From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations

Recep Kürekli

doi:10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714

TR EN

Uluslararası Sağlık Sözleşmelerinden Yerel Karantina Uygulamasına: Geç Osmanlı Hac Trafiği Düzenlemelerinde Kamaran Adası

Abstract

Bu çalışma, geç Osmanlı döneminde Kamaran Adası’nın stratejik, siyasi ve sağlık açısından önemini değerlendirir; adanın hem uluslararası Hac seferlerinin düzenlenmesindeki rolünü hem de küresel sağlık yönetişimi içindeki yerine odaklanır. Kızıldeniz’in güney girişinde yer alan Kamaran, Hindistan ile Hicaz arasında seyahat eden hacıların başlıca karantina istasyonu olarak hizmet vermiş; aynı zamanda Osmanlı idari otoritesinin bir yansıması ve İngiliz emperyal gözetiminin bir aracı hâline gelmiştir. Büyük ölçüde İngiliz ve Osmanlı arşiv kaynaklarına dayanan araştırma, adanın nasıl hem tıbbi bir sınır hattına hem de jeopolitik rekabet alanına dönüştüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Kamaran’ı 19. yüzyıl sonu ve 20. yüzyıl başındaki uluslararası sağlık sözleşmeleri, normları ve konferansları bağlamında ele alan çalışma, bu çerçevede salgın hastalıklara karşı imparatorluklar arası iş birliğinin kurumsallaşmasını ve değişen küresel güç dengelerini yansıtmaktadır. Din, imparatorluk ve halk sağlığı kesişimini vurgulayan çalışma, sağlık tedbirleri ile altyapı yatırımlarının egemenlik ve denetim araçlarına nasıl dönüştüğünü göstermeye çalışmaktadır. Tarihsel uluslararası ilişkiler yaklaşımını benimseyen araştırma, Kamaran’ın karantina rejimini Doğu Akdeniz ve Kızıldeniz’in jeopolitik ve sağlık dinamikleri içinde konumlandırmakta; Osmanlı–İngiliz rekabetinin deniz sağlığı yönetimi ve Hac trafiği üzerindeki etkilerini ortaya koyarak alana özgün bir katkı sunmaktadır.

Keywords

Project Number

1059B192400116

Abstract

Project Number

1059B192400116

Abstract

Project Number

1059B192400116

Abstract

Project Number

1059B192400116

From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations

Abstract

This study evaluates Camaran Island’s strategic, political, and sanitary significance in the late Ottoman era, focusing on its role in the international regulation of Hajj voyages and within the broader architecture of global health governance. At the Red Sea’s southern gateway, Camaran operated as the principal quarantine station for pilgrims moving between India and the Hejaz, while also serving as both an expression of Ottoman administrative authority and a node of British imperial surveillance. Drawing on British and Ottoman archives, the study shows how Camaran became both a medical frontier and a geopolitical battleground. Placing the island within late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century international sanitary conventions and conferences, it underscores the institutionalization of inter-imperial cooperation against epidemics and the concurrent reconfiguration of global power within the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea. Highlighting the intersection of religion, empire, and public health, the article shows how sanitary measures and infrastructure became instruments of sovereignty and control. Adopting historical international relations approach, the study evaluates Camaran’s quarantine regime within the geopolitical and sanitary dynamics of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea, offering an original contribution to the field by demonstrating how Ottoman–British rivalry shaped maritime health governance and the regulation of Hajj traffic.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Project Number

1059B192400116

Ethical Statement

This research was funded by the TÜBİTAK 2219 International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and carried out during a visiting appointment at the University of Cambridge.

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Late Modern Mediterranean History, Late Modern History of Middle East

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Recep Kürekli ^*
0000-0002-8513-8433
Türkiye

Publication Date

March 31, 2026

Submission Date

October 14, 2025

Acceptance Date

January 6, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 11 Number: 1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA56DM57RZ

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Kürekli, R. (2026). From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations. Vakanüvis - Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, 11(1), 505-548. https://doi.org/10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714

AMA

1.Kürekli R. From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations. VAKANUVIS. 2026;11(1):505-548. doi:10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714

Chicago

Kürekli, Recep. 2026. “From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations”. Vakanüvis - Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 11 (1): 505-48. https://doi.org/10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714.

EndNote

Kürekli R (March 1, 2026) From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations. Vakanüvis - Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 11 1 505–548.

IEEE

[1]R. Kürekli, “From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations”, VAKANUVIS, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 505–548, Mar. 2026, doi: 10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714.

ISNAD

Kürekli, Recep. “From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations”. Vakanüvis - Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 11/1 (March 1, 2026): 505-548. https://doi.org/10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714.

JAMA

1.Kürekli R. From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations. VAKANUVIS. 2026;11:505–548.

MLA

Kürekli, Recep. “From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations”. Vakanüvis - Uluslararası Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi, vol. 11, no. 1, Mar. 2026, pp. 505-48, doi:10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714.

Vancouver

1.Recep Kürekli. From International Sanitary Conventions to Local Quarantine Practice: Camaran Island in the Late Ottoman Pilgrim Traffic Regulations. VAKANUVIS. 2026 Mar. 1;11(1):505-48. doi:10.24186/vakanuvis.1803714