Provincial Governors and Yurtluk-Ocaklik Holders on the Eve of the Tanzimat Reforms: The Embezzlement Case of Mehmed Esad Muhlis Pasha

Abstract

By exploring the embezzlement case of a local governor, this article depicts the politics of a province in the Ottoman East in the early nineteenth century. On the eve of the Tanzimat, when the military and fiscal reforms of the Sultan Mahmud II accelerated, Mehmed Esad Muhlis Pasha, the ex-governor of Erzurum, was accused of embezzlement and bribery. During his trial, Emin Pasha from the Alaaddin Pashazades, a local dynasty of Mus, brought charges against Esad Pasha which unfolded to reveal significant details about the relations between provincial Ottoman bureaucrats and provincial notables. While pointing out how the personal interests of a provincial administrator were embedded in local politics, this article also seeks this article seeks to Indicate how the codifications in the judicial sphere brought a new dimension to the clash of interests between Emin and Esad pashas.