Abstract:

The conquests of the Ottoman Empire, which had advanced in Rumelia during thereign of Fatih Sultan Mehmed (Mehmet the Conqueror), continued during the reign of Bayezid II. Following the conquest of Chilia/Chiliei and Cetatii-Albe fortresses, located on the Danube-Dniester riverbank and possesed great commercial and strategic importance, the Black Sea became a Turkish lake. In the region where the most important trade routes of the Black Sea intersect one another, the Ottoman dominance reached its peak and then the Ottoman Empire possessed a clear strategic superiority over Hungary and Poland. Following the conquest of Kili and Akkirman, these two important port cities were integrated into the Ottoman administrative, economic and military system and became the most strengtened frontier fortresses in the above-mentioned regions. It is seen that these two important frontier fortresses were inspected for various reasons following their conquests (1484). The report belonged to this inspection was the main subject of our study. In the register of the late 15th century, there is detailed information on the income sources of these fortresses and the investigation of some corruption done by the fortress administrators. Therefore, this inspection report has great importance about the interest shown by the Ottoman central administration in the management and operation of the border fortress. This report is also remarkable for being an early record of (Chilia/Chiliei) and (Cetatii-Albe) and is the first reference source fortheafore mentioned fortress inspection reports.

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