SAMSUN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS ACCORDING TO W. J. HAMILTON IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

A great number of travellers had been to the lands of ottoman empire and had always wanted to know who the other is and aimed to build an identity, which varies according to the period. as a consequence of social, political, administrative and economic changes and some other factors, there has been a great increase in the number of these travel books. even though many travellers from different nationalities had come to the lands of the ottoman empire in this century, most of them are english. using the work of “researches in asia minor, pontos and armenia” by w.j hamilton who had been to anatolia in the second half of the 19th century, this study aims to evaluate social, economic, political and administrative condition of the region through his travel notes of his six-day trip he made to unye and alacam in 1838.