A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON ACCOUNTING SYSTEM OF EARLY 19 TH CENTURY OTTOMAN NAVY: 1803 ROUTIEN FLEET NAVIGATION TO THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Transcription

1 A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON ACCOUNTING SYSTEM OF EARLY 19 TH CENTURY OTTOMAN NAVY: 1803 ROUTIEN FLEET NAVIGATION TO THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA Research Assistant YAYLA, Hilmi Erdoğan Giresun University Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences - Department of Business Administration Giresun- Turkey Tel : +90 (532) Fax : +90 (462) h_yayla@hotmail.com Dr. Lecturer DAŞTAN, Abdülkerim, Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences - Department of Business Administration Trabzon - Turkey Tel : +90 (462) Fax : +90 (462)

2

3 A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON ACCOUNTING SYSTEM OF EARLY 19 TH CENTURY OTTOMAN NAVY: 1803 ROUTIEN FLEET NAVIGATION TO THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to display the accounting organization structure as descriptively by the help of accountaning documents used for routine fleet navigation arranged to the Mediterranean Sea by the Ottoman navy in The theoretical structure of the study based on the fundamentals for personnels, documents, records and accounts charts which form the accounting system as interpreted within the Summer s work (1991). Accounting records of navigation performed in Ottoman Empire fleet in 1803 and accounting documents held in Ottoman shipyards are examined to achieve the purpose of the work. The findigs acquired by study show that there is no important accounting order in Ottoman navy galleons in the early 19 th century but that the accountancy structuring within the shipyards seems to the elements of universal accounting organizations. This work also point out that navy accountings were kept in respect of privacy principals technically and the records were kept in accordance with the hierarchy of Ottoman bureaucracy. Key words: Ottoman accounting, accounting organization, navy accounting. 3

4 A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON ACCOUNTING SYSTEM OF EARLY 19 TH CENTURY OTTOMAN NAVY: 1803 ROUTIEN FLEET NAVIGATION TO THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to display the accounting organization structure as descriptively by the help of accountaning documents used for routine fleet navigation arranged to the Mediterranean Sea by the Ottoman navy in The theoretical structure of the study based on the fundamentals for personnels, documents, records and accounts charts which form the accounting system as interpreted within the Summer s work (1991). Accounting records of navigation performed in Ottoman Empire fleet in 1803 and accounting documents held in Ottoman shipyards are examined to achieve the purpose of the work. The findigs acquired by study show that there is no important accounting order in Ottoman navy galleons in the early 19 th century but that the accountancy structuring within the shipyards seems to the elements of universal accounting organizations. This work also point out that navy accountings were kept in respect of privacy principals technically and the records were kept in accordance with the hierarchy of Ottoman bureaucracy. Key words: Ottoman accounting, accounting organization, navy accounting. 4

5 1. Introduction Ottoman Empire turned out to be a mighty marine sovereignty in the course of 16 th and 17 th centuries, from its terrestrial realm towards to 15 th century. The struggles against European states were conducted at to have the control on Western part of Mediterranean, and soon the domination over Eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea and Marmara Sea was established by Ottoman Empire (Gencer,2001:VIII; Bradford,2004:311). Furthermore, Ottoman Navy that appeared in Indian Ocean in the 17 th century acted plenty of expeditions and especially battled against Portuguese navy. (Halaçoğlu,2003:63). In contrast to such attempts, Ottoman Navy s dominance restricted within the inner seas of the Ottoman Empire. The control of Ottoman Empire over the seas had a dominating effect on the course of the industrial and commercial progress achieved until the beginning of 19 th century. The Mediterranean turned out to be the more crucial at the beginning of this century in the transportation of the raw materials and the products from and to Asian and African countries. Meanwhile, the military operations of French Army lead by Napoléon Bonaparte to Egypt in 1798 was a clear indication that Ottomans were not the sole player in the Mediterranean (Türker,2004:75; Bradford,2004: ). The increasing importance of the Mediterranean on the commercial transaction and on the basis of military prospective proved to be difficult for the Ottomans to maintain the security in the seas. As a consequence of these neighborhood progresses, in the beginning of 19 th century Ottoman Navy was obliged to assign more galleons and sailors in routine navigations, has an traditional importance for the Ottoman Navy History, compared to previous terms. The routine fleet navigations organized by numerous galleys and military forces were true burden for the Ottomans Treasury because of their costs and devoted time, considering the period of stagnation of Ottoman Empire which began by 19 th century. In fact, due care was observed for the finance of the shipyards and navy as opposed to the increasing burden of maintaining the domination and The Ottomans Administration was very keen on keeping the accounts precisely and expediently to keep the expenses under the control. Notwithstanding the increasing importance of maintaining the navy s expenses to keep within the 5

6 budgetary limits, Ottoman Empire was rather unsuccessful in keeping a systematic accounting on their expenses of the galleys. The accounting on the navigations was undertaken by an accounting department under the Ottomans central accounting, situated in the shipyards. The exclusive features of the accounting techniques adopted by Ottoman Empire could be traced also in the accounting techniques pursued in the shipyards for the navy. The accounting books, kept after 19 th century by the accountants trained within the Ottomans finance, reveals the highest degree of importance as compared to those specific to the past periods of the empire. According to findings of the survey performed on Ottoman Archives of Prime Ministry of Republic of Turkey, it is found out that the accounting records were kept on a regular and periodic manner within the Ottomans shipyards with respect to the navy expeditions. Accounting system forming the theoretical structure of our work basically consists of personnels and three objective components such as document, record and account chart (Yazıcı, 1978:16; Durmuş and Arat, 2004:10-12). In respect of accounting organization, Tonne et al. (1963) argues that budgeting and accounts recording processes should work as mutually exclusive departments within subelements of organization at accounting department. In their studies, Tonne et al. (1963:355) propounds that cost, audit and tax departments are the sub-components of accounting department. Tonne et al. (1963:360) points out that two basic accounting books, journal and ledger, required within their determination for objective elements of accounting organization. Analogously, Summers (1991) emphasizes that accounting and budgeting might be operated under the control function for constituting departments within organizations. Summers (1991:36) also specifies that budgeting and control function for accountancy are the subfunctions of financial work and highlights that processes for constituting a database occur due to account transactions (Summers,1991:186). All in all, it is obvious that personnel, record, document and account chart should be co-assessed and they should be discussed altogether. The purpose of this study is to display early 19 th century accounting organizational structure descriptively by the help of accounting documents used for routine fleet navigations arranged to the Mediterranean Sea by the Ottoman fleet in First of all, the conditions of the Ottoman fleet and shipyards are tried to be determined for actualizing this purpose in the early 19 th century in the second section; after that, in the third section descriptive information about routine 6

7 navigations of Ottoman fleets are given. In the following chapter, accounting organization of Ottoman fleet and shipyards, organizational structure composed within accounting department, records in which registries are held and accounting documents are studied. In the fifth chapter of the study, accounting order of routine fleet navigation arranged to the Mediterranean Sea in 1803 is studied. The study is finalized by the conclusion and respectively references and appendixes sections are given. 2. Circumstances of Ottoman Navy and Shipyards at Early of XIX th Century Few years before the crowning of Sultan Selim III in the second half of 18 th Century (Dedeoğlu,1999:74), the Ottoman historians hold that the Ottomans navy condition turned out to be miserable due to the conducted wars at a vast geography (Büyüktuğrul,1982; Uzunçarşılı:1988). During the period between 1717 and 1770, the Ottomans navy did not participate into any war (Gencer,2001:24). Notwithstanding the loss of land at the Northern part of Black Sea and Balkans during the period between 1774 and 1827, the stronghold of Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean had not been threatened yet. If the Egyptian drive of France - took place without any success between 1798 to is excepted, it is distinctly seen that the Ottomans navy was left all alone in the Mediterranean Sea during that 53-year process (Dedeoğlu,1999:74). On the other hand, The Ottoman vs. Russia war took place between 1787 and According to Büyüktuğrul (1982: ), that was the confrontation of the Russia that was under steady development sufficient enough to reinforce the navy for the purpose of extending to the Mediterranean over Ottoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire that entered into a period of exhaustion and voluntarily left the domination of the seas behind. At the end of the battle, the Ottomans navy faced with a considerable loss and the growth of the Russian power in Black Sea initiated (Baycar,2004; Kurat,1999; Armaoğlu,2003). The shipyards deserve special attention within the big scale operations of the central administration of Ottoman Empire. The shipyards in the Ottomans were permanent establishments, even though the number of the craftsmen employed and the ships under construction were unstable (İnalcık and Quataert,2004:592). In addition to the main purpose of the construction of the ships, the Ottomans shipyards were also the premises where the galleys were dry-docked upon completion of their excursion within the enclosed areas (Bostan,1992:8). 7

8 The galleys of the navy of Ottoman Empire were mainly constructed at the shipyards situated at Gelibolu (Gallipoli) and Istanbul. In addition to these shipyards, the construction of various types of the ships were done on various quays and locations situated along Black Sea, the Mediterranean and Marmara Sea (Gencer,2001:19). There were various small-scale shipyards with strategic importance in Sinop, Çayağzı, Kefen Island, Varna, Burgaz, Ahyolu and Ruscuk in Black Sea, in İzmit, Gemlik, Edincik and Karabiga in Marmara Sea and in Edremit, Ayasuluk, Milas, Bodrum, Antalya, Alanya and Rodos (Rhodes) Island in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas 1 (Halaçoğlu,2003:63). Uzunçarşılı (1988: ) classifies the most important and active shipyard situated regions in Ottoman Empire as Gelibolu, Suez Canal, Rusçuk and Birecik. Rowed and sailed ships were the basic ship types constructed in the shipyards until the beginning of 19 th Century. The ships to be constructed in the shipyards were planned by the central administration of Ottoman Empire, and the decrees were issued on the planned number of the ships (Ünver,1969:33; Bostan,1992:97). In the times when the Ottomans navy was to set for the excursion, the shipbuilding activities in the shipyards were intensified, whereas that was left to regular activities in the shipyards for the replacement of the ships. In fact, the rowed ships tended to decrease in population in the Ottomans navy since the beginning of 17 th Century. This was mainly due to the influential galleys of Venetian confronted with in the Mediterranean. The Ottomans navy was reinforced during the period between 1761 and 1803 by the efforts of Kaptan-ı Derya (commander in chief of the fleet) Hüseyin Pasha, and Ottomans influence was recovered once again in its region (Uzunçarşılı,1988:392). Until the mid of 19 th Century, the construction of galleys were continued in the Ottomans shipyards. In this century, Ottoman Empire had almost lost its domination role over the trade among the Mediterranean to European merchants, however, the Ottomans were still the frightening power to be taken into consideration (İnalcık ve Quataert,2004:615). 3. Routine Fleet Navigations in Ottoman Empire By the 16 th Century on, the security problem was raised rapidly in Ottoman Empire as a consequence of broadening of the boundaries of Ottoman Empire including Black Sea, Aegean Sea and finally the Mediterranean 2, and pursuing 1 See Appendix-1 for the shipyards in Ottoman Empire. 2 See Appendix-1 for the sea regions under the domination of the Ottomans at the beginning of 19 th Century. 8

9 domination in an extensive geography and intensified volume of the trade in the seaways during the period until mid of 19 th Century that need for a regularly working armada was increased. The transportation of Yemen s coffee to Europe, constituting about two thirds of overall exports of Egypt at that time, performed over Red Sea that was within the boundaries of Egypt until the beginning of 19 th Century. Besides, the exportation of wool, cotton, linen, hide and saffron were made to European countries from Egypt. Meanwhile, Egypt was importing the pigment and luxury consumer goods from European countries, mainly from France (Marsot,1984:3, İnalcık ve Quataert,2004:856). The commercial transportations between the United Kingdom and Iraq Syria region augmented towards the end of 18 th Century and the exported goods to United Kingdom were mainly date, wool, leather, tobacco, rice and cotton fabric. Furthermore, French merchants appeared to be influential in Syrian harbors toward to the beginning of 19 th Century. Since Sultan Beyazıt s reign in 1952, it was customary for the Ottomans navy to set to the navigation on Spring and return to the shipyards on Fall each year, the custom was continued until the mid of 19 th Century (Gencer,2001:43-118). This was mainly for the protection of the nation s boundaries and shores covering almost mile square (Karal,1988:1) against the intrusion of the foreign countries navies and the pirates and for providing the security of the trade that was intensified especially after 19 th Century. On the other hand, a modest navy was kept in Black Sea to protect the coastal lines which were threatened by Kazakh plunderers that infiltrated up to Bosphorus since 17 th Century. The large scale excursions of the navy to Black Sea were taken place upon the growth of Russia toward to the mid of 19 th Century. By the 18 th century it was then turned out to be customary to convey two separate navy for the excursions to Black Sea and the Mediterranean (D Ohsson,1788:426). The navigation preparations were started during the previous year before the routine navigation of The Ottomans navy. The procurement of the equipment might have been performed through all Winter and if the scope of the navigation was planned to be large, the preparations were started before the Fall. Toward to the planned day of navigation, Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) used to go to Bab-ı Ali 3 to have the permission from Sadrazam (the minister) for 3 Bab-ı Ali, meaning the big door in the Ottomans, is considered as the residence of the minister as well as of goverment administration (Özdemir,2001:48-54). 9

10 the excursion on behalf of Kaptan Pasha (the Captain of the navy) (Uzunçarşılı,1988:437). The minister notified the Sultan for the permission and the day of navigation was determined by Müneccimbaşı (the chief astrologer) on a holy day. Prior the ceremony, the chief astrologer established Zayçe, a schedule on the locations and situations of the starts within certain intervals. The time of the excursion of the navy was planned in accordance with such schedule (Karal,1988:70; Uzunçarşılı,1988). In some cases, the Sultan participated to the ceremonies, especially when the new galleys constructed were landed on the sea. When an navigation is planned, Vezir-i Azam, the second minister, and the Tersane-i Amire Emini submitted the reports established by the clerks on whether or not the equipment and logistics of the navy were supplied (Uzunçarşılı,1988:438). 4. The Accounting System of the Ottoman Navy at the Early of the 19 th Century 4.1. The Accounting Organization in the Ottoman Fleet and Shipyards It is a clear fact that judiciary system which exists in social structure has great influence on building accounting law. To protect interest groups - as called today - benefits, the need of a stable accounting system, in other words, an effective accounting jurisprudence is inevitable. Constituting the fundamentals of the Ottoman Law, Islam Law rules and especially Islam Law emphasis on jus civil and trust play crucial role while forming Ottoman accounting law (Otar, 1995, s.33). As a social sequence of this two concepts Eminlik, peculiar to Islamic societies, generated. In Islamic terminology, Emin means that anyone whom anything entrusted; a credible person and trustee, it is also defined in Ottoman as the person who is asked to carry out a duty but not undertakes the risks of the duty (Güvemli, 2002:189). After its first implementation in the name of Defter Emini (Book Trustee) in Orhan Gazi s (II. Sultan, ) era, the number of Eminlik kinds rose in the course of time (Güvemli, 2002: ). Beyond the doubt that, in addition to Islam Law, Turkishness the national tradition of the state is the second factor on forming phase of Ottoman Empire accounting implementations. It is seen in Ottoman Empire that Ruznamçe titled books were used and these books comprise the income-expenditure account of a 10

11 year term from the Nevruz 4 of the related year to following year s Nevruz. This attitude may be seemed as an example of the effect of the Ilhanli Empire s ( ) financial system to Ottoman Empire. Başmuhasebe Kalemi (The Chief Accounting Office) constituted of the most important and high level accounting organization. Being a department where all the income and expenditures of the state are kept, the Chief Accounting Office was the most important office of the Ottoman finance. The highest ranked officer was called the Chief Accountant. Besides the records of all the income, expenditure and cuts of the state gathering under this office, all the accounts of the functions like the mint, gunpowder factory including the shipyard were gathered here. The book where all these accounts were gathered was called Başmuhasebe Defteri (Chief Accounting Book) (Pur,1995:99). The people in the management of the Ottoman Navy were grouped into two as Fleet Dignitaries and Shipyard Dignitaries. Among the Fleet dignitaries were the Derya Beyleri (sea lords), captains and the other crew on board; among the Shipyard Dignitaries were the people serving in the ship yard (Uzunçarşılı,1988; Bostan,1992). Above the Fleet Dignitaries and Shipyard Dignitaries there was the Captain Pasha who is the highest ranked military and civil manager of the Ottoman Fleet and the Shipyard Authority. The Captain Pashas were occupied with the whole shipyard and fleet work and owned the command post of each navigation made (Gencer,2001:17). It is seen that the Captain Pasha rank also has the viziership (the second prime minister) rank at the end of the 17 th century (Özbaran,1978:572). The captain pasha was responsible only to the sadrazam (head vizier prime miister) and/or to the sultan in managerial and military works and provided he is also in the position of vizier, he would have attended to the Divan-ı Humayun meetings 5, too (Bostan, 1992:31). On the other hand, the Divan-ı Humayun meetings lost their importance at the second half of the 18 th century and the Kubbe Altı (under the dome) meetings attached to the Board of Ministers left its place to the Representatives meetings due to the change in the Ottoman bureaucracy. The captain pashas joined the team of the representatives in Bab-ı Ali (Halaçoğlu,2003:35). Before the 17 th century, the rank of Captain Pasha was given to the Gelibolu Flag Officer owing a shipyard. After the 17 th century it is started to be given to the viziers. The second most important fleet person was the Tersane Kethüdası (Shipyard Chamberlain) in the position of an admiral nowadays 4 Nevruz (Norouz), is the traditional new year holiday in Turkiye and various countries of central Asia. Norouz marks first day of spring and it is celebrated by March 21st. 5 The high court where the important state affairs are discussed and decided on. It is similar to the cabinet today (Özdemir,2001:47). 11

12 (Uzunçarşılı,1988:427). The representative of the Captain Pasha in the Shipyard was the Tersane Ağası (Shipyard Agha) and had the duty of using the authority in the name of the captain pasha. Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) provided the income and expenditure of shipyards and ships, and took care of shipbuilding, repairs and purchases. At the same time, prepared all the ammunition and munitions, examined the goods in the underground repositories and controlled the inventory books (Uzunçarşılı,1988:425). Tersane-i Amire Emini (The Shipyard Authority Trusts) may have been selected among the Hassa Reisleri (function chiefs), Kapıcılar Katibi (the doorman officer), Şehremini (city governor) and Masraf Katibi (expenditure officer) (Bostan,1991:37), in some cases it is seen that he was chosen by the finance chief treasurer (Pakalın,1978:48-55). The shipyard accounting books where the incomes and expenditures of the activities are recorded separately show the tasks and authority of the Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust). It is possible to find the tasks among the duties of the Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) like what is provided in which amount from where, purchasing and transfer of the necessary material and ammunition for building and rigging ships, the fees to be paid to the people who work in producing materials from raw materials, the fees and amount of the masters working in shipbuilding and repair, the amount of the rowers put on board ships, from where they come and how they will be distributed to the ships, in detail in these books which are kept under the control of the trusts (Bostan,1991:33; Shinder,1971:94). Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) did not participate in the Divanı Humayun (cabinet) meetings at the highest level of the state but sometimes he was required to take part in some meetings in order to present his opinions. Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) took place in the cabinet meetings as an officer at the Paşa Kapısı (door of the pasha). Like the Captain Pasha, the shipyard trusts were also not the genuine members of the cabinet and had a duty of being a session clerk (Halaçoğlu,2003:20). In the year 1805 the Tersane-i Amire Emini (The Shipyard Authority Trust) is connected to a new institution named Navy Treasure with reform needs (D Ohsson,1788:316). In the shipyard and navy accounting, the officers working in the name of the Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) can be classified and examined as Tersane-i Amire Katibi (The Shipyard Authority Clerk), Tersane-i Amire Ruznamçecisi (Shipyard Authority Ruznamçecisi), Tersane-i Amire İcare Amiri (Shipyard Authority Assessor Chief), Mahzen-i Çub Emini (Timber Depository Trust), Mahzen-i Sürb Emini (Leaden Depository Trust), Tersane-i Amire Zindan 12

13 Katibi (Shipyard Authority Dungeon Clerk), Tersane-i Amire Veznedarları (Shipyard Authority Cahiers), Port Chiefs and Gemi Hocaları (Galleon Teachers). The Tersane-i Amire Katibi (Shipyard Authority Clerk - Canib Efendi), was a clerk connected to the Chief Accountant, appointed by the Ottoman central finance organization and at the post of the Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) (Uzunçarşılı,1988:412). The books which the Tersane-i Amire Katibi (Shipyard Authority Clerk) keeps were the basis for the accountability of the Shipyard Authority Trust to the higher authorities (Bostan, 1991:38). The Shipyard Authority Clerk is a shipyard worker similar to the Chief Accountant post in the Ottoman Finance. The Tersane-i Amire Ruznamçecisi (The Shipyard Authority Ruznamçeci) recorded the daily income and expenditure of the Shipyard Authority Trust and keeps another book where the records are based upon the books Shipyard Authority Clerk keeps (Uzunçarşılı,1988:429; Bostan,1991:39). The Shipyard Authority Ruznamçecisi worked in connection to the shipyard clerk. Tersane-i Amire İcare Amiri (The Shipyard Authority Assessor Chief), realized the fees of the workers and kept the books related to the payments (Uzunçarşılı,1988:430; Özcan,1994). The person responsible for the timber in the Shipyards was called Mahzen-i Çub Emini (Timber Depository Trust) and the person who keeps the writing, accounting and counting works was called Mahzen-i Çub Katibi (The Timber Depository Clerk) (Uzunçarşılı,1988:430; Devellioğlu,1962). The Mahzen-i Çub Katibi working connected to the The Shipyard Authority Clerk, with the records he keeps on timber which is the main input element establishes the base for the cost accounts of the shipyard clerk and carried out an important function in budgeting. The places where the material and ammunition other than timber were stored, were called Mahzen-i Sürb 6 (Uzunçarşılı,1988:430). There was a little depository for each ship. When the ships were about to set sail they took the necessary ammunition from there and they handed in the remaining ones on coming back, counting again. Mahzen-i Sürb Emini (Leaden Depository Trust) and Mahsen-i Sürb Katibi (Leaden Depository Clerks) were responsible of the recording and protection of this material. The Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) learned if there is need for ship material and ammunition by asking the trust of this depository. On each Shipyard Authority Trust change, the material in the depository was weighed and counted again before taking possession of. The material and equipment lists of Leaden Depository were recorded and protected in the Chief Accounting Books of Ottoman central finance (Bostan,1991:41). The Shipyard Authority Dungeon Clerk 6 Mahzen-i Sürb means Leaden Depository in Otoman-Turkish Language. The fix assets except timber were stocked in these depositories that lead expression would be an ascription of the word s tengibles response in Turkish (Devellioğlu, 1962). 13

14 identified the amount of slaves and prisoners and taking the ones sent there and recorded the people in and out. They were responsible for recording the foods and clothing given to the slaves and prisons. (Özcan,1994; Bostan,1991:42). The Shipyard Cashiers were responsible for cash and cash-like elements. Their main duty was to make payments and receive revenues. The Port Chief (D Ohsson,1788:434) named as Port Captain at the same time was responsible for keeping the fixed assets of he ships and the shipyard. The Gemi Hocaları (ship teachers) were given the task of recording the assets on board ships. Besides, in each shipyard there was a shipyard bookkeeping office where the writing works were carried out. The Shipyard Clerk, Ruznamçeci, Assessor Chief and Cashier usually worked in this office. The other employees related with accounting carried out their jobs in the depot and/or activity unit which they were responsible of. At the beginning of the 19 th century all the ship personnel and crew was organized in three classes. The first class consisted of officers and they were permanent on the ships. This class in itself was separated into groups like first captains, second captains, third captains, gemi hocaları (galleon teachers), sergeants, gunnery masters, pilots, surgeons, depository personnel according to the activities. Among these officer types, the ship teachers were the people who were responsible for the accounting of the ship they are on. The Gemi Hocaları (galleon teachers) usually had to keep records of the material handed to the ship and at the end of the navigation had to give an account of what was spent and what was left to the shipyard clerks. The sailors constituting the second class were responsible of the maintenance, repair and operation of the technical equipment. The third class on board was Levends (sea soldier) which was the traditional naval military personnel (Gencer,2001:28). According to the explanation made above, the accounting organization of Ottoman Empire Navy and the shipyard is seen in the figure below. 14

15 Figure-1: The Accounting Organization of the Ottoman Empire Navy and the Shipyards Sultan Sadraz am Central Finance Organization Defterdar Captain Pasha Chief Accountant The Shipyard Authority Trust The Shipyard Authority Cler k Assessor Chief Dungeon Clerk Port Chief Ruznamçeci Leaden Depository Trust andclerk Timber Depository Trus t and Cler k Galleon Teachers Galleon As seen from Figure-1, the Sultan who is accepted as the leader of the Ottoman society and Islamic world is at the very top level of the organization. The responsibility for the shipyards and naval activities the responsibility belongs directly to the Captain Pasha. The shipyard trust under the control of the captain pasha on the first level has the responsibility of the shipyard and the naval fleet around the shipyard. The shipyard clerk, who was appointed by the Ottoman Chief Accountant, gathers all the clerks separated into departments, under his own structure The Accounting Books and Documents Used in the Ottoman Navy No uniform order or discipline may be seen in Ottoman Navy s Galleons until the regulations of Sultan Mahmud II s by the year of Disorderliness 15

16 was dominant on ships. Parallel to this there was no kitchen organization until 19 th century. The main reason of untidiness was that each person may have eaten whenever and whatever he wanted. Because of this, it was impossible for a captain to determine how long he could stay at the sea more (Karal,1988:64; Gencer,2001:28). In this chaotic environment, accounting structure and technique was also not grew up. The accounting of the activities on board is recorded by the accounting personnel in the shipyards. The shipyard accountant kept a book for the ammunition and munitions given to the ship for expeditions 7. The accounting responsibility of the ships did not go far away than giving an account of the military munitions and material by the Gemi Hocaları (ship teachers). Yet from the beginning of the 18 th century, important approaches to the accounting system started to develop in Europe but the Ottoman navy didn t show enough interest on it. Andriessenss who lived in a period when the sea trade developed and overseas trade became important, in his book (1724) of applying the Italian style double entry bookkeeping system to the institutions dealing with maritime trade, it is seen that care is given to keep the costs of each sea expedition separate and for this income book for each ship is used. Each expedition is seen as an institution. For this reason, he stated that for each navigation a cost book, land book, material book, journal and ledger should be kept (Güvemli,2000:369). Each year before the Ottoman navy went out for the routine navigation, the amount of soldiers needed for personnel supply, a list of the needs of the navy and relevant information were presented to the Bab-ı Ali by a book written by the Tersane-i Amire Katibi (Shipyard Authority Clerk). The money to be spent for the navigation was counted by the Tersane-i Amire Ruznamçecisi (Shipyard Authority Ruznamçecisi). The material which the navy needed was bought in bulk according to the provision of the Ruznamçeci. The amounts and the quantities of all the material bought for the shipyard were recorded in the chief accountant book with the help of the books which was sent by the Shipyard Authority Clerk. After the approval of the finance all needed materials and ammunition bought by the Tersane-i Amire Emini (Shipyard Authority Trust) and they were recorded into bought goods book 8. In the books the entry date to the depositories, amounts and quantities of goods, money paid for units were recorded separately and afterwards the sums were calculated and the shipyard authority trust approved them. 7 See Appendix-2: Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), Cevdet Bahriye, No: Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), Cevdet Bahriye, No:

17 The costs of transferring the goods and ammunition, bought for Ottoman shipyards by to the depositories were also recorded by the Shipyard Authority Trust in a special book 9. In the cost books primarily the type of the material, the names of the piers that the material was taken and the pier authorities, the amounts and costs of the goods that bought from each pier was recorded with dates in detail. In the account copy that was sent to the Chief Accountant the costs of transferring the materials were expressed. Furthermore, in the book, kept by the shipyard clerk, the sacks used for carrying wheat, rice, oil and similar foodstuff, the unit prices of the shovels and dustpan used for distributing into sacks, the total amount and total costs were recorded in detail. Moreover, all the costs made in the shipyards were recorded in shipyard cost books 10. The maintenance and repairs carried out in shipyards, building costs, daily expenditures, paid wages were kept in detail. The shipyard cost books were recorded daily and stacked periodically. The recording dates were neatly used in the books which have no page number. When the shipyard trust changed the materials and ammunitions in the cellars of the shipyard were taken over by the custodian who counts them, the books that are kept by the cellar clerk were recorded to the Chief Accountant office after the change 11. The Shipyard Authority Trust and clerks were responsible for protecting the material in the cellar in the first place (Bostan,1992:10). Besides the expenditures made in the Ottoman shipyards and the food, material and ammunition bought to the shipyard, the goods given to the navy ships were also recorded regularly. After the Sultan gives permission for the navigation, sequentially the ammunition of each ship in the Ottoman Empire is handed to the captains by the shipyard trust and port chief and the ammunition clerk records them to the port book in detail 12. Meanwhile, a copy of the port book is sent over to the Captain Pasha and the other copy would be sent to the Chief Accountant of the country after it was organized to suit the Ottoman finance documentation according to the rules of 11 July 1792 dated regulation. In each galley that sets sail 9 See Appendix-4: Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), Cevdet Bahriye, No:10760 (B), Accounting book about a fleet to be set out in spring. 10 Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), MAD, No:16390, Shipyard Cost Book. and Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), MAD, No: 16651, Shipyard Cost Book. 11 Bostan (1992) has showed that the shipyard trust Yusuf Efendi (8 December 1870) handed over the material by counting, to the new trust Hüseyin Efendi based on the BOA.MAD.4875 numbered archive document. Also see: MAD,4880, MAD,4690, MAD See Appendix-2: Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), Cevdet Bahriye, No:12268, Supply record given from shipyard authority. 17

18 was a ship teacher who was responsible for accounting affairs and he was on Navy officer status. The primary tasks of the ship teachers (clerk) were keeping records of the material and ammunition handed over to the ships and providing protection of them. The galley clerks were liable for giving an account to the Shipyard Authority Trust and clerk after the end of the navigation. In the Figure-2 below, the flow of the accounting documents and books between departments is seen. Figure-2: The Flow of the Accounting Documents and Books Between Departments in the Ottoman Empire Captain Pasha Shipyard Accounting Books Confirmation Confirmation Shipyard Accounting Books Sultan Central Finance Organization İnfor mati on Defterdar Sadraz am Chief Accountant The Shipyard Authority Trust Confirm Chief Accounting Book Shipyard Accounting Books Confirmation Assessor Chief Payroll Records The Shipyard Authority Clerk Dungeon Accounti ng Book Dungeon Clerk Port Chief Port Fi xture Book Ammunition Book Leaden Depositor y Trust and Cler k Galleon InventoryBook Timber Inventor y Book Journal Ruznamçeci Timber Depository Trust and Cler k Galleon Teac hers Galleon As it may be seen from Figure-2 the key accounting level of the Ottoman navy and shipyard is the Tersane-i Amire Katibi (Shipyard Authority Clerk - Canib Efendi). In the shipyard the books coming from different people who are responsible for keeping the account books in various task units are gathered in the shipyard clerk and the 18

19 account book of the navy and/or expenditure appears at this level. Both the account book of the navy and the shipyard is recorded in the chief account of the Ottoman Finance and a copy is presented to the Sultan in order to fulfill the responsibilities according to the Ottoman hierarchy. In the accounting documents, books and records of the Ottoman navy and shipyards, like in many other related Ottoman financial institutions Siyakat 13 writing is used to provide secrecy 14. Although some say that Siyakat was developed in Persia, it was developed in Iraq during the Abbasid region. It entered Anatolia at the time of the Seljuk Empire and was related to the Ottomans in different ways (Günday,1989:1). Siyakat is an orthographic language type which had specific rules and technique and the only way to learn it was to gain experience to be commissioned in the Finance organization of the Ottoman Empire by means of usage of master-apprentice relations. (Yayla,2005:16). Since, the traditional style of writing used in treasury accounts and documents which was based on a ciphering code table pertaining to a person who had constituted the letters and for the reason of the figures had not a definite model pattern, calligraphy and punctuation marks it was very difficult to comprehend it (Günday,1989). Barkan (1969), who had made researches on Ottoman account books, says There are as many of the traditional style of writing used in treasury accounts and documents as the number of clerks in order to express the authenticity of this cryptic writing system. The main reasons behind the use of Siyakat in the Ottoman finance can be counted as: to shorten the written language (orthography), provide savings in writing tasks, provide secrecy in financial affairs and the desire to create a language which can cipher the accounting technique (Öztürk,1996). Besides, the Siyakat writing was not limited to its use in the finance area; it was used in the correspondences of the high level Ottoman state (Meriçli ve Barkan,1988;Barkan,1969). 5. Navigation Accounting in Ottoman Fleet: 1803 Mediterranean Navigation As performed every spring, the fleet of Ottoman Empire routinely arranged navigation in 1803 to Mediterranean Sea. This navigation of Ottoman fleet was done in a wide-route in parallel to the international progresses in the Mediterranean. According to the records kept by The Tersane-i Amire Ruznamçecisi (The Shipyard Authority Ruznamçecisi), 10 galleons and 3020 soldiers participated to the fleet 15. If the French growing domination in the west of 13 Siyakat is an Ottoman originated word. Traditional style of writing, used in treasury accounts and documents. 14 Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), MAD, No: 16390, Shipyard Cost Book. 15 See Appendix-3: Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA), Cevdet Bahriye, No:10760 (A), Accounting book about a fleet to be set out in spring. 19

20 the Mediterranean in the era is taken into consideration, the expedition of Ottoman fleet must have been performed to the east Mediterranean region. The accounting of Ottoman fleet which was set out to the Mediterranean from Gelibolu shipyard as a routine navigation was kept by accounting units in Gelibolu shipyard. The budget of the navigation was arranged by the sub-units of the accounting department of the shipyard, and calculations for needs and registering these calculations to the records are done in accordance with the Ottoman finance and shipyard hierarchy. Required foods for the Mediterranean navigation that fleet shall set out constituted of 10 galleons and 3020 soldiers were evaluated by Tersane-i Amire Ruznamçecisi and registered to his own records. The records belonging to Tersane-i Amire Ruznamçecisi were registered to the chief accountant book by Tersane-i Amire Katibi (Shipyard Authority Clerk), and submitted to the shipyard secure as a consequence of bureaucratic hierarchy. As seen in the archive document of Turkish Republic Prime Ministry Ottoman Archieve (BOA) Cevdet Bahriye (A), an accounting book was prepared directly for presenting to Sultan Selim III. by Captain Huseyin Pasa in order to take permission for setting out the navigation. It is understood by means of the accounting records provided to Ottoman Sultan by Captain Huseyin Pasa that the navigation preparations started in spring of previous year. On the right-top side of the book, may be named as introduction part, 9 th of March 1802 (5 Zilkade 1216) 16 dated accounting record and the needs of the armada which would set out in the spring of 1803 (1217) are written. Materials needed by fleet for the navigation were written one by one in terms of quality and quantity within and this record was presented to the Başmuhasebe Kalemi (The Chief Accounting Office) of Ottoman central finance. The needed materials were also expressed as footnote in the record that how much soldiers and galleons needed them. In the book which was great in size and prepared as only one page, just below the records in which the needs of fleet to be set out, purchases for these needs and an inventory called as Der Kenar (marginal note) held a place to be 16 Hicri Takvim (Islamic Calendar) was used in Ottoman Accounting Records until Tanzimat (1839).. Hicri Takvim, a kind of Lunar Calendar, starts with the Hijra (Prophet Muhammad s emigration from Mecca to Medina) in the year of

21 registered to Başmuhasebe Kalemi (The Chief Accounting Office). The accounting records within the Derkenar were kept by Tersane-i Amire Ruznamçecisi by Siyakat writing. It is noticed that the place names about these needs were kept in code different from the normal place names 17. In the purchasing records within derkenar (marginal note) with the siyakat writing, it was registered that ceki 18 woods, kiyye 19 raw olives, kantar 20 rusks were purchased and that they were invoiced. Besides, it was registered that keyl 21 rice, keyl lentil, kiyye olive, kiyye onion, kiyye salt passed to Yusuf Agah Efendi. The accounting book, formed of needs, purchases and insufficient things, prepared in two copies as to be sent to Sultan and to the Başmuhasebe Kalemi (The Chief Accounting Office) copies and it asks for the Sultan to order related authorities to satisfy the needs of the fleet with the Tersanei Amire Emini s (Shipyard Authority Trust) note which is added below the accounting book in 24 th of August 1802 (25 Rebiyülahir 1217). The general information about the navigation of fleet was given to inform Sultan in a comprehensible writing on the left side of accounting book. The planned date for expedition, the destinations of expedition and the materials needed in voyage were formed the context of this description. After the short brief of navigation, the accounting records written in der kenar in siyakat writing were described which were prepared to be registered to the Başmuhasebe Kalemi (The Chief Accounting Office). If it is considered that this official writing called as siyakat could be read only by considerable clerks of Ottoman finance, it could be understood that Selim III wanted the records to be maintained an opinion about them. But it is seen that the descriptions on the left side of the record were formed of more general expressions and the secrecy within the detail was not displayed much. After the descriptions of accounting records, it was finished with the sentences for the permission of meeting the needs by Sultan Selim III in 21 st of March 1803 (28 Zilkade 1217). This demand of Captain Pasha from Sultan shows that the fleet was ready except the needed munitions. 17 Istanbul was written as Asitane in accounting record of fleet voyage. It is found that it was not used just in fleet records but also some literary texts and correspondences of the state. 18 It is a measure unit used in Islamic countries. 1 ceki is accepted as 225,8 kg in Ottoman Empire. 19 Different weight units were used in Arabia, Egypt and Syria. Kıyye is 37,44 grams in Egypt today officially (Hinz, 1990:43). It is known that it was used as 1,282 kg in Ottoman Empire kantar was used as 56,443 kg. both in Seljuk Empire and Ottoman Empire (Hinz, 1990:33). 21 Keyl is a capacity measure and it is equal to 6, 56 litres (Hinz, 1990:49). 21

22 The texts and expressions written directly to the Sultan onto the left and right sides of the record show the governmental bureaucratic mechanism of Ottoman Empire. It is shown that the Captain Pasha waits the orders of Sultan for required processes with exalting expressions such as devletli saadetli sultana ( to the powerful and cheerful sultan ). This expression was both in accounting and description parts. But on the right side of the book in the accounting records, there was no signature of Captain Pasha and no declamation due to the fact that it was written to the Başmuhasebe Kalemi (The Chief Accounting Office) of the state. The reason for this was that the Captain pasa has a place upper than Chief Accountant in Ottoman bureaucracy (Özdemir, 2001). The only expression to the main accounting office was that the records would be reflected to the chief accountant book records. There was again an addressing to Sultan to express that required things were done for needs and purchasing records. 6. Concluding Comments Although the accounting technique was not developed in the ships of the fleet of Ottoman Empire, the accounting order of shipyards had the elements in respect of the accounting organizations defined by Tonne et al. (1963) and Summers (1991). The accountings employees in Ottoman shipyards and organizational structure, records and documents are used to get consequences to meet the universal needs which are essential. Ottoman central government defined accounting levels in shipyards as to their functions and formed record and document flow hierarchy in order to register every transaction. But no particular account chart was used; the accounts were specified as to the needs, the accumulations of the registrars and to the conditions of events. It is seen that the accounting records of routine navigation for Ottoman fleet were not just formed of the activities but they were also the budget of the voyage. The accounting records within the record started with the materials needed in the navigations and it continued with the material lists purchased by shipyard. This process constituted a periodical structure from the navigation decision up to the navigation date. Accounting records constituted the records of the activities done for performing the budget of the navigation. In this context, the budgeting and accounting activities decomposed for constituting departments in accordance with Summer s (1991:36) functional organization structure worked as one structure 22

23 within Ottoman fleet. The accounting records of fleet navigations also prepared as detailed reports and being explanatoriness to Sultan character of the records was based on. The accounting organization was configured depending on Islamic Law in Ottoman Empire which was an Islamic state and the concept of trust was taken as a principle of accounting (Otar, 1995:33). It was prevented to have any problem by necessarily writing the person names that participated in constituting stage of the accounting records of Gelibolu shipyard for fleet navigation. The records showed the incomes and expenses of shipyard and formed as having legal quality for the units keeping the accounting records. In this context, helping to the audit and being a piece of evidence in favour of the institution which were the duties of the accountancy were highlighted (Sürmen, 2002:14). Helping to the management which is deemed as a duty of accounting was performed for keeping the privacy and accounting records kept in shipyards were written in code in order to prevent people outside the institution understood. To prepare the statistics of activities and tracing and controlling consequences duties were considered less important. The mechanism of Ottoman bureaucracy conducted the applications in accounting orders of Ottoman shipyards and in accounting records kept for navigations. A standard accounting language is not mentioned in every level of bureaucracy. The expressions used in the accounting records of shipyards of Ottoman Empire changed according to the offices. It changed as to the bureaucratic level applying accounting technique and some records kept in some levels were just peculiar to that office. The usage of siyakat in some departments and correspondence language between accounting departments could be given as an argument supporting this idea. 23