Transcription and evaluation of Russia Ahkam register no 91/9 (p. 1-119)

Russians defeated Golden Horde and gained their freedom at the very beginning of the sixteenth century. They began maritime activities at the Black Sea after the first half of the sixteenth century when they conquered Kazan Khanate in 1552, Astrakhan Khanate in 1556 and subjugated the regional people. During this expansion Russians had to face many internal and external issues. Though their activity was interrupted because of the question of Poland it gained momentum with the seventeenth century. Russians reached the Black Sea because of their aggressive politics. They had to fight against Ottomans and Crimean Khanate. Although they lost in Pruth River Campaign in 1711 and in 1735-1739 the Ottoman-Russian-Austria war against Ottomans they won battles and became a strong opponent of Ottoman Empire in the subsequent years. Commercial clauses of Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca which was signed after the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 approved the strong claims of Russians on the Black Sea and showed the economic side of the rivalry as well. Russia annexed Crimea as a result of a politics that they followed in order to establish their hegemony on the newly captured territories. Russians also had the right to benefit from concessions that Ottomans granted to European powers under the name of private privilege (imtiyaz-ı mahsusa). In this regard, a trade agreement of 81 clauses was signed in 1783 that specifies the terms of commerce between two sides.