XIX. Yüzyıl Batılı Seyahat Metinlerinde Rodos Adasında Toplum ve Ekonomi

Abstract

In 1522 Island of Rhodes, entered under the sovereignty of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. After this date, the Turkish empery began on the island about 400 years till 1912 the Italy occupied the island. During this period, a rich and deeply rooted Turkish culture was emerged in the island materially and spiritually. Especially compared to the previous centuries, in the 19th century, many Western travellers visited the island of Rhodes, which was under Turkish rule; they made observations and make some points. Western travellers saw that closely on this Turkish ruled Rhodes Island, the Greek, the Jewish and the Turkish people living together in a tolerance and peace. They wrote many details about the island's social structure, economic and cultural life. It is possible to reach the impressions about the texture of the society and daily life of the island of Rhodes from their travel notes, however, more importantly, from these works of the Western travellers, the prejudices of the Eastern image of the Turkish sovereignty on the island of Rhodes are often found to be in vain. In this study, Western travellers of mainly British origin who came to the 19th century to the island of Rhodes, their impressions of the daily life such as social structure, population, religion, religious and cultural structures, customs and traditions, clothes and cleanliness on the island were analyzed. In addition, many observations of Western travellers such as agriculture, commerce, service sector, security, tax, ship building activities and livelihoods of the island were also evaluated.