Voicing the local interests: Expectations from the Trabzon-Erzurum Road and local demands in the Late Ottoman Gümüşhane

Abstract

The late Ottoman Empire witnessed a period of intense centralization and infrastructural development as the state sought to consolidate its authority and modernize its provinces. Roads, administrative buildings and regional restructuring became the tools of this transformation, but they were also the focal points of tension between imperial priorities and local expectations. The case of Gümüşhane, a small town in northeastern Anatolia, illustrates how local communities attempted to negotiate with the state in the face of diminishing economic prospects and changing infrastructure routes. When the Trabzon- Erzurum Road was built without passing through the town center of Gümüşhane in 1872, locals used petitions, economic arguments, and social alliances to voice their needs. This study relies on extensive primary sources such as official correspondence in the Ottoman Archives (BOA), provincial yearbooks, and petitions submitted by locals. It examines how in the late 19th century the residents of Gümüşhane actively challenged and negotiated on the decisions of the Ottoman government regarding infrastructure, in particular road construction and administrative planning, and the state’s indifferent or strategic responses to this pressure.