Haraç ( hy, խարջ, kharj, mk, арач, arač, gr, χαράτσι, charatsi, sh-Cyrl-Latn, харач, harač) was a land tax levied on non-Muslim subjects in the Ottoman Empire. ''Haraç'' was developed from an earlier form of land taxation, ''

kharaj Kharāj ( ar, خراج) is a type of individual Islamic tax on agricultural land and its produce, developed under Islamic law. With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the ''kharaj'' initially denoted a lump-sum duty levied upon the ...

'' (''harac''), and was, in principle, only payable by non-Muslims; it was seen as a counterpart to zakat paid by Muslims.Hunter, Malik and Senturk, p. 77 The ''haraç'' system later merged into the

cizye Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Islamic law. The jizya tax has been understood in Isl ...

taxation system. While the taxes collected from non Muslims were higher than those collected from Muslims, the rights and opportunities provided to non Muslims were much more limited. It often incentivised people to convert to Islam. Haraç collection was reformed by a

firman A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...

of 1834, which abolished the old levying system, and required that ''haraç'' be raised by a commission composed of the

kadı A ''kadi'' ( ar, قاضي '; tr, kadı) was an official in the Ottoman Empire. The term ''kadi'' refers to judges who preside over matters in accordance with Islamic law, but in the Ottoman Empire, the ''kadi'' also became a crucial part of the ...

and the ''ayans'', or municipal chiefs of '' rayas'' in each district. The firman made several other changes to taxation as part of the wider

Tanzimat The Tanzimat (; ota, تنظيمات, translit=Tanzimāt, lit=Reorganization, ''see'' nizām) was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. ...

reform movement within the Ottoman Empire.

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* * * {{Ottoman-stub Taxation in the Ottoman Empire Christianity in the Ottoman Empire History of taxation Disabilities (Jewish) Zakat