Bandit and Abetting Bandits in İzmir and Its Vicinity 1877/1909
Project no. 20620 · Status: Kapanmış · 2019
Summary
It is understood that in the last days of the Ottoman state, Izmir and its surroundings faced banditry problems for many reasons, especially the opportunities provided by the geographical conditions. This project aims to identify the hideaways of the bandits and the relations of these bandits with the geography and the people of the region from the archive documents of the period, foreign travelers, local and foreign press as well as research and study works. Timeline is from 1877 until 1909 when Law for Prohibition of Brigands declared. Within the scope of the project, a field study was carried out in İzmir and its surroundings, and within this framework, the details of the link between banditry and the geography and social dynamics where banditry emerged in the region were examined. On the other hand, some determinations were made regarding the impact of İzmir and its surrounding geography on bandit groups and how they affected the formation of gangs. In addition, the structural features of the bandit gangs, whose internal dynamics are shaped according to their geography, their experiences in the mountains, and their unique lifestyles are also emphasized. Apart from the attitudes of those who aided and abetting bandits or bandits, the hideaway villages identified from archive documents and research artifacts were identified, and the effects of socio-economic, geographical conditions and kinship relations were examined. The measures taken by the state to neutralize the bandits were examined, and the methods of pursuit and banishment applied by the state in its fight against the bandits were emphasized. Especially in İzmir and its surroundings, the effects of physical geography and climate on the occurrence of banditry events, the regions in which the bandits were active, the routes they used were tried to be determined by using various sources, especially official correspondence, memories and periodical publications, and these data related to the subject were discussed by positioning them on maps.