Page 283 - Journal of Asian History_Neat

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Masha vh.lk: The Ottoman I’roi'incc of al*Ifa&d 509

uplvnty, especially on tho lower reaches of tempts were made to develop a black powder
pirates
the river in the Shalt. factory in Lahsfl, they seem to have met with little
Many administrative orders from Istanbul to success. In March of 157*2 an order was sent to the
I vhsA were in reply to reports from Lab-s* carried governor general of Basra to forward 300 kan(6r
to Istanbul by one of the governor general’s (perhaps 10,S00 kilograms) of powder to Lahsa
officers or personal secretaries. The replies were and send with the shipment a man to investigate
carried back by the same person who brought the the possibility of setting up a powder factory
report. Thus we have entered in the margins of there.1*4 Orders at the same time went to Bagdad
the muhimme series copy of the orders, "Given to for cannon for Lafosa and made the same point;
x, one of the men of the governor general of gunnery masters (’tLjfdrfar) were to be sent to
Lahsii. I»19« Or, more commonly, the order might investigate for the presence of saltpetre there.1*'
be given to the governor general’s official repre- Labsfi was informed of the impending survey and
sen tats vc in Istanbul, his kcpl kdhyasl who would requested to begin the search for the nitrate.1’*
at least occasionally carry’ the orders to Labs& But no more mention is made of the would-be
himself.1*1 Finally, there was an established post- barulhant in the documents; four years later
road system as far as Basra, with set post houses Bagdad once again was shipping 100 kan{dr of
(mcmilUr) and riding animals at each. Official powder to LahsS.177 Actually, powder supplies
couriers (’uldklar) occasionally used the system to were relatively easily available for LabsS; southern
carry orders to LabsS.1*1 Ordinary communica- Iraq was one of the empire’s eastern centers of
tions in peace time conditions took less than two powder production in the sixteenth and seven-
months one way during the winter between Labsfi teenth centuries.1”
and Istanbul.1” Shipments of muskets and cannon, bails, shot
All military' supplies and equipment and such and gun carriage equipment were made regularly,
materials for fortifications as tools, wood and iron Muskets were brought from Iraq.1** The procure-
had to be transported to LahsS from Iraq. Re- ment of cannon presented something of a problem,
quests for powder, muskets and cannon especially alleviated slightly by the foundry established in
recur again and again in the orders. Although at- ---------------
------------------ M 12:1CXM. 11 ZK 979/77 March, 1572. The fantdr
1,9 Many examples could be given here. For this aspect here probably equals 56 kg; see Walter Him, Islamische
of Ottoman diplomatics see Heyd, Ottoman Documents, Masse und Geurichle, Leiden (1955) pp. 26-27, and Heyd,
pp. 19-22. Ottoman Documents, p. 115, footnote 2.
m M 47:480, 21 CA 990/13 July 1582, in which the 191 M 16:207, n.d. (ZK 979/March 1572, same date as
governor general of Bagdad was ordered to furnish the footnote 194).
tdAya of the governor general of Lahsi with a boat in 199 M 12:1095, same date.
order to expedite his trip and the orders he was carrying M 28:407, 15 CA 984/10 August 1576.
to Lahsi. Orhonlu and I^lksal, “Nehir Nakliyat” pp. 93-96.
1,1 M 27:1003, issued 16 $ewal SS3/10 January 1479, M 7:2142, 3 RA 976/25 September 156S also refers to
an utak hukmi for ’Ibrihlm Qavu$, and to companions baruthaneler in the Shatt. Other references to powder
to and from Lahsi. For ulak hukmi and a general discus­ shipments to Lahsi are: from Diyarbekir, 60 kantdr
sion of orders transmissions from Istanbul, see Heyd, (Ko£u$ 888, f. 102\ 7 RE 959/4 March 1552), from Bag­
Ottoman Documents, p. 22. For the post road to Basra, dad. 100 kise (etc; fcmWr?) (M 3:1133, 21 $a'bin 967/17
see M 23:360, CA 981/28 September 1573, reminding the May 1560), from Bagdad, 20 kantdr (M 7:2142, 3 RA
6aal of Istanbul that only the established road­ 976/25 September 1568).
houses and their animals were to be used by the couriers. 1,9 From Diyarbekir, 130 muskets (trlfenk) (Ko&u^SSS:
*>e Heyd, op. cit., pp. 125-27 (doc. no. 75, 76). f. 102\ 7 RE 959/4 March 1552, from Diyarbekir, 300
1,1 M&Hye*<Un 17642, p. 714. This document confirms muskets (M3:1132-33, 1147,21, 23 $a’bin 967/27, 29 May
a fief grant initially made in Lahs&. The grant was made 1560), from Aleppo, 100 musket balls (Ldfenk fcundd^i)
in Lahsi 0n the 9th of October, 1553; its confirmation (M 7:134^-50, 8 ZK 975/6 May 1568), from Basra, 50
WAs copied into tho ruznam^e defteri in Istanbul on the muskets (M 7:2141, 3 RA 976/25 September 1568), from
l?th of December of that year. I allow a week or two for Bagdad, 30,000 musket balls (M 47:474, 20 CA 990/12
Paperwork in Lahsi and Istanbul. July 1582).

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