[BOTANY / FIRST OPIUM CULTIVATION REPORT] [.] Afyon tohumu zer'ine dair malûmât. [i.e. It is the report of Amasyan Efendi, the director of agriculture and public works in Hüdâvendigâr [i.e. Bursa] Province, on opium seed cultivation]

AGOP AMASYAN EFENDI, (1825-1895), La Turquie Matbaasi / Matbaa-yi Âmîre, Istanbul, [AH 1287] = 1870.

COMPLETE TITLE: [BOTANY / FIRST OPIUM CULTIVATION REPORT] Hüdâvendigâr Vilâyeti Celîlesi Ziraat ve Nafia müdürü rif'atlû Amasyan Efendi'nin afyon tohumu zir'aine dâir kaleme aldigi lâyîhadir; Afyon tohumu zer'ine dair malûmât. [i.e. It is the report of Amasyan Efendi, the director of agriculture and public works in Hüdâvendigâr [i.e. Bursa] Province, on opium seed cultivation]

Unbound booklet. Demy 8vo. (21 x 14 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 8, 6 p. Chipped on the top of four leaves, apparently trimmed margins, wear on spine, otherwise an unbound but good copy.

First edition of this extremely rare first official report of the cultivation of opium seed and poppy in the Ottoman Empire, probably also in the Middle East (following the Opium Commission convened in Shanghai in 1909, the Iranian government initiated what became the first opium legislation of Iran in 1911 -Regavim pp. 156-).

With the increasing demand for opium in the world, the agriculture of this plant gained importance in the Ottoman Empire, and the state had experts prepared for the cultivation and harvesting of opium in order to increase production. This earliest report was written by Amasyan Efendi in 1870 upon the request of Sultan Abdülaziz.

The booklet starts with the necessary conditions for the systematic cultivation and dissemination of opium in the Ottoman lands, opium seeds, types of opium, and cultivation processes. After this useful information, the second chapter opens with the tughra of Sultan Abdülaziz and the Sultan's firman for opium production.

British merchants were the only buyers of opium, which was taken from the producer by the merchant and transported to the ports. Until 1810, only the British were importing opium from the Ottoman Empire, and after this date, the Americans were also involved in the opium trade. American merchants were selling the opium they bought from the Ottoman Empire to India. The main factor in starting this trade was India's declining China's increasing opium production. The Americans, who cooperated with the British in this regard, aimed to limit the opium production of this country by selling Ottoman opium to China in order to prevent China from having a world monopoly in opium production. Iranian opium was also exported directly from its homeland, sometimes packaged to look like Turkish goods, and exported via Istanbul.

After China, America became the biggest supplier of Ottoman opium by importing opium worth 1,805,249 liras in total between 1895 and 1897. Apart from England and America, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Japan were among the important buyers of Ottoman opium. (Çitir).

From 1907, the Ottoman Empire and Persia became the two main global beneficiaries of Britain's decision to restrict India's cultivation and exports of opium, following the overwhelming electoral victory of the Liberal Party in 1906. Exporters of Anatolian opium in the 1910s and 1920s, especially the Armenian firms that were prominent in the business, both before and after the First World War. (Clarence-Smith).

Agop Amasyan Efendi (1825-1895) was born in Amasya City in the Ottoman Empire. He graduated from the Grignon Agricultural School of France. After returning to his country, Amasyan Efendi, who managed his father's farm for a while, cultivated a potato variety called Parmentier. He is the first person who grew American corn and cotton in the Ottoman country. At the suggestion of Grand Vizier Ali Pasha, he started to work in state institutions in 1865. He became the minister of agriculture when the Ministry of Agriculture was established in 1878.

We can't trace any copy in OCLC. Özege 141.; TBTK 4383.