Cattle Plague in the Late Ottoman Empire and Legal Measures Taken against This Disease

Abstract

Agriculture and animal husbandry played a crucial role in the Ottoman Empire from its inception, and this economic structure underwent significant changes by the 19th century. Considering animal husbandry, which was one of the essential sources of income of the state, it has been seen that at the end of the 19th century, the number of livestock was around 24.800.000. Approximately 19.800.000 of these livestock were ovine, and 5.000.000 were bovine. It has been seen that animal husbandry, which maintained its importance as a sub-branch of the agricultural sector until the last years of the state, had to struggle with various animal diseases, especially from the second quarter of the 19th century. One of these diseases, cattle plague, or in other words, Veba-yı bakarî, became an epidemic in Anatolia, especially after the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878. While the cattle plague affected Anatolian geography, especially Istanbul, after the 1880s, the Ottoman Empire took various measures to minimize the loss caused by this disease. The Zabıta-i Sıhhiye-i Hayvaniye Talimatnamesi [Instruction], which came into force on 5 January 1893, and the Zabıta-i Sıhhiye-i Hayvaniye Kanunu Muvakkati, which took effect on 17 December 1913, constituted this legal legislation. Based on this temporary law, the state also issued the Zabıta-i Sıhhiye-i Hayvaniye Talimatnamesi in 1914. While the Ottoman Empire sought to minimize livestock losses through such legal regulations, it also aimed to protect a vital group of economic resources. © 2025, Selim Hilmi Ozkan. All rights reserved.