Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Osmanli Bilimi Arastirmalari, cilt.24, sa.2, ss.311-349, 2023 (Scopus, TRDizin)
Although plague epidemics which killed millions of people throughout history, ceased to be a problem for Western Europe from the early eighteenth century on, outbreaks continued to occur in the Ottoman Empire. Located at the crossroads of major trade routes, Ottoman lands experienced plague outbreaks until the first half of the nineteenth century. If plague lost its former power after the 1830s and was partially controlled, it continued to be seen in different parts of the empire. One of the places where it emerged, surprising the medical authorities of its time, was Benghazi. The epidemic that emerged in 1858 was previously thought to be typhus; however, later investigations revealed that it was plague. One of the features that made this epidemic interesting was the activities of the physicians that the Ottoman Sanitary Administration sent to the region as part of the battle against the epidemic. The reports of these physicians about their investigations and the activities they carried out in the region make possible to conduct a detailed study of the 1858-1859 Benghazi plague epidemic. This study aims to reveal the story of this epidemic through physicians’ reports and archival documents.