Abstract:

In this study, it is aimed to contribute to the existing knowledge by presenting the stage of saltpeter, which is an important raw material of firearms, from its production to being usable with a micro-level example. In this context, the production of gunpowder in the Ottoman state and the operation of saltpeter production, which is one of the most important raw materials of this production, and the problems encountered in this process were examined through the saltpeter and gunpowder production centers located in the Middle East lands of the state. The fact that gunpowder was used in wars made saltpeter valuable in the war industry, and states always needed firearms and cannons to compete with each other. For this reason, the whole organization from the supply of saltpeter to powder was carried out by the Empire. As a matter of fact, both the European states and the Ottoman Empire were organized for war in the early classical period. The Ottoman Empire is also known to be at a level that can compete with European states. The main source of our work on the supply of saltpeter, which is an important war material, was the "Mühimme Notebooks", which were the source of much research belonging to the classical period, and in this context, according to the data extracted from the aforementioned notebooks, it was determined that, in the 16th century, the Government needed saltpeter and gunpowder extracted from the lands of the Middle East in its struggles against the Habsburgs in the west, the Safavid state in the east, and the Venetian and their Holy Alliance in the Mediterranean and Indian Seas.

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