This paper examines animal trade from provinces, mainly the Anatolian ones, to Istanbul from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. This was a period in which the Ottoman state moved away from provisionism to liberal economic policies. Animal trade and meat supply of Istanbul was influenced by this change with the abolition of ondal?k a?nam (a special tax levied for the purpose of ensuring a cheap supply of meat for the residents of Istanbul) and loosening of control over meat prices in 1857. However, there are very few studies that examine how Istanbul was supplied with meat after the mid-19th century. This paper seeks to address this gap in the literature by analyzing gradual adoption of liberal economic policies and continuation of provisionist concerns at different levels of state administration. Before the mid-19th century, maintaining a steady supply of animals and keeping meat prices low for both the palace and residents of Istanbul was the priority of the state. The paper will initially discuss some provisioninst policies pursued by the Ottoman government in the 1840s and 1850s. This include the imposition of price ceilings, promulgation of punitive orders to redirect sheep flocks to Istanbul, and efforts at eliminating intermediaries between producers and consumers in times of need. Then, we will analyze how the elimination of such policies in the late 1850s changed the market dynamics and actors involved in meat trade by drawing on a variety of primary resources including Ottoman and British archival documents, newspapers, and traveler accounts. Following the elimination of price ceilings, some merchants sought to exercise control over animal supply and thereby to manipulate the meat prices in the imperial capital. In discussing how such activities were responded by the Istanbulites and state offices, the paper shows that different state institutions responded differently to the abolition of provisionist policies. For instance, while the municipality of Istanbul pushed for price control especially at times of war and famines, the Ministry of Trade and Council of State consistently followed a laissez-fair approach. In conclusion, the paper argues that establishment of a free market economy in meat trade did not show a linear development in Ottoman Istanbul. Instead, that was a slow and conflictual process involving various social actors such as herders, meat traders, butchers, residents of Istanbul, and state officials. The findings suggest that we need to problematize development of liberal economy based on concrete case studies.