Trabzon Customs in the first half of the seventeenth century

The city of Trabzon, together with its piers, was one of the important transit areas, as it was the gateway to the transit trade on the East-West axis opening to the Black Sea. Thus, along with it was an important strategy for the Ottoman Empire to have transit points, to tax the transits there and to have a share in interregional trade in this way, and it is possible to see the realization of these policies through customs. As noted by the travelers, Trabzon customs, with its large natural harbors suitable for anchoring, has been one of the frequent destinations of traders, especially on the northern and western coasts of the Black Sea. The main reasons why the customs organization remained running were the fact that Trabzon was a port city that exported valuable and demanding goods such as slaves and silk, and had domestic export products such as linen and beeswax. Although the raids of Abaza and Russian Cossacks that limited commercial activities in the Black Sea, banditry actions that disrupted the security and order in the city, and the long wars with Iran affected the customs trade negatively, Trabzon customs continued to maintain its local and regional economic importance. Due to the sea route connection with the other coastal cities of the Black Sea, especially Istanbul, and the fact that it can be connected to the important trade centers of the East such as Gümüşhane, Bayburt, Erzurum, Van, Diyarbakır, Tabriz. The city of Trabzon and its port had a particular importance from the other cities of the Black Sea. Due to these features, Trabzon was at an important point with its ports and customs personnel, not only in terms of trade, but also as a transit point that provided provided strategic superiority in the military expedition organizations of the Ottoman Empire to the East.