Under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, ''Muqata'ah'' or ''Mukata'a'' were '' hass-ı hümayun'', parcels of land owned by the Ottoman crown. These were distributed through the ''

iltizam An iltizam () was a form of tax farm that appeared in the 15th century in the Ottoman Empire. The system began under Mehmed the Conqueror and was abolished during the Tanzimat reforms in 1856. Iltizams were sold off by the government to wealthy n ...

'' auction system; rights to collect revenue from the land were sold to the highest bidder, eventually for the life of the buyer. As the Ottoman Empire began to move into the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

, vacant '' timars'', instead of being reassigned, were often added to the ''iltizam'' system, paving the way for a fundamental change in the Ottoman fiscal system into a monetized system, and allowing various power-brokers to involve themselves in the Ottoman

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

, which had previously been limited to the

kul Kul or KUL may refer to: Airports * KUL, current IATA code for Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia * KUL, former IATA code for Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (Subang Airport), Malaysia Populated places * Kul, Iran, a village in Kurdist ...

.Darling, Linda T. "Public finances: the role of the Ottoman centre." ''The Cambridge History of Turkey'': 118-32. This both opened up the echelons of power to those previously excluded, and also served to move power away from the

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

and to a larger group of nobles who now had a more permanent grasp on power, and the ability to perpetuate their wealth.

History

In the Ottoman ''

timar A timar was a land grant by the sultans of the Ottoman Empire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with an annual tax revenue of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from the land acted as compensation for military service. A ...

'' system, plots of land were assigned to ''

sipahis The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding (''timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the army, ...

'', who taxed the peasants ('' reaya'') on that land a portion of their crops every growing season. In return the ''sipahis'' served in the Sultan's army.Tezcan, Baki. ''The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 14-37 ''Timars'' could be reassigned at any time, with promotions to more lucrative positions often entailing transfer to another province. ''Mukata’a'' were under the control of their lease-holders for the term of the contract, eventually extending to life-terms. Unlike in ''timar'', ''mukata’a'' revenues were collected in

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...

, at least by the state, providing much-needed sources of currency to the Treasury.Inalcik, Halil. "Military and Fiscal Transformations in the Ottoman Empire." Archivum Ottomanicum 6 (1980): 283-337. Reprinted in ''Studies in Ottoman Social and Economic History'', London, Variorum, 1985.

Role in the Ottoman Transformation

The move away from ''timar'' farming, and to

privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

revenue collection, took place against the backdrop of massive upheaval in the 17th and early 18th century

. Previously, the ''timar'' system had been supported by Ottoman military advances and newly conquered territories, opening up newly conquered territories to be assigned, as well as provided spoils of war to pay the troops, which encouraged continual campaigning. However, the slowing and eventual end of Ottoman territorial expansion put this era of easy land to an end. Around the same time, warfare and the Ottoman army faced drastic changes. Salaried infantry equipped with firearms replaced ''sipahi'' cavalrymen, and their tax levies. In 1695, '' malikane mukata’a'', or life-term tax farms, were introduced, granting buyers the right to revenues on the parcel until the death of the holder, and freeing them from local oversight in exchange for incentivizing long-term growth.Salzmann, Ariel . "An Ancien Regime Revisited: "Privatization" and Political Economy in the Eighteenth-Century Ottoman Empire ." Politics and Society 21, no. 4 (December 1993): 393-423. As the shift to ''mukata’a'' began to gain traction, a new class in Ottoman society began to emerge. With the

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of annual revenue collection, wealthy officials, or those with the access to information that could make them wealthy in the new investing market for ''mukata’a'', had the ability to turn corners of the Empire into their own private

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s, exerting control through a network of agents. However, Ariel Salzmann identifies this phenomenon not as a loss of control for the center, but instead “rationalized state control in a politically effective form.” ''Malikane mukata’a'' contracts, thus, became a way to extend the definition of the center, allowing the wealthy across the empire to become part of the center, and “curb the power of local officials who often usurped the state’s prerogatives over taxation”. With the inclusion of elite from every corner of the empire, financed by Jewish, Greek and Armenian bankers, a new Ottoman ruling class emerged, open to any with the wealth or savvy to buy into the system.Lewis, Bernard. “Ottoman Land Tenure and Taxation in Syria.” Studia Islamic. (1979), pp. 109–124

References

{{Reflist Government of the Ottoman Empire Land management in the Ottoman Empire