Weaving Industry and Stamp Tax Farm in Tire (18th Century)

The agricultural productivity and commercial vitality of Western Anatolia, directly affecting the patterns of textile industry, integrated not only the city centers but also townlets in the countryside to the weaving sector. Tire became one of the few settlements of the region that emerged as a weaving and production center from very early dates. The weavers in the city, engaged in cotton processing, specialized in products such as white cotton cloth, ？ine tülbendi, lining, kirpas-？ penbe, alaca, ku？ak and waistcloth. In addition to the weaving sector, dyeing process was carried out in the Tire dye-house. Archival documents suggest that Tire became not only a weaving and dyeing center but also a vivid domestic trade market for textile fabrics produced in its vicinity. In the 18th century, the stamp tax, collected from the fabrics produced in Tire, started to be collected as a part of the malikane (life time tax farming) under the name of “Tire ve tevabi’i bogasi damgas？ mukataas？”. By utilizing Ottoman archival documents, this study shows the development of weaving and dyeing industry in Tire and the process through which the Tire bogasi stamp was farmed out within the malikane system in the 18th century