The Derbend System and Tribal Control: Policies of Subordination

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The mechanisms of control applied by the Ottoman Empire over nomadic and semi-nomadic tribal communities formed a comprehensive system of domination concealed behind layers of archival language. One of the most concrete expressions of this system was the practice of making one tribe subordinate (tabi) to another or to an administrative structure — a multi-layered governance tool operating alongside exile, forced settlement, and restriction of movement.

Archival Language and Conceptual Concealment

Ottoman archives employ a systematic language of concealment when describing nomadic communities:

Exile is replaced by settlement or nomad
Forced relocation is framed as regulation of summer pasture–winter pasture cycles
Kurd is replaced by the term Ekrad

These terminological choices can be read as a deliberate archival strategy designed to render administrative violence invisible. Language simultaneously legitimises and normalises coercive practices.

The Subordination System: 1696 Land Registry Records

The 1696 Land Registry Records document how the Rişvan tribe was subordinated to different structures depending on its geographic location:

Region	Subordinated to
Adıyaman	Beydili
Antep	Karakeçeli
Yozgat–Tokat corridor	Çapanoğulları

This arrangement does not reflect voluntary allegiance. It reflects the Ottoman state's deliberate strategy to fragment large confederacies such as the Reşî Confederation, attaching each fragment to a locally dominant structure to ensure its isolation and subjugation.

The Derbend System: Spatial Control

The Derbend system was an Ottoman organisation designed to secure roads and control strategic mountain passes. However, its function extended well beyond security: it operated as a mechanism for the geographic control of human movement.

The most concrete example in Central Anatolia is Kesikköprü (the Severed Bridge), located between Haymana and Kırşehir, dividing the northern axis of Lake Tuz:

West–south corridor: Haymana, Kulu, Cihanbeyli, Yunak
East–north corridor: Kırşehir, Koçhisar, Ekecik, Sivas

In the oral memory of the region, the bridge is described as a barrier preventing tribes from crossing to the other side. In Kurdish, this boundary is called "Geçiya Walî" — the governor's crossing, or the far side — a phrase that encapsulates both the physical and symbolic function of the structure.

The Avşar Tribes and Dadaloğlu

Subordination policies were not exclusive to Kurdish tribes. The Avşar tribes along the Kayseri–Adana–Sivas axis were subjected to similar processes. Through imperial decrees, the state attached these tribes to local administrators in order to force sedentarisation and restrict mobility.

The most powerful resistance to these policies was voiced by the folk poet Dadaloğlu:

The decree belongs to the sultan; the mountains belong to us.

This line is widely regarded as a symbol of collective defiance against displacement, exile and the restriction of tribal movement.

The Rakka Exiles and the Reşî Confederation

In the early 1700s, the branches of the Reşî tribal confederation were systematically exiled. Some were dispatched to Rakka, others to Central Anatolia. This policy had three core objectives:

To fragment the confederation
To permanently restrict its geographic range
To render the tribe dependent on external structures, thus ensuring long-term control

Conceptual Framework: Subordination

The concept of subordination (tabiyet) does not denote a merely legal or administrative status. It describes a practice of systematically dismantling a people's power, mobility and resistance. In this framework, subordination encompasses:

the elimination of autonomy,
the division and control of space,
the fragmentation of collective identity.

It may thus be conceptualised as a structural form of domination.

Sources

Land Registry Records (Tapu Tahrir Defterleri), 1696
Ottoman archival documents (BOA)
Oral history fieldwork, Central Anatolia region
Source: Social media post, Green Anatolia research network, 2026