A Fortress on the Border Ottoman-Russia: Khotyn in the 18th Century

Khotyn, now a town situated in the city of Chernovits, on western Ukraine, stood out with its role in the military struggle between the Ottoman State and Russia Empire throughout the 18th century. Khotyn Fortress, built on the right bank of Dniester River in the Middle Age, was seen by Russia as the key of conquering the Balkans. From the Ottoman military point of view, this border fortress meant an outpost for the defense of eastern European territories. With administrative arrangements after 1713, it started to be directly governed by the Ottoman State as a sancak and it experienced Russian invasion three times in that century. The years between 1713 and 1806, Ottomans tried to establish Turkish-Islamic institutions but that project was not completed due to the destruction of the wars. In this article, the situation of the Khotyn Fortress is examined in the frame of Ottoman-Russian military struggles in the 18th century. The data get from the Khotyn Surveys of Ottoman catalogued in The Prime Ministry Ottoman Archive in Istanbul and the very valuable information from Atlas, written by Bartinli Ibrahim Hamdi, who had official duties in Khotyn and regarded as one of the most important geographers of 18th century, have been useful for this study. In brief, the political and socio-economic status of Khotyn in 18th century has been examined in this article.