context1: By 1800, the increased agricultural productivity had allowed Nguyen Anh to support a sizeable <strong>army</strong> of more than 30,000 soldiers and a <strong>navy</strong> of more than 1,200 vessels. The surplus from the state granary was sold to European and Asian traders to facilitate the importation of raw materials for military purposes, in particular iron, bronze, and sulfur. The government also purchased castor sugar from local farmers and traded it for weapons from European manufacturers.
context2: In the Ottoman period, once the emperors had established control of the Black Sea coasts the Ottoman <strong>navy</strong> was docked in the Bosphorus and the Bosphorus villages became safe and attractive again. One man in particular, the legendary sailor Barbarossa, built his palace and mosque in Beşiktaş, making it his home. By now Beşiktaş was an established Bosphorus crossing for caravans trading across Anatolia and along the Silk Road, and of course for the great Ottoman <strong>armies</strong>.