The Dragoman of the Fleet (Ottoman Turkish: ترسانه ترجمانی, romanized: tersâne tercümânı, lit.
As the chief deputy of the Kapudan Pasha, the Dragoman of the Fleet played a leading role in the administration of the various autonomous communities of the islands and coasts of the Aegean Sea that fell within the Eyalet of the Archipelago.
He was the official intermediary between the Kapudan Pasha, the commander-in-chief of the Ottoman navy who was also governor of the Eyalet of the Archipelago, and the mostly Greek and Christian islanders and inhabitants of the shores of the Aegean Sea during the annual expeditions of the Ottoman fleet for the collection of the taxes, as well as the resolution of administrative problems.
This competition involved extensive bribery of Ottoman officials, which was then recuperated from the Christian population by a special levy known as 'contribution to the new dragoman' (βοήθεια της νέας δραγομανίας).
[3] The dragoman also had a staff, which was also paid from impositions on the islands: a deputy (Turkish vekil, Greek βεκίλης), a correspondence secretary, and a messenger.