The Structure of Migration Past in the Anatolian Countryside (XVI-XX. Century): An Essay to Read Migration via the Manisa and Konya Environment

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Migration is one of the important factors affecting societies in political, social and economic terms in almost every period of history. In the past, while the migration led to the collapse of a political organization, it led to the emergence of another political organization. However, it is a necessity to consider the historical migrations in order to make a correct interpretation of today and to make healthy projections about the future. In particular, the investigation of the migration structure of Ottoman Anatolia, which is a recent history, will be able to provide significant contributions both in revealing the historical background of migration and in the evaluation of contemporary migrations in the context of this historical experience. The aim of this study is to contribute to the literature on the history of migration, as time from the sixteenth century to the twentieth century, as investigating the structure of migrations in Anatolian countryside through the samples of Manisa and Konya. In the study, basically the following question was sought: What are the reasons for the migration in the Ottoman countryside? For this purpose, information and findings obtained from archive documents, field surveys and field literature were used. As a result of the research, it has been determined that the migrations in rural areas within the time frame and sampling areas are caused by the pushing factors such as natural disasters, epidemics, banditry activities, tax pressure, and unrest in the main transportation network. Sometimes these pushing factors could lead to individual migration, as well as to mass migration or displacement of rural resettlement centers. It is understood that the migrations may occur from rural to urban areas, and more than this, some of which occured within the countryside itself. Information obtained from archival documents and field surveys can be considered as important clues to this situation. The migration movement that took place in the countryside due to various reasons was realized towards the central, safe and crowded villages as well as the cities. As a result of migrations in rural areas, which were mainly due to economic and security factors, rural resettlement centers conglomerate. On the one hand, the mass migrations caused some villages to disappear and on the other hand, they made significant contributions to the continuity of the existing villages.