This study reveals the contribution of environmental and sanitarian factors to the shaping of the cities, particularly the Ottoman capital Istanbul. This paper, focusing on the second half of the 19^th century, discusses the man-made environmental destruction, the water shortage that emerged as a result of uncontrolled urbanization and the Ottoman state’s evacuation process of the Belgrad, Kömürcü and Bahçecik villages due to the threat of disease. Thusly, this paper aims to shed light on the extent to which Ottoman urbanization was exposed to environmental influences.

With the advent of the Tanzimat reforms, the theme of centralization put its mark on the domestic policies of the Ottoman Empire in which the state apparatus of the Empire had reconsolidated its power within the provinces. Considering the struggle between centre and periphery, this article particularly aims to focus on Shebāna Regiments which were an important instrument of establishing central authority in Ottoman Iraq. On the basis that the Shebāna Regiments, as paramilitary forces, were founded on a basis of obedience to state apparatus, this article suggests that the Shebāna Regiments were the earliest version of the village guard system, rather than the Hamidiye Cavalries as claimed in earlier literature. In these terms, by emphasizing the structure, variable functions, and the socio-economic transition the Shebāna Regiments created in the region, this article aims to contribute in shedding light both on the centreperiphery relation in the early Ottoman period, and on the origins of the village guard system of the present.