The first Ottoman censuses (1830-1850) and their comparison with England and USA censuses

The censuses and tahrir registers that the Ottoman state conducted for fiscal and military purposes in the classical age when the state was at the summit of its power are one of the primary materials of historical research in many different dubjects. It is known that these tahrir surveys whose inception can be dated back to the 14th century were carried out until the beginning of the 17th century, and after which avarız and cizye surveys were conducted since the 17th and 18th centuries, abandoning the methods of tahrir registers. When it comes to the 19th century, the Ottoman state made military, administrative, and financial reforms in many critical areas in order to improve the deteriorating condition of the state. In this context, one of the first reforms that the state made was the population censuses launched country-wide aming to register all the male population of the empire. The main reason for the first census was to determine those who could serve in Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediye, an army established in 1826 instead of Janissary corps. In this context, the censuses beginning in 1830-31 were carried out taking into consideration some points which were found in the regulation of Asâkir-i Mansûre-i Muhammediye, dated 1826. Accordingly, it is seen that the regulation influenced the subsequent censuses that were conducted until 1844. However, it should be mentioned that the censuses between 1844 and 1869 are related to Kur'a usulüin 1843. This study dwells upon mainly the relationship between the first general census and military service and the geography of the census. Furthermore, it takes up techniques, dates, and institutional processes of the census, and the censuses carried out between 1830 and 1850 analyzed through the aforementioned points. In this study, which focuses on the deficiencies and inexplicable points in the various explanations made in the literature on the Ottoman censuses and the related terminology, new perspectives and claims on the Ottoman censuses were also revealed. In addition, the censuses of the United States, which entered the political scene with England, the most powerful state of the time, were compared with the counts of the Ottoman State in various aspects.