GEÇ DÖNEM OSMANLI İMPARATORLUĞU’NDA HAYVAN HIRSIZLIĞI: KASTAMONU VİLAYETİ ÖRNEĞİ
ANIMAL THEFT IN THE LATE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: THE CASE OF KASTAMONU PROVINCE

Summary/Abstract: Animal theft cases increased in Anatolia during the late nineteenth century. Kastamonu was one of the Anatolian provinces where this crime was most frequent. For the residents of this modest province, where agricultural activity based on animal labor was the primary source of livelihood, animal theft was more than just a petty crime. The theft of animals, which continued intensely from the 1890s to 1907, made the region’s people unable to do agriculture and meet their basic needs from animal husbandry. Some villagers no longer desiring to live under these conditions considered migrating to other regions. There are two research questions that this study aims to answer: first, why animal theft became common in particular areas of Kastamonu, especially between 1890 and 1907; and second, why animal theft, which had disastrous effects on the region's people, emerged as a crime that spread over the years. The analysis conducted to answer these questions involves the data supporting the three main findings of the study. Based on the vital role of animals in Ottoman society, this article argues that animals should be considered a historical actor in the late Ottoman Empire. It also points out the importance of multi-layered causality, including demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors while analyzing animal theft. Finally, it proposes to examine the legal dimension of the Ottoman modernization from a unique perspective by determining the local repercussions of the general legal measures put into practice to prevent this crime. The research is based on Ottoman archival documents, the official newspaper of the province named Kastamonu, the provincial yearbooks, and various reports and books published since the 1890s.

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