Table Of ContentMigration and Disease
in the Black Sea Region
Migration and Disease
in the Black Sea Region
Ottoman-Russian Relations
in the Late Eighteenth and Early
Nineteenth Centuries
Andrew Robarts
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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First published 2017
© Andrew Robarts, 2017
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4742-5949-1
ePDF: 978-1-4742-5950-7
ePub: 978-1-4742-5951-4
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A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Cover design: Sharon Mah
Cover image © Ox-carts in the Ukrainian Steppe. Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.
(Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
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Contents
List of Figures vi
List of Maps vii
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 The Black Sea Region in the Late Eighteenth and Early
Nineteenth Centuries 11
2 A Trans-Danubian Waltz: Bulgarian Migration in the
Ottoman-Russian Black Sea Region 33
3 At the Limits of Empire: Migration, Settlement, and Border
Security in Russia’s Imperial South 57
4 Reconstruction and Reconciliation: Migration and Settlement
in the Early Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Balkans 83
5 “Instruments of Despotism” (I): Quarantines, Travel Documentation,
and Migration Management in the Ottoman Empire 109
6 “Instruments of Despotism” (II): Epidemic Disease, Quarantines,
and Border Control in the Russian Empire 139
7 Imperial Confrontation or Regional Cooperation?
Reconceptualizing Ottoman-Russian Relations in
the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries 169
Notes 184
Bibliography 247
Index 262
List of Figures
1.1 R ussian travel document authorizing the resettlement
of a Bulgarian migrant in Bessarabia (1830). 22
1.2 R ussian travel document authorizing the resettlement
of a Bulgarian migrant in Moldavia (1830). 23
4.1 Th e battle on the River Kamchik on October 15, 1828. 100
6.1 Q uarantine ships in Russia. 149
6.2 Plan of the Russian quarantine complex in Ismail (1844). 157
List of Maps
1 Map of the Black Sea region. x
2 Cities, towns, and political divisions in the Black Sea region
(late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries). xi
3 Map of Turkey and southern Russia (Photo by Universal History
Archive/UIG via Getty Images). xii
Acknowledgments
This book is the culmination of many years of study and research, in both the
United States and abroad. I have incurred many debts and made many new
friends along the way. At Georgetown University, I would like to thank, first and
foremost, Professor Catherine Evtuhov. For over two decades now, Professor
Evtuhov has been a consistent source of support, encouragement, and intellectual
guidance. Professor Gabor Agoston shepherded me through the pitfalls attendant
with the study of the multifaceted Ottoman Empire. Professors John McNeill and
Charles King made sure that I maintained a broad analytical frame and drove my
intellectual inquiries into the fields of world and regional history.
In Bulgaria, I would like to thank Professor Alexei Kalionski of Sofia
University who proved to be a great listener and a valuable source of advice
on Ottoman, Russian, and Bulgarian history. The archival and research
staffs at the Bulgarski Istoricheski Arkhiv of the Narodna Biblioteka—Kiril
i Metodi and at the Tsentralen Durzhaven Arkhiv were consistently helpful
and supportive of my research project. In Moscow, my appreciation goes to
the staff of the Gosudarstvennyi Arkhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii and Rossiiskii
Gosudarstvennyi Voenno-Istoricheskii Arkhiv for their professionalism. Special
thanks go to the very kind and helpful staff in the academic reading room of
the Gosudarstvennaia Istoricheskaia Publichnaia Biblioteka.
In Turkey, Kahraman Şakul and Günhan Börekçi accompanied me during
my initial forays into Istanbul’s archives and libraries. I’m quite convinced that
their introductions to key staff members in these research institutions lent
instant credibility to my research project. Thank you both. My thanks as well go
to the staff of the Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi and Islam Araştırmaları Merkezi.
The latter institution always provided a quiet, calm, and cool environment
on chaotic and steamy summer days in Istanbul. Along these lines, it was
my pleasure to stay at the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) in
Arnavutköy for several months in 2008. Although my stay in Odessa was far
too brief, Lilia Belousova made sure that my time in the Odessa State Archives
was as collegial and productive as possible. The lengths she went to during my
short and intense research visit to Odessa will always be appreciated.
Acknowledgments ix
Many institutions and organizations supported me financially during the
research and writing phases of this project. My thanks go to the Graduate School
at Georgetown, the Department of History at Georgetown, the American Council
of Learned Societies (ACLS), the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT),
the Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC), the International Research &
Exchanges Board (IREX), Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grants,
the Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS), and the Cosmos Club Foundation for
their generous financial support.
During the journeyman phase of my academic career, I had the great
pleasure of working and teaching at the University of California, Riverside, and
Central Connecticut State University. At UCR, I am particularly thankful for the
collegiality and consistent support provided by Professors Georg Michels and
James Brennan. AT CCSU, Kathy Hermes served as a mentor and friend. Thank
you Kathy. I would like to offer my deepest gratitude as well to my colleagues at
the Rhode Island School of Design.
Finally, my family—although occasionally perplexed as to why I was
investing so much time researching and writing on the Black Sea region —offered
unconditional support and maintained an unwavering faith in my academic
pursuits. My mother and father (Dee and Richard Robarts) instilled in me, from
an early age, a passion for history and a desire to explore the world. My brother,
Alex, and my little daughter, Claire, helped me “keep things real.” And finally,
and most importantly, to my wife, Amy, thank you for your patience, for wading
through the early drafts of this book, and for your unfailing belief in me. I made it.
