Abstract:

Salt, which is an important place in the economic and financial life of the Ottoman State, is a mineral used and exported in both the internal market. In 1862, after the Salt Name was issued, the circulation and export of salt in the domestic market was controlled by the state. Those who do not want to follow the inhisar and import prohibition that was applied after Nizamnamen brought salt to the Ottoman ports by the ways they used before. However, although it is available enough in the domestic market, it is often cheaper because it was preferred from abroad. Sicily, which has close diplomatic and commercial relations with the Ottoman State, was also one of the places where salt was transferred. While Sicilian ships are trying to transport salt from evacuated roads to the Ottoman ports, the time’s Florence Ambassador Rüstem Pasha developed their own methods to prevent salt trafficking. Rüstem Pasha, who asked to report the information of the vessels that stole salt from the consulties, told the information he obtained to Rüsûmat Emaneti. Rüstem Pasha with information from the consulates all the evacuated salt-loaded vessels that departed from Sicily to the Ottoman ports and warned the Babyaali government of the way to take measures in customs.The studies on salt trade and trafficking in the Ottoman state were not placed in Sicily, which was temporarily concentrated on Düyun-i Umumiye, regionally also on Cyprus and the Black Sea, which has world-famous salt. For this reason, after the establishment of the Italian National Union, the Rüstem Pasha, who served as the Florence Sefiri, has to the Rüsûmat Security and Foreign Ministry all the important French disturbances to take measures to the ships carrying salt from Sicily to the Ottoman ports. The documents in the study include the trafficking events following the year 1862 when the Salt Inquisition began to be implemented. The documents contain information about the ports of departure and arrival of ships trafficking from Sicily, their capacities, and the amount of salt they carry. The picture created from the disturbances of Rüstem Pasha in the Ottoman Archive Foreign Administration catalog will be given at the end of the work.

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