The effects of the economic motivation in state-tribe relation after the Tanzimat: Milli Tribe (1839-1914)

The centralization efforts of the Ottoman Empire after Tanzimat and in this context the socio-economic, cultural and administrative relations established with tribes are one of the most important subjects of the Ottoman economic and social history. In this study, the migration activities of the Milli Tribe between the Berriye Zone and the Karacadağ Plateau which are a wide region located in Diyarbakır, Urfa and Mardin during the 19th century are discussed. This study examines the domination struggles of the Milli Tribe in this region in terms of animal husbandry activities, taxes, their relations with other tribes and non-tribal groups after participating in the Hamidian (Cavalry) Regiments and the economy of the plundering. In the study, the interdisciplinary literature of "tribe" is reviewed in details and data obtained from the 19th century Ottoman State archives and some of British Consulate Reports as main primary sources are used. This study makes contribution to the understanding the transformation of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century through the case of Milli Tribe by comparing information gathered from the primary sources with the literature on the administrative and economic relations between state and tribe.