Istanbul that the state issued orders to officials in the province of Sivas from 1881 until 1889 to improve the conditions of the refugees.

 This article examines how twenty households of refugees from Batumi who settled in Ladik, an administrative district of Amasya, after the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878, used the telegraph in their attempts to present their urgent grievances over such basic issues as finding accommodation, food, and work to the government in Istanbul. As they were unable to get any satisfaction for their grievances from the local authorities, and as no telegraphic infrastructure existed in Ladik, the refugees went to Samsun and Amasya, the nearest places where there were telegraph services. This action represents an unusual instance of the using of telegraph technology as a complaint mechanism, for while examples of a similar nature can be found in regions where telegraph technologies, which had appeared in Anatolia only twenty years earlier, had already been established and were in use, there was no telegraphic infrastructure in Ladik at that time. The fact that the refugees in Ladik thus chose to travel a considerable distance in order to use the telegraph to communicate with Istanbul thus sets their actions apart. By providing direct access to Istanbul, bypassing local authorities and local channels of complaint, the telegraph played a vital role in state-society relations. It was as a result of the telegraphs sent to the Ottoman Refugee Commission in Istanbul that the state issued orders to officials in the province of Sivas from 1881 until 1889 to improve the conditions of the refugees.

 This article examines how twenty households of refugees from Batumi who settled in Ladik, an administrative district of Amasya, after the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-1878, used the telegraph in their attempts to present their urgent grievances over such basic issues as finding accommodation, food, and work to the government in Istanbul. As they were unable to get any satisfaction for their grievances from the local authorities, and as no telegraphic infrastructure existed in Ladik, the refugees went to Samsun and Amasya, the nearest places where there were telegraph services. This action represents an unusual instance of the using of telegraph technology as a complaint mechanism, for while examples of a similar nature can be found in regions where telegraph technologies, which had appeared in Anatolia only twenty years earlier, had already been established and were in use, there was no telegraphic infrastructure in Ladik at that time. The fact that the refugees in Ladik thus chose to travel a considerable distance in order to use the telegraph to communicate with Istanbul thus sets their actions apart. By providing direct access to Istanbul, bypassing local authorities and local channels of complaint, the telegraph played a vital role in state-society relations. It was as a result of the telegraphs sent to the Ottoman Refugee Commission in Istanbul that the state issued orders to officials in the province of Sivas from 1881 until 1889 to improve the conditions of the refugees.

 Bu makale, 1877-1878 Osmanlı Rus Savaşından sonra Amasyaya bağlı bir kaza olan Ladike göç etmek zorunda kalan Batum muhacirlerinin barınma, beslenme ve çalışma gibi en temel ihtiyaçlar konusundaki şikayetlerini telgrafla İstanbula iletmeye çalışmalarını incelemektedir. 20 hane civarında olan muhacirler, telgrafın henüz olmadığı Ladikte, yerel otorite mercilerinde çözüm bulamadıkları sorunlarını kolektif bir biçimde Babıaliye iletmek için bulundukları yerden ayrılarak en yakın telgraf merkezlerinin olduğu Samsun ve Amasyaya gitmişlerdir. Bu girişim Anadoluya henüz 20 yıl önce girmeye başlayan telgraf teknolojisinin bir şikayet mekanizması olarak kullanılmasında kendine has bir örnek teşkil etmektedir. Osmanlı Devletinde gözlemlenebilen pek çok benzer örnek, telgraf teknolojilerinin hali hazırda kurulduğu, kullanımının yaygınlaşmaya başladığı coğrafyalarda tespit edilebilirken Ladikteki muhacirlerin durumları bu bakımdan ayrışmaktadır. Ladiki ve Ladike iskan ettirilen Batum muhacirlerini farklı kılan husus o dönemde Ladikte telgraf iletişimini mümkün kılacak herhangi bir altyapı çalışmasının henüz yapılmamış olmasıdır. 1881 ve 1889 yılları arasında Muhacirin Komisyonuna gönderilen telgraflar sayesinde devlet, Sivas Vilayet Meclisine muhacirlerin şartlarında iyileştirmeler yapılmasına yönelik emirler vermiştir. Bu durum telgrafın yerel otoriteyi ve yerelin şikayet mercilerini teğet geçerek doğrudan İstanbula ulaşabilmeyi sağlayan bir araç olmasının yanında devlet-toplum ilişkisi bağlamında ne denli yapıcı bir rol üstlendiğini göstermesi açısından da oldukça önemlidir.

Makale detayları

Claiming Rights via Telegraph Wires: Telegrams from Batumi Refugees in Ladik to Istanbul (1881-1889)

Yazarlar:

Mahir Melih Güneş

Yayıncı:

Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Yakınçağ Osmanlı Tarihi

Dergi:

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.41 Issue 1, pp.274-286

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001317260

pISSN:

1301-5737

Ladik

Amasya

refugees from Batumi

settlement complaints

telegraphLadik

Amasya

Batum muhacirleri

iskan şikayetleri

telgraf

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Mahir Melih Güneş

Yayıncı: Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar: Yakınçağ Osmanlı Tarihi

Dergi: Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.41 Issue 1, pp.274-286

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 6/2024

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001317260

pISSN: 1301-5737

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Mahir Melih Güneş

Yayıncı:

Hacettepe University

Ana Başlıklar:

Yakınçağ Osmanlı Tarihi

Dergi:

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi Vol.41 Issue 1, pp.274-286

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

6/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001317260

pISSN:

1301-5737