Osmanlı Taşrasında İletişimde Bir Dönüşüm: Sinop Sancağına Telgrafın Gelişi (1868-1923)
A Transformation in Communication in the Ottoman Province: The Arrival of the Telegraph in the Sancak of Sinop

Summary/Abstract: The telegraph, a significant means of communication during 19th-century modernization, began to be used in the Ottoman Empire in the second half of the century, with the establishment of the Telegraph Directorate in 1855. In addition to strengthening the state's centralized administration in the provinces, the establishment of a rapid communication system became inevitable to keep pace with the transformation of communication networks. Initially, telegraph lines were laid to connect Rumelia with Istanbul, and from the second half of the 19th century onward, these lines expanded to various provinces and sanjaks across Anatolia. By the 1860s, the extension of telegraph lines to Sinop became a matter of consideration. The Sinop-Samsun connection was established in 1868, followed by the Sinop-Boyabat-Kastamonu telegraph line in 1869. However, due to challenging geographical conditions and bureaucratic delays, a telegraph office could only be established in the Ayancık district in 1906. This study examines the bureaucratic processes that preceded the extension of telegraph lines to the Sinop district centre and its subdistricts, the construction of telegraph lines and offices, construction costs, staff recruitment, encountered difficulties, and the local population's reactions to the implementation of the telegraph system. In light of the findings, the study investigates how the introduction of the telegraph system—alongside postal steamships and mail coaches, which were previously the primary means of communication—transformed communication practices in Sinop during the 19th century. Based on information drawn from Ottoman archival documents, the research also makes use of the Kastamonu Provincial Yearbooks (Salnames), relevant issues of the Kastamonu Provincial Newspaper, and various scholarly works to analyse the transformation of communication networks in the Ottoman provinces, using Sinop as a representative case study.

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