[MANUSCRIPT / OTTOMAN CAPPADOCIA EXPEDITION OF 1911 CHOLERA EPIDEMIC] Konya Sihhiye Müfettisligi'nin 16 Tesrinievvel 1327 tarihli mezkûr müfettislige takdim olunan rapordur ki 327 senesi Ürgüp'te zuhur eden koleraya dairdir...

KONYA PROVINCE MEDICAL INSPECTORATE, Konya Sihhiye Müfettisligi, Konya, [AH 1327] = 1911.

COMPLETE TITLE: Konya Sihhiye Müfettisligi'nin 16 Tesrinievvel 1327 tarihli mezkûr müfettislige takdim olunan rapordur ki [1]327 senesi Ürgüp'te zuhur eden koleraya dairdir.; Vilâyetin topografya-yi sihhiye ve harita-yi sihhiyesi. Koleranin yaninda döneminin kizamik, kizil gibi hastaliklara da dair bilgi içerir. Ikinci bölümde su baslik mevcuttur: Mecelle-i Memâlik-i Osmaniye'ye ait minvallere cevabât yazilarak Üsküp Kaymakamligi'na takdim olunan 'Müslüman Sihhiye' raporu.

Original registry book in its original grey art nouveau cloth. All edges marbled. 'The English manufactory of book and register' written on endpapers. The printed 'Zugologion' title is written in Greek on the front cover. Occasionally foxing. A fine copy. Demy 8vo. (22 x 15 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic script). 52 p. is written of which approx. 200 p., complete report, one folding hand-drawn color map, and three tables.

Extremely rare and unpublished Ottoman manuscript report of the cholera expedition by the Konya Province Medical Inspectorate soon after the epidemic occurred in Prokopi (Ürgüp) in 1911, which was presented to the Inspectorate of Konya Sihhiye on October 16, 1911. The report also includes a detailed account of diseases such as measles, 'frengi' (syphilis, pox), all kinds of 'humma' (pyrexia), and several others (almost more than 15 titles) and about how often diseases are encountered in the region. One folded hand-drawn and colored map titled 'Ürgüp Bölgesi saglik haritasi' [= Prokopi region sanity and epidemic map]. The map also documents the demographic structure of the region and three statistical tables containing demographic, historical, and religious info under the titles of "Muslim" and "Non-Muslim".

Dated 1329 [AH] at the end of the first 10-page report. The second part contains title: "Mecelle-i Memâlik-i Osmaniye'ye ait minvallere cevabât yazilarak Üsküp Kaymakamligi'na takdim olunan 'Müslüman Sihhiye' raporu" [= Muslim health report submitted to the Ürgüp (Prokopi) District Governor]. The next chapter is 'Usul-i sihhiye' [i.e. Sanitary method], which has all epidemics and their historical contexts, their cures, etc. A legible manuscript in black, blue, and red ink. 

The Ottoman land represented a bridge between Asia and Europe, which was destroyed by epidemic diseases that emerged in different periods. In the 19th century, the main source of the epidemic was the cholera morbus that emerged in India in the lower Bengal delta between the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. At the beginning of the 19th century, the disease became a global threat. The Cholera epidemic appeared for the first time in the Ottoman territory in 1822 and continued to emerge into intermediate outbreaks. Due to its geographical location, the cholera epidemic was easily spread to the Ottoman territory and caused great losses in the 19th century, when it became a global threat. At the beginning of the 20th century, still cholera was a serious problem.

"From 1910 to 1913 was one of the disastrous periods of the history of the Ottoman Empire. The Cholera epidemic was one of the causes of this calamity. The early cases of cholera were diagnosed on July 15 in Erzurum in 1910. The disease was imported from Russia and started to spread in the country. Cholera appeared in Istanbul on September 1st and spread rapidly. This danger necessitated the mobilization of all civilian and military resources. In spite of these efforts, Istanbul became an important focus of cholera for Turkey, because of intensive human traffic in the capital. Some cholera cases came from Iran to Iraq and from Italy to Libya and disease spread out to the vicinities during this year. This epidemic disappeared in January 1911. According to the official records, between July 15, 1910 and January 12, 1911 cholera killed 4023 people. In May 1911 cholera reappeared in Samsun and spread within the Ottoman Empire and 18876 people were infected with cholera and 12143 of them died. In 1912 and 1913, the foundations of the Ottoman Empire were shaken by the Balkan War, military defeats, lost territory, unlucky refugees and immigrants, and the dreadful calamity of a cholera epidemic. There is no reliable official record of the exact number of cholera patients and deaths. This great epidemic subsided during the Autumn of 1913. In the Ottoman Empire, preparation of Kolle's vaccine against cholera was started in 1912 and it was applied in 1913." (Unat).

"The cholera and plague pandemics of the 19th and early 20th centuries shaped Ottoman state-building and expansionist efforts in Iraq and the Gulf in significant ways. For Ottoman officials, these pandemics brought attention to the possible role of Qajar and British subjects in spreading cholera and plague, as well as the relationship between Iraq's ecology and recurring outbreaks. These developments paved the way for the expansion of Ottoman health institutions, such as quarantines, and the emergence of new conceptions of public health in the region. Specifically, quarantines proved instrumental not only to the delineation of the Ottoman–Qajar border but also to defining an emerging Ottoman role in shaping Gulf affairs. Moreover, the Ottomans’ use of quarantines and simultaneous efforts to develop sanitary policies informed by local ecological realities signal a localized and ad hoc approach to disease prevention that has been overlooked. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that environmental factors operating on global and regional scales were just as important as geopolitical factors in shaping Ottoman rule in Iraq and the Gulf during the late Ottoman period." (Bolanos, Cambridge online).

Prokopi is a settlement in Central Asia Minor, built on a plateau at an altitude of 1,200 m above sea level. It lies near the confluence of four tributary rivers of the Alys River (Kizilirmak), which flows to the north of Ürgüp, within about 10 km from the settlement. It has been claimed that the word Ürgüp is the Turkish version of the Greek name Prokopi. The latter is supposed to refer to St. Prokopios, although there is no evidence suggesting the existence of a namesake church. Levidis supported that the ancient name of the settlement was Osiana, which the traveler Texier (Charles) adopted as well. Ürgüp was inhabited by Muslims, Turkish-speaking Greek-Orthodox, and some Armenians. Several conflicting opinions have been stated about the population. Farasopoulos talks about 15,000 Muslims and 5,000 Christians. According to an inventory carried out by the state in 1919, Ürgüp was inhabited by 12,500 Muslims, 6,000 Christian-Orthodox, and 15-20 Armenian families.