78
Zeynep
Arslan
M
ap
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. S
ourc
e: Arsla
n, 2
016, pp. 51
Information about non-commercial matters regarding 18
th
century Ottoman-Ragusan
relations are also accessible through the registers. Accordingly, the Ottoman Administration
was interested in the religious affairs of the Ragusans residing in Ottoman land.
9
The Empire
sought to protect Ragusan religious living in Ottoman territory through various decrees, most
of which were issued after events that targeted or disadvantaged Ragusan religious in the
79
Eighteenth Century Relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Dubrovnik
Empire. The sultan even swore to guarantee the lives, security, and property of his Ragusan
subject, despite this promise being fundamentally unfeasible. As we mentioned before, many
decrees in the registers handle inheritance rights, as well as special rights that pertained
specifically to Ragusan traders doing business in Ottoman lands. Thanks to the sultan’s
decrees, Ragusans were also protected from those who would commit fraud, theft, and other
similar injustices against them, and anyone found responsible of these wrongdoings suffered
grave punishment.
10
Examining the registers enabled us to learn about Dubrovnik’s
bureaucratic process, as
well as about the officials who pioneered political relations in the 18
th
century. The most
senior Ragusan official on the Ottomans’ side was the ambassador, whose most significant
task was delivering Dubrovnik’s yearly tribute to the Ottoman imperial treasury. Ragusan
plenipotentiaries, who had full power to take administrative action on behalf the state, were
also very important to the Ragusan Republic. The Ragusan officials with the second highest
level of authority in Ottoman lands were the consuls, who oversaw the various businesses of
Ragusan traders and represented the Republic of Dubrovnik from wherever they found
themselves. Through analyzing the yol emri (trade orders)
11
in the registers, we have also
determined that the dragomen were instrumental in maintaining healthy relationships with
other states.
At the beginning of the 17
th
century, Dubrovnik changed once again. Ragusa’s
political and economic climates heavily affected the city, and both factors were subject to
great volatility. However, the city’s economy drastically worsened in the last quarter of the
17
th
century. An earthquake in 1667 wrought heavy damage upon the city and yielded a
challenging 100-year-long reconstruction of Dubrovnik; all the while, the city had to be wary
of their political tensions in the wider environment. This depressed situation would continue
until the last quarter of the 18
th
century with some minor revivals.
Contrastingly, the last three decades of the century saw an increase in Ragusan trade
that caused considerable economic growth; this led to the republic’s prosperity in the years
before its Napoleonic seizure. For historiographic purposes only, we added the years 1667 to
1699 in our references to 18
th
century Dubrovnik to highlight the impact of those years on the
city’s future economic conditions (specifically the earthquake of 1667). Despite this period of
weakness, Dubrovnik’s gross national product achieved a high in the late 18
th
century.
Although certain times within 18
th
century Dubrovnik are technically periods of “decline,”
these declines laid a solid foundation for which Dubrovnik’s affluence gradually increased.
4. Conclusion
The 18
th
century has often been referred to as a declining period for the Republic of
Dubrovnik, but because this notion has been viewed so uncritically by modern historiography,
this study seeks to challenge it. Since the Ottoman Empire was a driving force in Dubrovnik’s
growth since the city-state began, we can safely make conclusions about Dubrovnik’s
economic and political progression in the context of Ottoman involvement. We have thus
focused primarily on Dubrovnik’s relations with the Ottoman Empire in order to reach our
objective.
Through analyzing their relations, we have not only been able to better understand
the historical processes—whether detrimental or beneficial—that made Dubrovnik unique and
important, but draw novel conclusions about its state in the 18
th
century.
The Registers of Foreign Affairs (Düvel-i Ecnebiye Defterleri) classified under the
numbers A.DVN.DVE.d 19/7 and 20/8, dated from 1779-1806 and 1788-1806 respectively,
80
Zeynep Arslan
informed us not only of Ottoman-Dubrovnik relations in the Republic of Dubrovnik’s final
term, but also gave us clues about the economic and political climate of the city-state at the
time. Using these registers, we can understand the affairs between Dubrovnik and the
Ottoman Empire in a much larger scope, and we can also see the influence that the two
polities had on the contemporary surrounding world. These documents, along with other
related archival documents and available literature, thus allowed us to craft a well-informed
argument about the decline paradigm surrounding 18
th
century Dubrovnik. In the last three
decades of the 18
th
century, Ragusan trade revived and spurred considerable economic growth
for the republic, which allowed it to prosper in the years before its end at the hands of
Napoleon.
Since we had the opportunity to examine Dubrovnik’s 18
th
century decline paradigm
with a different perspective, we were able to assert that this “decline” was simply a
foundation for which Dubrovnik’s increasing affluence was laid. Despite the questions that
have yet to be answered in future studies, this study has not only reconsidered the history of
18
th
century Dubrovnik based on information obtained from official registers, supporting
arguments, and other data, but also concluded that the difficulties the Republic of Dubrovnik
experienced during the 18
th
century were not the signs of the decline, but rather a stepping
stone to prosperity that lasted until the republic’s end. The Republic of Dubrovnik itself may
have ended, but this was not due to the city’s political or economic failure. Instead,
Dubrovnik was strong enough to use its tribulations as agents of growth; rather than steadily
declining at the first sign of trouble, the city managed to enjoy great prosperity at the end of
the 18
th
century and, in turn, end in a manner that was far from catastrophic. The Republic of
Dubrovnik’s end,
against all odds, was quite spectacular.
5. References
5.1. Archival Documents
Ottoman Prime Minister’s Archives (
Başbakanlık smanlı Arşivi, B A), Istanbul.
Bab-ı Asafi Divan-ı Humayun Sicilleri Mühimme Defterleri (A.DVNSMHM): 007.
Cevdet Hariciye (C.HR.): 176/8772.
Düvel-i Ecnebiye Defterleri (A.DVN.DVE.): 19/7, 20/8.
Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi Arşivi (TS.MA.d): 7018 0001.
5.2. Books and Articles
Arslan, Z. (2016).
18
th
Century Relations Between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of
Dubrovnik: 18
th
Century Dubrovnik and the Contemporary Surrounding World
(Unpublished master’s thesis). İstanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Biegman, N. H. (1967).
The Turco-Ragusan Relationship: According to the Firmans of
Murad III (1575-1595) Extant in the State Archives of Dubrovnik. Paris: Mouton.
Carter, F. W. (1972).
Dubrovnik (Ragusa): A Classic City State. London & New York:
Seminar Press.
Chapin, F. (1973).
Venice, a Maritime Republic. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Glavina, M. (2009).
17. Yüzyıl Başında smanlı İmparatorluğu ile Dubrovnik Cumhuriyeti
İlişkileri [Relations between the ttoman Empire and the Republic of Dubrovnik at the