Governors, notables and land disputes in the province of Aleppo, 1880s-1910s

This dissertation examines the making of property relations in the east of Aleppo at the time of Abdülhamid II and post 1908s period. It discusses the (dis)possession of land of Aleppine notables and peasants in relation to the negotioations, agreements and conflicts among the notables and the provincial bureaucracy in Ottoman-Aleppo from 1880s to 1910s. It examines the biographies of Cemil Pasha, Jabirizade Nafi, Hüseyin Kazım, Mürselzade Şevki and Bereketzade Rifat, a group of local notables in Aleppo in order to scrutinize the administrative practices and the wealth distribution. Focusing on the debate of exceptional rule, it discusses the role of violence in the practice of accumulation and dispossession of land. Each chapter attempts to discuss the land disputes in the east of Aleppo with regards to the administrative and legal practices of the state officers, local elites, institutions, and the local inhabitants.