Osmanlı Döneminde Erciş (XVI – XVIII. Yüzyıllar)

Abstract

Erciş which has been in a important geographical position since ancient times, became an important city center in political and commercial terms in the Middle Ages, as it was at the junction of the Georgia – Tabriz – Erzurum and Tabriz – Diyarbekir caravanroutes. The city experiencedits golden age, especially during the Seljuk period. Erciş became the capital of the Karakoyunlu Turkmens from Oghuz tribes in the 14th century. There gion, which came under Ottoman rule with the Çaldıran victory in 1514, felling to the hands of the Safavids again after the Ottoman swith drew. Later, with the three separete expeditions. Of Suleiman the Magnificent to the East, the dominance of there gion became completely permanent. Thus, Erciş, affiliated to the Van governorship, was organized as a sanjak. Erciş Sanjak, which constitutes the place of our study, was not governed in the form of yurtluk-ocaklık and hükümet as in the general of the Ottoman sanjaks in Eastern Anatolia, but in the way the classical Ottoman sanjags were administered. In Erciş, where the tribalstructure was not strong, the sanjak begs were appointed from the center and being included in the timar system. In these places where a qadi was appointed, the state had the right to collect taxes as deemed appropriate and to dismiss the administrator if deemed necessary. Such sanjaks in Van Province were generally established in places where settled life, urbanization and agricultural life prevailed. Erciş, is affiliated to Van, one of the important centers of the Eastern border, and was open to harassment and attacks from Iran at any moment. At the same time, it has a great importance in providing and transporting the necessary logistic support for the voyages to the east. The region is one of the important supply points, especially in the trips to Iran.