Bingöl University Journal of Social Sciences Institute

Abstract

The Ottoman Empire operated its mines with rules and methods that unchanged for centuries. However, the Tanzimat reform brought about a change in the way mines were operated and noteworthy steps were taken towards modern corporatization. The state promoted private enterprises and supported the establishment of companies. Sarıyer Copper Mine Company was established in 1841. The capital of the company was entirely from the Ottoman Empire's own citizens, and particularly the civil servants in the state staff contributed to the capital. However, these capitalists were unprivileged in business fields such as mining, copper extraction, processing, transportation, sales, etc. At this point, bezirgân-merchant multezims (iltizam owners) experienced in mining, copper mining, and trade came to the foreground.
This article focuses on the merchant class, which had a significant place in the corporatization process of the Ottoman state, and particularly the bezirgân-merchant multezims, who were good at copper mines. The scope of the article is limited with mültezims within the framework of the Sarıyer Copper Mine Company. The state intended to use the capital collected effectively to serve its purpose. The multezims of the Sarıyer Copper Mine Company stood out with their expertise in mining, copper mining, and trade rather than their capital. Among the main multezims identified during the process of the company operation are “Papazoğlu (Beratlı Merchant) Anaştaş”, Bezirgân Todori”, “Miner Nikola and Serkez from Gümüşhane”, “Hayriye Merchant Hacı Ali Ağa and Todori son Dimitri”, “Yorgi Papayosefoğlu and Ligor Todori”. The study also mentions the provisions of the contracts made with the multezims, the tools used in the field of mining, the conversion of copper mines into cash in kind, in addition to the amount of copper extracted from the mining area, the sales price of copper.