o_19heefouak9i9v4do11ac41pi7a.pdf

Aliye F. Mataracı
FROM ANATOLIA TO MANCHESTER VIA ISTANBUL:
THE COMPLEX NATURE OF AN OTTOMAN COMMERCIAL NETWORK
ON THE EVE OF WORLD WAR I 1
Introduction
T
his article provides a 1914 snapshot of an Ottoman commercial network
which evolved around three Muslim brothers, namely Mataracızâde; working
as trans-regional import and export commission agents at the end of the Ottoman
Empire. They were descendants of Mataracızâde Hajji Ahmed Efendi (1811/12-
1925), who was a prominent local merchant involved in the yarn trade from Istanbul
to Rize, the family home town 2 . The eldest brother, Ali (1883/84-1941) was
based in Rize, while the middle brother, İlyas (1889/90-1921), was based in Istanbul.
Their youngest sibling, Cemil (1895/96-1917) was barely eighteen years old
when he was sent to Manchester and through him, the brothers imported textiles
from Manchester to Istanbul and Sebastopol. The three brothers also purchased
merchandise from businesses in Istanbul and sold it to traders in the provinces of
the Empire. They mostly traded in manufactured goods from centre to periphery, as
1 A first version of this article was presented at the International Conference in Economic
and Social History, December, 2008 under the title ‘Reading Social Profile and Economic
Standing of a Muslim Merchant Network through Business Correspondence’. I am grateful to
the organizers of the conference, Professor Gelina Harlaftis and Socrates D. Petmezas, not only
for their invitation but also for their wonderful hospitality during hard times in Greece. I am
grateful to Professor Maria-Christina Chatziioannou for her companionship and for providing
me with a base during my visit. This work is also a part of PhD thesis, ‘Trading in the
Shadow of Wars: Commercial Collection of a late Ottoman Muslim Merchant House’, submitted
to the Department of History, Boğaziçi University. I am grateful to my supervisor Professor
Edhem Eldem for all his support and encouragement. I am also thankful to Professor
Molly Greene for her support and insightful comments on my work.
2 Mataracızâde Hajji Ahmed Efendi was one of the three sons of Hajji Mehmed Mataracı.
Hajji Ahmed Efendi and his brother Hajji Mustafa Efendi were recorded as first degree in
terms of wealth, land and honour among the prominent local families of the eastern Black
Sea region in an inventory prepared by the Governor of Trabzon, Sırrı Pasha. The inventory
involves the names of leading families and people of the region in terms of seniority, honour,
land and wealth. Ayhan Yüksel, ‘Trabzon Valisi Sırrı Paşa'nın Bir Raporuna Göre Doğu
Karadeniz'in Önde Gelen Aileleri (1880)', in Doğu Karadeniz Araştırmaları (İstanbul: Kitabevi,
2005). Most of the collaborators from the eastern Black Sea appeared among the local families
listed in the inventory.
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