Şahin Yeşilyurt introduces Giorgio Ennas to his research on the relationship between the late Ottoman Empire’s public health and fiscal regimes.

e-mail: shnyslyrt@gmail.com

Şahin is a Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of History at Cambridge University.

A chance discovery in the archives inspired Şahin to research the Ottoman quarantine tax, and dig deeper into how the Empire defended itself against foreign contagions such as cholera, at a time of accelerating integration in a globalizing world. In this conversation, recorded on 11 November 2024, Giorgio and Şahin discuss claims by historians that some Ottomans opposed attempts to control disease, on the grounds that disease was a divine visitation that humans could or should not seek to interfere in. They also discuss how Ottoman regulations were developed in dialogue with the quarantine regimes of other empires, and weigh up the evidence for the exploitation of those regulations by corrupt Ottoman officials.

A QUARANTINE BUILDING. SOURCE: BOA, FTG.F.1696

Giorgio and Şahin’s discussion was inspired by a paper Şahin presented in Leipzig in September 2024, at the conference “From the Frontiers of the Empire to the Borders of the Nations: Questions of Borderland Security and Safety in the (Post-) Ottoman Space, 1700-1939”, entitled “Quarantine, Health, and Taxation: A New Revenue for Maintaining Public Health in the Ottoman State”. A version of this paper will appear with Transottomanica in 2025.

Episode 62 – Quarantine Questions

FEATURE IMAGE: ELEVATION OF A QUARANTINE BUILDING (TAHAFFUZHÂNE), BOA, PLK. 5088.

Blogposts are published by TLP for the purpose of encouraging informed debate on the legacies of the events surrounding the Lausanne Conference. The views expressed by participants do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of TLP, its partners, convenors or members.