The rise of the Christian population in the cities of Trabzon, Samsun, Giresun and Ordu in the 19th century

The aim of this study (Ph.D Thesis) is to examine the rise of the Christian population in the cities of Trabzon, Samsun, Giresun and Ordu in the 19th century. The aim is to analyze the political, social-cultural and economic factors affecting the demographic and social structure of the mentioned port cities. The identification and analysis of the basic dynamics affecting the change and transformation process in the mentioned port cities is important in terms of the social-cultural texture and local history of the region. It is necessary to evaluate the factors that led to the rapid rise of the Christian population in the cities of Trabzon, Samsun, Giresun and Ordu, taking into account certain factors. Although the time limit in the research is determined as the 19th century, it is known that historical events are a part of a whole and its temporal continuation. As a matter of fact, in order for the subject to be understandable conceptually and scientifically, it is sometimes necessary to extend it beyond time. Within the scope of the study, Ottoman, British and French main sources were used with a comparative and integrative method. In this context, we adopted the methodology of gradually arriving at rules and inferences based on examples, observations and analyses. We evaluated the rise of the Christian population in port cities in four main sections. In the first part, the administrative and demographic structure of Trabzon and Samsun, in the second part, the "administrative and demographic structure of Giresun and Ordu" and the population structure throughout the sandjak of Trabzon province, the change and transformation process over a period of about a hundred years were analyzed. In the third section, detailed evaluations were made on social-cultural factors such as migrations, epidemics, war, drought-famine, and missionary activities that affect the demographic structure. In the fourth chapter, the reasons why non-Muslims came to the fore in political, economic and social life due to the social and cultural transformation in the Ottoman social structure, especially with the Tanzimat and Islahat processes, were emphasized. The most basic determination of the study, which was carried out in four parts, is that there have been remarkable developments in demographic, commercial and social areas in the cities of Trabzon, Samsun, Giresun and Ordu. Settlement areas, which were small towns and piers until the first quarter of the 19th century, entered a process of rapid change and transformation physically, socially, economically and demographically. International trade and foreign capital, which are an extension of the modern capitalist world system, have been the milestones of the transformation from towns to port cities. The commercial opportunities that emerged with the new era in the Black Sea coastal cities accelerated migration. Migrations and trade towards port cities have been one of the most important dynamics that transformed the demographic structure since the second half of the 19th century.