Halil Hamdi Bey's governorate in Canik (1895-1905)

Samsun, the center of Canik Sanjak, which forms the western border of Trabzon Province, entered a development process that became evident especially since the middle of the 19th century and became the most important city and port of the Central Black Sea Region. In this development process, the city showed both a commercial and demographic rise with the strength of the agricultural wealth of the region, and towards the end of the century, it became the most important port of the Black Sea. Due to both this economic development and the distance from the provincial center, demands have arisen from time to time for the sanjak to be governed as an independent sanjak separate from Trabzon Province. The year 1846 was a turning point in the sanjak administration and after this period, Canik was governed by the governors sent from the center. However, this revealed a long-lasting unstable period in administrative terms. In this context, the administration of Halil Hamdi Bey, who had a very long time as a governor compared to his predecessors, corresponds to an important period for both the sanjak and the city of Samsun. The subject of this study is to evaluate the Canik governorship of Halil Hamdi Bey, which has not been the subject of any academic study until now, through archival documents. The years between 1895-1905, when Halil Hamdi Bey served in Samsun, is very important in several respects. First of all, in terms of the Canik Sanjak administration, there is an administration that took almost ten years in an unprecedented way. This period of administration can be considered as a period of stability for sanjak due to the administration of Halil Hamdi Bey. Because, while many public works efforts were made during this period, especially in many parts of the empire, there were crises stemming from the Armenian events, while there was no conflict in Samsun, thanks to the effective administration of the mutasarrif, and Samsun did not become a city known for the Armenian events. Although this effective management of the mutasarrf disturbed some Muslim residents of Samsun, it was especially appreciated by foreigners and was rewarded by states such as France and Russia. The study consists of an introduction and three parts. The first part of the work is about the life and civil service of Halil Hamdi Bey. Here, information is given about Halil Hamdi Bey's family, education, civil service and medals he received. In addition, the allegations about himself and his assistants were discussed based on the archive documents about his administration in Samsun. In the second part of the study, the public works in Samsun during the governorship of Halil Hamdi Bey were discussed and the effect of this period on urbanization was examined. Due to Halil Hamdi Bey's interest in education during his governorship, educational institutions and infrastructure in Samsun are also revealed in this section. In the third part of the work, the social situation of Samsun during the Samsun Governorship of Halil Hamdi Bey was discussed, and information was given about the horse races, fires, social relations, public health and the reflections of the Armenian events in Samsun during this period.