Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) published the book ‘Ottoman State in Historical Russian Maps (1700-1917)’, which is an important work that describes the maps showing the lands of the Ottoman Empire from the 1700-1917 periods, by considering them in terms of time and geography, including powerful texts.
While the text of the 443-page book consisting of approximately 235 pages of text and 208 maps and plans, of which the project manager is Marmara University Faculty Member Dr. Fahri Solak, has been written by Prof. Dr. Mikhail Bashanov, the translation of the work into Turkish and its preparation for publication have been done by Prof.Dr. İlyas Kemaloğlu.
The book includes nearly 200 of the most valuable maps and topographical plans found in state archives, museums and libraries in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia. Among these, general geographical maps of the Ottoman Empire, maps of various regions of the Ottoman Empire, plans of Turkish cities, ports and castles come to the fore. In the text part of the work, the development of geography and cartography in Russia and the process of preparing maps for the Ottoman Empire in Russia have been discussed in detail.
Most of the early maps in the book are in manuscript form, and were the result of the work of the Russian authorities in the Ottoman Empire in the fields of geodesy, topography and hydrography. Most of these maps are published for the first time in this book. The later maps in the book, although printed, are not well known to researchers since they are labeled “hidden”. Therefore, the publication of these maps and plans will make an important contribution to both Ottoman history researches in general and to fill the gap in the field of cartography in Turkey.
In the text part of the work, there are titles such as Geography in Russia and the First Examples of Ottoman Maps Until 1750, Cartography of Russia during the Ottoman-Russian War, The 1768-1774 Russo-Turkish War and the Mapping of the “Four Corners” of the Ottoman Empire, Balkans, Crimea and Caucasus, Mediterranean and Russian Diplomatic Missions and Preparation of Maps of the Ottoman Empire’s Territories in Europe and Istanbul, Cartography as a System: Russian General Staff and Military Topographers Department (1800-1828), Battlefield Cartography: Ottoman-Russian War of 1828-1829, General Neydgardt’s Project: Mapping Ottoman Territories in Anatolia and the Near East (1833-1835), Cartography Activities of Russian Military Hydrography Experts in the Ottoman Empire, Borders and Maps: Russian Cartography Studies in the Process of Determining the Ottoman-Iranian Border (1842-1852), “Cartography Race” of European Countries in the Ottoman Empire, P. A. Chihachov and the Russians’ Geographical Studies of the Ottoman Empire, Civil Aspect of Russians’ Mapping Studies of the Ottoman State, The Balkan Project: Russia’s Preparation of a Map of European Turkey (1876) and Caucasus Military Topography Department and Asian Turkey.
As for the maps, there are General Maps of the Ottoman Empire, European Territories of the Ottoman Empire, Territories of the Ottoman Empire in Asia, Istanbul and the Straits, Sea Maps, Plans of the City and Fortifications, and Thematic Maps.
For the Full PDF book: http://www.tdbb.org.tr/tdbb/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Tarihi-Rus-Haritalarinda-Osmanli-Devleti-1700-1917.-.pdf
16.08.2023
