Migration management during the Tanzimat Period (1855-1866)

During the Tanzimat Period, Ottoman State entered to institutionalization process, however permanent modernization realized within army and bureaucracy. Ottoman intellectuals thought that this process was inevitable for the continuity of the state. Institutionalization process influenced also migration management. Land forfeit and economic regression changed settlement policy that was applied until 17th century. They started repopulate to Anatolian wasteland, depending on the economy. But Crimean wars demonstrate that the organization of migration management established too late. Due to the war, Istanbul hosted British and French armies, sick and wounded soldiers, and immigrants. The migration flow that started in 1856 increased towards 1860. Thus, in 1860 migration commission established under parliament and be connected ministry of Commerce and Zaptiah (Police Department). Until 1866, commission assumes settlement process. Firstly migrant token temporary camp, than commission supply with their basic needs, settles them to the planned area. Also, commission determines wasteland where migrants work as an agricultural worker, and supply means of production. Encouragingly help of indigenous peoples build a shelter for migrants. The change that the Ottoman State made in its bureaucracy with the understanding of Westernization has also been reflected in the migration management and ensured its institutionalization. These studies problematize economic, politic and military reasons behind the institutional migration management, and using the archive documents, aims to prove that modernization process influenced migration management. Key Words: Migration Commission, Tanzimat Period, Migration Management, Settlement Policy, Crimean War