A modern document in the Ottoman diplomatic: Evrak-i sahiha

In the Ottoman Empire during the Tanzimat period, modernization efforts started in many areas of the state. The most important requirement for the success of these efforts, has been to increase insufficient financial income. In order to increase state income one of the efforts to be implemented in field of bureaucracy has been the document group issued under the name of "evrak-ı sahiha" and this document group is examined in this thesis. This study examines all the aspects of evrak-i sahiha, specifically the period from its first institutionalization in 1845, until the practice of stamping on papers under the evrak-i sahiha title in 1882. In this thesis, the development phases of evrak-i sahiha, system of administration, issues during implementation and solutions in addressing these issues during the specified period are examined. In an aim to explain Evrak-ı sahiha in the most comprehensive way, our work pays special attention to; definitions, examples, issued policies, applied tariffs and administrative rules. In the research, archival documents were scanned, documents were analyzed, translation of documents and portrayal methods have been used. Süleyman Sûdî's "Defter-i Muktesid", the first series of the Düstur journal, documents and financial records from Ottoman Archives have contributed greatly to the formation of the main parts of this thesis. Information regarding evrak-i sahiha in majority of resources that were examined during the research phase, have been incorporated into the thesis and utmost effort have been made to reach the goals of this paper.