Özet:

In this study, the phenomena and events affecting the political, social and economic life of Varna have been examined from the date of 1774 in which the Black Sea lost its characteristics of being closed sea of Ottomans to the establishment of The Principality of Bulgaria in 1878. Varna in Ottoman history is well known because of the Ottoman victory against Crusaders in 1444. After victory of Ottomans, Varna became an Ottoman city quickly and the number of its Muslim population was remarkable among other Balkan cities. Throughout its history, the closeness of Varna to Istanbul gave it an oppurtunity to become a vibrant commercial city. From the medieval period, Varna as a port city attracted many tradesmen and travelers who had carried materials from Balkans to Istanbul. The time of our concern, nearly a century was a turning point in history of Varna. In this term, the city under the shadow of Ottoman-Russian wars was a transit point of commodities and human beings. While the governance of the city was being changed, the city also faced with radical change in its population. This study covers brief history of Varna until 19th century, the administrative structure of the city under Ottoman rule, its population, architecture and material culture of the city, the Ottoman- Russo War of 1828-29, visits of Ottoman Sultans Mahmud II and Abdulmecid, building of railway between Varna and Ruse, telegraph line during the Crimean War. Besides, economic life of the city, especially the commercial activities in the port has been taken into consideration as a crucial part of social and economic life of Varna. As the sea capital of Bugaria, Varna on the Black Sea coast in the northeast of the country lies on the bay of Varna river coming from Şumla, near Devna Lake. The history of Varna in 19th century depends on activities and mobility around two main structures of the city: port and castle. Besides these two important locations, the city of Varna was indebted its development to the construction activities in the form of pious foundations after conquest of Ottoman state as a well known policy of Ottomans. During the Ottoman era, religious buildings such as mosques, masjids, zaviyes, dervish lodges, shrines; commercial buildings like caravanserais, khans, covered bazars; social constructions like kitchens for poor, bridges, baths, aquaducts, clock towers; education centers like primary schools, madrases and libraries; building for military activities like castle, bastions, citadels and so on in the city center. In early years of 19th century, the city incorporates variety of ethnic identities. Russian poet Viktor Grigoreviç Teplyakov who participated in Ottoman-Russo War in 1828-9 as war correspondent, mentions about crowds in the streets, oriental view of the city and existence of Jewish, Russian, French, English, Italian, German people alongside Muslim subjects. But he does not give any clues on the number of population of Varna. In census of 1866 Varna was the fifth crowded city in terms of taxed population among Tuna province. The year book of 1868 is the first year book of Tuna province. The cities of Tuna province according to the population size can be listed as Russe, Tirnova, Sofia, Nis, Vidin, Varna and Tulcea. Among these cities Varna had the greatest number of Muslim population since the number of Muslims constituted 74% of its whole population. 7.76 % of whole population, 14.23 % of Muslim population and 3.4 % of non Muslim population of Tuna province was living in Varna. According to census of 1877-8, the number of population was 85500; and the number of households was 9849 in Varna. It is clear that the population of Varna was increasing in those days. The most significant event Varna had witnessed in 19th century was Ottoman- Russo war of 1828-9. Russia and its alliances (England and France) wanted Ottoman state sign the Treaty of London which includes provisions for the establishment of independent Greece,

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