Explanation: 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries
Trade has always been an important aspect of an economy. It was no different in the 16th century. As the Ottoman Empire expanded, it started gaining control of important trade routes. The capture of Constantinople (1453) to the Ottoman Turks was a key event. Along with their victory, they now had significant control of the Silk Road, which European countries used to trade with Asia. Many sources state that the Ottoman Empire “blocked” the Silk Road. This meant that while Europeans could trade through Constantinople and other Muslim countries, they had to pay high taxes. Ottoman-Europe relations were not always ideal because a difference in religion seems to have played an important role in their societies.
The quality of both land and sea transport was driven primarily by the efforts of the Ottoman administration over this time. As a result, the quality of transport infrastructure varied significantly over time depending on the current administration's efficacy. The story of transport in the empire should not be seen as one of continual improvement. Indeed, the road infrastructure was significantly better in the 16th century than it was in the 18th century.[citation needed]
In Anatolia, the Ottomans inherited a network of caravanserai from the Selçuk Turks who preceded them. The administration and tax-gathering of the empire mandated an interest in ensuring the safety of couriers and convoys and (by extension) of merchant caravans. The caravanserai network extended into the Balkans and provided safe lodgings for merchants and their animals.
The Jelali revolts of the 16th and 17th centuries did much to disrupt the land-transport network in Anatolia. The empire could no longer ensure the safety of merchants who then had to negotiate safe passage with the local leader of the area they were traveling through. Only in the 18th century with concerted efforts to improve the safety of the caravanserai network and the reorganization of a corps of pass-guards did land transport in Anatolia improve.
The empire did not take an active interest in sea trade preferring a free-market system from which they could draw a tax revenue. However such laissez-faire policies were not always followed. For example, under Hadim Suleyman Pasha's tenure as Grand Vizier until 1544, the Ottoman administration was directly involved in the spice trade to increase revenue.[3] However such policies were often repealed by their successors.
The main areas of maritime activity were: the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean (main trade: wheat); the Red Sea and Persian Gulf (main trade: spices); the Black Sea (main trade: wheat and lumber); and the Western Mediterranean.
During the 19th century, new technologies radically transformed both travel and communications. Through the invention of the steam engine in Britain, water and land transport revolutionized the conduct of trade and commerce. The steamship meant journeys became predictable, times shrank and large volumes of goods could be carried more cheaply. Quataert cites the Istanbul-Venice route, the main trade artery, taking anything from fifteen to eighty-one days by sail ship, was reduced to ten days by the steamship. Sail ships would carry 50 to 100 tonnes. In contrast, steamships could now carry 1,000 tonnes.[Note 2]
