Why Cyprus?: The Island of Cyprus in the travel writings of Sir Samuel White Baker, Sir Henry Rider Haggard and William Hurrell Mallock

Cyprus, which has hosted many civilisations throughout the ages, has been an important strategical point in the Levant for the British. Even though the island's sovereignty were belonged to the Ottoman Empire in the early XIXth century, the de facto administration of the British began in 1878 after the Cyprus Convention. During this century, Cyprus stood as a valuable possession for the British being both a place d'armes and a coal depot since the British had desires for ensuring the security of their colonies in the Near and Far East and controlling the roads leading to the colonies. Additionally, this thesis argues that the British had commercial, archaeological, social and political expectations about Cyprus.Within the scope of this thesis, the early periods of the British administration in the island of Cyprus were examined through the travel writings of the British travellers who travelled to Cyprus during this period. Geographical, historical, social and cultural characteristics of Cyprus were analysed through the travel writings which are significant sources contributing to the social history. This thesis aimed to reveal the British administration's intentions about Cyprus to discover the answer to the question "Why Cyprus?" by putting these travel writings into account. The analysis of the travel writings were based on the Orientalism theory by Edward W. Said and within the framework of Said's remarks, this thesis aimed to acknowledge the attitudes towards Cyprus and Cypriots in the context of the analysed travel writings. Along with the multiple and comparative reading techniques, the document analysis method used to analyse the travel writings. Accordingly, it is found out that the main purposes of Sir S. W. Baker's Cyprus as I Saw It in 1879 (1879), W. H. Mallock's In an Enchanted Island (1892) and Sir H. R. Haggard's A Winter Pilgrimage (1908) were to justify the British sovereignty on the island. Key Words: Cyprus, travel writings, Orientalism, British travellers