Nomadism and the activity of nomadic tribes constituted major challenges for the reformist undertaking of the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. This period marked the height of Ottoman efforts to systematically deal with the nomadic issue as Ottoman authorities attempted continuously to settle tribesmen, coopt them and their tribe leaders, and in some cases to harness their abilities for the benefit of the state. In spite of these targeted efforts, the challenge posed by nomadism to the centralization project of the Ottomans grew significantly in the last third of the century. This paper will examine the situation in the district of Kirkuk, on the eastern frontier of the Ottoman Empire, where nomadic Kurdish tribes, mainly the Hamawand, posed a major source of unrest and a threat to the reformist endeavor. Following the signing of the second treaty of Erzurum, in 1847, that which marked the borders between Qajar Iran and the Ottoman Empire, the nomads in this region had to adjust to a reality of limitations posed imposed on their ability to roam, to graze their herds, and to engage in smuggling and brigandry. Their reaction to this reality came in the decades that followed, in the form of a constant threat posed by nomadic tribes in the Kirkuk area to Ottoman trade routes, trains, and telegraph lines, as well as to city-dwellers and their property. This paper will further show the ways in which the Ottoman state confronted the nomadic challenge in Kirkuk and the implications they hadof this confrontation on the city and its society. Moreover, this paper will show that although the mission to break nomadic resistance to reforms was monopolized by the central government and was not treated directly by local authorities in Kirkuk, the city was still essential in to this Ottoman effort. Kirkuk was used by Ottoman authorities as both a carrot and a stick vis-a-vis the nomadic tribes: It served as as a hub for the operations of recurrent military campaigns, sent to forcibly sedentarize and coopt the tribesmen and put a halt to their attacks on caravan routes and on transportation and communication infrastructure. On the other hand, the city was also used by the Ottomans as lodestone for tribal leaders willing to cease violence and to cooperate. These leaders were settled in Kirkuk, were merged in into the local elite, and were granted regular benefits, funding and Ottoman honorary titles.