Biography of an Ottoman Provincial Town : Place-Making in Mezre

Studies the birth and decline of an Armenian-Turkish elite town from the Ottoman Empire to Republican Turkey.

This book presents a 150-year biography of a provincial town. It details the emergence of Mezre as a frontier garrison town next to ancient Harput in the Ottoman East; Mezre-Harput’s subsequent dual-city life until the end of the nineteenth century; and the eventual transformation of Mezre and Harput into the unified Elazig in Republican Turkey. From the rise and fall of Mezre during the Tanzimat period to the nation-state-making of the early twentieth century, the book investigates periods of negligence as well as those of state intervention. In doing so, it scrutinises the concept of a 'provincial town' as a distinct zone where the imperial and the rural intersect, clash and coalesce. Through in-depth research on both Ottoman and Republican-period primary sources, this book provides a comprehensive account of urban transformation, town politics and spatial nationalisation. Moreover, it invites the Ottoman historiography to consider 'place-making' as an alternative analytical lens to state-centred accounts.