The Cehri (Buckthorn Dye) Trade in Çorum: the 'Golden Tree'

The Çorum plain is largely treeless, but the hills north of the “Sıklık Boğazı” gorge, along the bed of the Çomar stream that runs through the city’s north, were covered in the 19th century — though they look like pastureland today — with cehri, a shrub of the buckthorn family. According to the chapter written by Sevgi Aktüre in Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), this plant, also known as “Alacehri” or “Altınağacı” (Golden Tree), yielded a natural dye from its grape-like fruit (Çorum Tarihi, p. 159).

A Dye Sought After in Europe

Cehri was used as an undercoat beneath green dyes and could be mixed with other dyes to produce new shades, making it one of the essential raw materials of natural dyeing. Before the era of synthetic dyes, it became highly sought in European markets under the name “Turkish cehri.” At the time, cehri was also cultivated in Iran as well as Spain, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Syria, alongside Anatolia; but Anatolian production came to dominate European markets only after the 1830s. After 1868, the Yeşilırmak valley became one of the most intensive cehri-growing regions in Anatolia; Çorum, along with Tokat, Zile and Amasya, drew significant income from this trade (Çorum Tarihi, p. 159-160).

Harvesting and the Name “Golden Tree”

Although cehri had some 100 varieties, fruit from grafted trees was preferred over that of wild ones. The fruit was picked in late summer while still greenish-yellow or yellow; if picking was delayed, the fruit turned brown and became useless. So when the plant began to ripen, property owners in Çorum would move with their families to huts on the hills where cehri grew, spending their days picking and their evenings roasting lamb and playing games in front of the huts. Pickers fastened the ends of their aprons together with a wooden clip called a “kevik,” taking great care not to waste a single fruit. After months in the huts, that year’s harvest was bagged and carried back to the city.

Earnings were substantial: the book notes that even the smallest property owner could earn 30-40 gold lira a year from cehri, at a time when 4-5 gold lira covered a year’s household expenses. Before 1914, one batman (7.698 kilograms) of cehri earned one gold lira, which is why the plant came to be called “Altınağacı” (Golden Tree) (Çorum Tarihi, p. 160).

Its Spread in the City and Decline

The cehri trade was evidently widespread in the city by the late 19th century: according to the 1902 Ankara Province Yearbook (Salname), while some 18,000 people lived in Çorum’s 4,268 households, the city had 5,862 vineyards and cehri groves — implying, in theory, that nearly every household had its own cehri grove. Besides being an export commodity, cehri was also used as a dye in local weaving; mixed with water and other additives, it produced a wide range of colours — yellow, beige, green, orange and brown — and, with a small amount of Turkish red oil (sulphated castor oil) added to the mix, was also used to dye cotton fibre (Çorum Tarihi, p. 160).

The book notes that some authors believe the easy income from the cehri trade bred idleness among the population, hindering Çorum’s long-term economic development. With the major growth of the synthetic dye industry in the early 20th century, cehri lost all of its former importance, and the city’s population lost a significant source of income (Çorum Tarihi, p. 160).

For more on Çorum’s other 19th-century production and trade activities, see Tanning and Leatherworking in Çorum and Weaving, Coppersmithing and Blacksmithing in 19th-Century Çorum.

Sources

• Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), 5th Hittite Festival Committee; ed. Çorum Municipality City Archive, 3rd ed., Çorum Municipality Cultural Publications, Çorum 2020 (Chapter 3: “Çorum in the 19th and Early 20th Century,” by Sevgi Aktüre), p. 159-161. https://www.corum.bel.tr/public/uploads/2026/01/corumtarihi.pdf

Frequently asked questions

Why is cehri called the 'Golden Tree'?

According to Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), before 1914 a batman (about 7.698 kilograms) of cehri fruit earned one gold lira, which is why the plant was known in that era as 'Altınağacı' (Golden Tree) or 'Alacehri.'