A TOWN IN HUDÛD-I HÂKANÎ: HOPA PRISON AND PUBLIC ORDER IN THE LAST PERIOD OF THE OTTOMAN STATE

In the process following the proclamation of the Hatt-i Sharif of Gulhane, the Ottoman Empire witnessed many reforms in the social and economic fields, along with the understanding of strengthening the central government. The subject of criminal law and prisons had been one of the areas of reform in the field of law. These reforms were related to the demands and pressures of the Westerners as well as the internal needs of the state. During the 19th century, efforts were made to improve the unfavourable prison conditions. Financial problems and the impossibilities created by the lack of trained people had adversely affected the progress in prisons, as in the reforms to be made in other areas. The effect of these negativities continued more and longer in urban prisons. Hopa, located in the east of Trabzon province and became a border town between Russia and the Ottoman State after the 1878 Berlin Agreement, had gained sensitivity about security. The aim of this study is to discuss the reflections of Ottoman centralism and prison reforms in a border town Hopa.