19th-Century Çorum: Population, Neighbourhoods and Migrant Settlements

The 19th century brought major changes to Çorum’s administrative standing, population and neighbourhood layout. The chapter written by Sevgi Aktüre in Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum) traces this change in detail, drawing on the administrative records of the period — Ankara Province yearbooks (Salname), Islamic court registers (şer’iyye sicili) and travellers’ accounts.

From Sancak Centre to Kaza Centre, and Back Again

In the 17th century, Çorum was the centre of a sancak (district) attached to the Eyalet of Rumiyye Suğra, whose provincial capital was Sivas, and it kept this status until the Ottoman Empire’s first census in 1831. That same year the sancak was detached from Sivas and attached to Ankara, remaining a kaza (sub-district) of Ankara sancak until 1836, when it again became a sancak. Another source states that it was instead detached from Sivas and attached to Ankara Province in 1841; in 1843 İsmet Pasha was appointed governor (mutasarrıf) of the Ankara-Çankırı-Çorum sancaks, in 1856 Rıdvan Pasha was appointed governor of the Çorum-Kayseri sancaks, and in 1858 Elhac Mustafa Asım Pasha was appointed governor of the Çorum-Amasya sancaks (Çorum Tarihi, p. 145-146).

Under the 1864 Provincial Administration Regulation, Çorum’s kazas were reassigned: İskilip was attached to Çankırı sancak and Osmancık to Amasya; Çorum itself was reduced to a kaza and, together with Sungurlu, attached to Yozgat sancak. A 1867 vakıf (endowment) document indicates that at that date Çorum was a kaza centre of Yozgat sancak, itself attached to Ankara Province, a status that still held in 1890. In 1891, with the kazas of Sungurlu (from Yozgat sancak), İskilip (from Kastamonu Province) and Osmancık (from Amasya sancak) merged under it, Çorum was again raised to a sancak centre; the administrative organisation was completed in 1895. At that date Çorum Sancak’s kazas and village counts were: Çorum (centre) 185 villages, Hüseyinabat 87, Sungurlu 104, İskilip 115, Osmancık 49 and Kargı 34 villages — 574 villages in total (Çorum Tarihi, p. 146-148).

Population Growth

The population of the central kaza, including its villages, was about 30,000 around 1895; this figure rose to 59,609 in 1907 and 84,936 in 1914. The book notes that it is not known how much of this growth resulted from changes to the kaza’s boundaries, but states that the development of agriculture and livestock farming was the most important factor behind the region’s population growth (Çorum Tarihi, p. 148).

The city’s own population (excluding its villages) also rose markedly over the same period: 7,600 in 1835-1837, 8,000-10,000 in 1850, 15,463 in 1876, 12,000-13,000 in 1890, 16,629 in 1893, 17,267 in 1900, 17,922 in 1902 and 18,858 in 1907 (Çorum Tarihi, p. 161-162).

Migrant Neighbourhoods

Migrants settling in the city were another external factor behind the late-19th-century population growth. Migration from the Caucasus, Crimea and the Balkans to Anatolia began in 1785 and continued until 1912, with its effects felt mostly in rural areas; but Çorum was also one of the cities where a group of migrants settled in the late 19th century and founded new neighbourhoods. The neighbourhoods of İcadiye, Hamidiye, Selimiye and Mahmudiye, founded in the city between 1882 and 1892, were settled by migrants; some of them are among the city’s outermost neighbourhoods, built on land that had previously been open and unused. Adding Hıdırlık, a former village later absorbed into the city, and Harmanlı, south of the citadel, a total of seven new neighbourhoods emerged in Çorum by the end of the 19th century (Çorum Tarihi, p. 162-163).

Fluctuations in the Number of Neighbourhoods

Over the roughly three centuries from the late 16th to the early 20th century, the number of neighbourhoods in the city changed as follows: 64 in 1595-1596; 42 (4,300 households) in 1648-1660; 47 in 1824-1836; 46 (3,604 households) in 1876; 48 (4,343 households) in 1900; 48 (4,268 households) in 1902; and 44 (3,673 households) in 1907. The most striking change is the drop from 64 to 42 neighbourhoods within the roughly 50-year span between the late 16th and mid-17th centuries (Çorum Tarihi, p. 163-164).

The book groups the reasons for this decline under three headings:

• Natural disasters: the earthquakes, floods and famines the city frequently suffered led to some neighbourhoods being abandoned (see Earthquakes and Natural Disasters in Çorum’s History for more).
• Banditry and administrative problems: in the second half of the 16th and the early 17th century, Çorum was heavily affected by the Celali rebellions and banditry. In 1560, the sancakbey (district governor) of Çorum complained to the Imperial Council (Divan) about the density of thieves and bandits in the sancak; in the brief three-year span between 1574 and 1577, three different sancakbeys — Mahmut Bey, Yusuf Bey and Hacı Ahmet Pasha — were appointed in succession. The 1595 execution in Çorum of the bandit leader Canfedaoğlu unsettled the population; tradesmen shut their shops and people prepared to flee. In 1601, while Karayazıcı was sancakbey of Çorum, banditry continued unabated; that same year the Celali leader Deli Hasan passed through Çorum and laid siege to Ankara. In 1604, Celali irregulars under Tavil Halil burned and sacked Çorum; the population took refuge in the mountains or fortified their villages with palisades. Heavy taxation also damaged the city’s economy — Karayazıcı is recorded as having collected several times over, from the population, the 30,000 gold lira bribe he had paid the Şeyhülislam (chief religious official) for his appointment as sancakbey. In 1609 the state ordered the construction of an outer settlement (varoş) at Çorum Castle; some authors write that Çorum came to be known in this period as a “Celali den.” The troubles continued into the late 18th century (per an official 1792 governor’s dispatch) and the early 19th century; in 1812, Abidin Pasha, appointed governor of İçel sancak, reportedly refused to go to Çorum because the city and its surroundings had become the private estate (malikâne) of the Cabbarzade family (Çorum Tarihi, p. 165-167).
• Changes to neighbourhood boundaries and names: over time, some neighbourhoods whose population had shrunk merged with others and lost their names, while new neighbourhoods emerged under new names. According to the book’s comparative table, many neighbourhood names — Eymir Halife, Etçi Ali, Emir Hacı, Hacı Halil, Hoca Hamza and others — appear only in records predating 1595 and later disappeared; by contrast, neighbourhoods such as Akpınar, Medrese (formerly Tabakhane), Hacı Yusuf, Kubbeli, Gülabi Bey, Şeyhler, Çöplü, Tepecik and Sofular kept their names into the early 20th century. The presence of 47 neighbourhoods in the early 19th century and 46 in the early 20th century is attributed to the order and continuity achieved in city administration during this period (Çorum Tarihi, p. 167-169).

For the city’s early settlement history in connection with the Oghuz tribes, see History of Çorum; for the city’s oldest production trade, leatherworking, and the Tabakhane (Tannery) Quarter, see Tanning and Leatherworking in Çorum.

Sources

• Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), 5th Hittite Festival Committee; ed. Çorum Municipality City Archive, 3rd ed., Çorum Municipality Cultural Publications, Çorum 2020 (Chapter 3: “Çorum in the 19th and Early 20th Century,” by Sevgi Aktüre), p. 145-149, 161-169. https://www.corum.bel.tr/public/uploads/2026/01/corumtarihi.pdf

Frequently asked questions

Which migrant neighbourhoods were founded in Çorum in the late 19th century?

According to Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), the İcadiye, Hamidiye, Selimiye and Mahmudiye neighbourhoods, founded between 1882 and 1892, were settled by migrants from the Caucasus, Crimea and the Balkans.