On the Metric System in the Ottoman Laws. Market Regulations and Control

In the 19th c., the Ottoman state ushered in the metric system. The study researches the Law of the new measurements, kilograms and weights for longitude, volume and weight which was admitted and published on the 14th of September, 1869 by a Regional Vizier’s order from the 26th of October, 1869 and a Regulation about the conversion of the new weights and measurements from the 4th of May 1870. The biggest part of the texts was taken from the French trade law. The original decisions were a few and they were interpreted according to the specific conditions and religious procedures in the Empire. The law-makers envisaged that transition from the old to the new measurements should happen slowly and at certain stages. The state council recommended an intermediate period for adaptation of traders and servants from the local administrations from the 1st of March, 1871 until 1st of March 1874. The Regulation for viewing and comparison of the new measurements is clarifying the rules and duties of the civil servants in connection to these measurements; it is also giving directions to the traders and the trade assistants how to convert to the new measurements, as well as fixing the methods for tasting and control over the local markets. There are also penalties, taxes and fees envisaged in this Regulation and tables for conversion. The real work with the metric system bore some complications for the traders, in the form of losses, frauds and speculations. The revival-period newspapers announced some news about the difficulties while working with the new conversion tables and the misinterpretation of Turkish and French definitions. All these problems led to the return of the old order during the rule of sultan Abdul Hamid II. The metric system was admitted in Turkey on the 1st of January, 1934. In Principality of Bulgaria the Law for measurements and weights was postponed and finally admitted in 1889.