University of Heidelberg

The long 19^th Century was for the Ottoman Empire the age of reform and especially the second half the reign era Mahmud II (1808-1839) was an era of comprehensive modernization. Central reforms of a modernizing nature, which were already gathering momentum put increasing pressure on local powers to accept the transfer of certain prerogatives to the central government. Nevertheless, the administrative structures remained decentralized. More and more financial resources were siphoned off from the provinces for the imperial government's central projects, resulting in pressure for reform in the provinces too, which were compelled to find ways and means of making up the deficit, which culminated in self reliable reforms of the decision maker in the Ottoman provinces. The initiatives for making reforms of the era of Mahmuds II cannot be considered as confined to the center. An examination of the reform measures relating especially to local administration, agriculture, tax collection and quarantine reveals that the reform measures were formulated in response to the problems of the society in their immediate vicinity.

Contemporaneously with the intensifying reforms after the abolition of the Janissaries, but independently from this, European consular establishments mushroomed from 1826 onwards in the Ottoman provinces. The long duration of especially British consuls made it possible for them not only to become well acquainted with circumstances and give more accurate information to their employer, but also to orient themselves in the complex local power structures and to intervene and take part as participants in the local political processes. By using their intimate knowledge of local conditions, they could form coalitions with higher ranked Ottoman administrators and influence them, which in turn, could put pressure on the Ottoman administrators at least at the local level.

Focusing on local reforms this dissertation seeks to identify the role of the British consul Charles Blunt played in the Ottoman province (at Salonica 1835-1856). To measure Blunts role at the local level it examines his participation in the emergence, development and implementation of local reforms in the city of Salonica and its environs. On the basis of reports from Blunt on the one hand and Ottoman Archives on the other, the dissertation tries to show how within the first five years of his activity in Salonica, the newly appointed British consul became an expert on local conditions, how he was elevated to the role of power broker, and how he became an important factor in the interplay of local forces: between the governor of the province Rumeli with seat in Yanya (Ioannina), the district administrator with seat in Salonica, the local Kadi, the Greek-orthodox bishop and the different local elites. Since participation is a two-way process, another question this dissertation seeks to answer is how this process influenced the British consul, Charles Blunt, and to what extent one could speak of his acculturation into the Ottoman nexus.

Gülay Tulasoğlu's CV