Nomads, animal breeding and agriculture in post-settlement Çukurova

Ottoman Çukurova (historical Cilicia) was a borderland between Anatolia and Syria where the surrounding mountain ranges and the Mediterranean had rendered the region challenging to penetrate for central authorities for centuries. In this setting, various powerholders of different capacities enjoyed autonomy that curtailed state authority in the area. Another major challenge to state control over populations in this region was the high level of human and animal mobility. Çukurova-based nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes constituted a substantial segment of the population. They practiced different forms of seasonal migration with their animals in a large area from Central Anatolia to Syria. In the nineteenth century, imperial and provincial authorities launched a series of operations, including the Reform Division (Fırka-i Islahiye), to enhance the state's power in the region by controlling the movements of local populations. These operations brought comprehensive environmental, socioeconomic, political, and cultural transformations. Nomads and their animals were among the most affected by these transformations. This thesis examines the environmental, socioeconomic, and political transformations that the Çukurova region underwent in the nineteenth century with a particular focus on the experiences of nomadic tribes and their animals by focusing on socioeconomic, political, and environmental entanglements. It demonstrates that animals played a central role in the local transformations and have been integral to numerous political negotiations and conflicts. Animals were more than economic assets; they strongly shaped local cultures, traditions, and habits. The thesis also contextualizes relationships between state agents and tribes, with an emphasis on animal-related events. After settlement and agricultural production gained momentum vis-à-vis nomadism and pastoralism, the relationships between people and animals of Çukurova continued to be important parts and parcels of the regional order, however, in an altered form.