n the first years after 1453, powerful Greek families in Constantinople, mainly the offspring of the post-Byzantine aristocracy, profited from the banishment of the Latin merchants who controlled the foreign trade of the Constantinople, and became prominent figures in the Empire's in transit trade, credit-exchange and especially in tax-farming.
The regions of Khanate and Caffa (Kefe) soon became centres of the economic life of the Greeks of the Constantinople. They were in charge of the transport of leather and grain from the granaries of Wallachia and southern Russia to the Constantinople, where large quantities of cereals were always in demand. They also became active in the Empire's sea-trade with Western Europe and, by taking advantage of the Danubian principalities, they began trading with the rest of the Empire and the West. By the mid-16th century, they had gained control over the rich natural resources in the Balkans, such as the mines in Serbia and Macedonia and the salt pans in eastern Rumelia.