Tokat Sanjak at the end of the 19th Century

Having an important place in every period with its geographical location, Tokat was included into the borders of the Ottoman Empire in 1398. Tokat, which came to the 19th century with many political and administrative changes, was made a sanjak center on January 12, 1880. Niksar, Erbaa and Zile districts were also centralized to Tokat sanjak. In this study, the administrative and socio-economic development of Tokat sanjak at the end of the 19th century was discussed. The research data were obtained from the Ottoman Archive, the annuals and the sources in the literature. In the research, it was seen that Tokat was one of the important cities of the Ottoman Empire between 1880-1900. Tokat, which was on the trade route, gained the status of sanjak due to its distance from Sivas province and security reasons. The non-Muslim population also lived in Tokat, where the majority of them were Muslims. At the same time, the population of the city increased due to internal and external migrations, and diversified accordingly. These migrations, which brought some problems together, led to the introduction of a new product such as Tokat tea. Tokat industry has introduced important products to the market. Among these products, Tokat copper and cotton print gained brand value on a world scale during the period. In Tokat, where industry and trade are developed, both agriculture and animal husbandry have developed with the opportunities provided by the geography. It is understood that the people from Tokat also make a living from all these areas. It is seen that the people living peacefully in Tokat retreated to the clash environment because of the Armenian riots lived after 1895 and the people from Tokat tried to protect their national unity and their homeland. These incidents in Tokat and its surroundings also reveal the inadequacy of the military and law enforcement forces in the city.