The relationships between state and notables in Antalya (1839-1908)

In the following period of proclamation of the Tanzimat Edict, Antalya was the scene of a series of social unrest. Indeed, this was the first sign of the long-term power struggle among the notables of Antalya. The struggle reach to top by the year 1853 when the city was dichotomized, and from then on, Antalya witnessed to a never ending contention between two faction and sect have opposite views. Antalya political history has been shaped by bitter struggle of those factions and sects in the period between declaration of the Tanzimat Edict and the Second Constitutional Period. In this study, the most important characteristic of the Antalya political history, power struggle of the factions and parties, are considered as an administrative arrangement which was tried to be formed for the rural by Ottoman Empire right after proclamation of the Tanzimat Edict. Therefore, relationship properties between government and notables, additionally, position of the Antalya notables during the administrative reforms are examined. However, agonistic characteristic of political life is not considered as cultural heritage which shaped by the interactive relation between government and provincial society. History, geographical and human properties of the city were also effective to shape the culture. For this reason in this study, long term history of the city and migrations, invasion and rebellion, climatic factors, outbreaks and lastly disablement which have influence on that history are mentioned. Keywords: Notable, faction, agonism, the Tanzimat Edict, Antalya.