Population policies of the Ottoman State in the Tanzimat Era: 1840-1870

Abstract

The formation of the Ottoman modern state in the nineteenth century was closely interrelated with the population policies. The policies directed towards population addressed three concerns central to Otoman modern state building in the nineteenth century. These were the concern to tax, to create a labor force for agricultural production and local reconstruction projects, and to draft soldiers for the modern armies. The importance of protection and procreation of the population for agricultural production, taxation, trade, industry and military was substantiated by the population policies of the government in the early period of the Tanzimat. As the state identified the population as a source of income after the Tanzimat, it tried to protect and procreate its population through certain institutional arrangements and regulations. The population policies were interrelated with the whole body of social, economic, political, military, educational, and sanitary reforms that characterized the Tanzimat era.