Global Market Orientation of the Ottoman Agriculture Sector: An Interregional Comparison (1844)

Abstract

This study tries to testify the possibility of a periodical differentiation likely to be seen in the process of break into the market of the hinterland of the Ottoman commercial centers like Smyrna and Salonika and of the rural regions in far interior to the market mechanism in the mid 19th century by sampling method. It also attempts to find out how this differentiation applied to the geography of Ottoman agricultural economy. The data utilized in the study is obtained from 20 villages of the districts of Smyrna, Salonika and Aksehir, all dated 1844–45. Half of the villages(434 households) belong to Aksehir, a town in central Anatolia, while the rest (375 households) are equally divided between the commercial centers of Smyrna and Salonika. Both groups are compared by taking into account the changes likely to arise when rural economies are opened to market. These changes are seen as Professional groups, income distribution, wealth distribution and tax structure. In quantifying the findings of the research such technical instruments as gini coefficient and standard deviation are used. The results obtained from the research show that the rural hinterlands of Ottoman commercial centers like Smyrna and Salonika have precedence to the rural regions in deep interior of the country.