A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO HEMP CULTIVATION, PROCESSING, TRADE, AND PUBLICATION IN THE OTTOMAN ERA

Abstract

Cannabis has a wide range of uses, from food to fiber and textiles, and from medicinal utilization to narcotics, and is one of the most controversial plants. The studies targeting the center of origin, history of domestication, and routes of cultivation have suggested Central Asia as one of the likely centers of origin. Historical evidence indicates that cultivation practices of Cannabis date back to the early Anatolian civilizations.  The Ottoman Empire developed a well-documented legislative system along with a sophisticated taxation system as well as detailed records of cultivation and trade of industrial crops. The aim of the current review is to provide a brief introduction to the historical use of hemp in the Ottoman era, along with the cultivation, process, trade, tariffs, and legal restrictions with the hope that it would provide a base for further meticulous studies to unveil all the aspects of this important crop in the Ottoman era. An article published in the journal Felahat, a broad agricultural journal targeting all the aspects of agricultural production, that explains hemp cultivation and trade in the late Ottoman era is analyzed as an example of hemp publication of the era. The exemplary article provides invaluable information regarding the hemp value chain in the late Ottoman era. Similar retrospective studies could also be implemented for the medical and narcotic utilization of cannabis.