1. Agricultural Structure, Land Regime and Taxing in the Ottoman Empire

3. General characteristics of Ottoman economy
The Ottoman Empire had an agricultural economy. About %90 of the population lived in rural areas. Some of them were nomads.
%75 of the total population were occupied in agriculture.
Still, the proportion of the population to the agricultural lands was low. In other words, land was abundant in comparison to population.
Land was controlled and cultivated mostly by peasants instead of large landowners. The small land units were called çiftlik.
Transportation was very difficult. As a result, products were mostly sold locally.
As a pre-capitalist economy use of money was limited. Subsistence economy was the dominant form.

4. Miri
Mülk
Vakıf
Has, Zeamet, Tımar
Ottoman Land Regime

5. %80 of the lands were miri.
Miri land was under the ownership of state and only its usage right was left to the subjects of the sultan.
The peasant had the status of perpetual tenancy under this regime.
This type of land could not be sold, mortgaged or donated by its possessor.
The peasant’s lease on the land gave him hereditary rights of possession through the direct male line.

6. Ottoman Land Regime
According to their size miri lands are classified as: Has, zeamet and tımar.
Has: For viziers and begs. Brings more than akça
Zeamet: For lesser commanders like subaşı akça
Tımar: For provincial cavalry (sipahis). Less than akça
Mülk: Freehold lands. Owners had right to sell, donate etc. Mostly vineyards and orchards were mülks.
Vakıf: Pious foundations. Vakıf land’s revenues went to the religious or charitable bodies. They were under state supervision but administered by a charter.
Mevat: Wastelands like deserts or swamps.

7. Tahrir Registers Tahrir: Land Surveying
The first act after conquest of a certain region was recording all sources of revenues there.
Tahrir registers recorded all taxable adult male peasants. These were very detailed reports on all taxable sources.
They were also used as official registers to establish legal claims to land.

8. A Tahrir Register

9. Tımar
Since use of money is limited collecting taxes in cash was not easy. At the same time, transportation of products was difficult when taxes were collected in kind. The solution for these difficulties was the tımar system.
Ottoman tımar system resembles the previous land systems in Anatolia and Thrace. (ikta system of Seljukids and Byzantine pronoia system)
Tımar was the dominant form of land administration but could not be applied in all parts of the empire. For example there was no tımars in Egypt and Eastern Anatolia.
This system was no more effective after the 16th century. Why?
-invention of firearms
-migration from rural areas to cities
-increasing inflation as a result of bullion flow

10. State grants a certain amount of land to a person in return for military service.
The person who is granted with fief (called cavalryman with fief/tımarlı sipahi)
Tımarlı sipahi only attends campaigns but also has to bring auxiliary horsemen in proportion with his land size.
These cavalrymen are also responsible for monitoring peasants and distributing land to farmers within the tımar.
They have neither financial nor administrative nor judicial immunity. So, they cannot be considered as feudal lords.

11. Agriculture
The Ottoman Empire was located in the semi-arid belt. Irrigation was very limited. About %90 of the Ottoman lands were dry.
In the dry lands, mostly grains (wheat and barley) were cultivated.
Product return: 1 to 5-6
Besides grains, Ottoman peasants cultivated legumes and grew vineyards and fruit trees.
After the discovery of America, new crops were introduced to the Ottoman people.
Agrarian organization was based on peasant family’s labor and a pair of oxen.

12. Çift-hane system
A certain unit of land (çiftlik) controlled by a married peasant (hane)
The family labor together with a pair of oxen determined the size and production capacity of the farm land.
Core of Ottoman economy and state finances was çift-hane system.
The çiftlik should be large enough to feed a family and yield enough surplus for taxes and reproduction.
Size of çiftliks ranged between dönüms according to the fertility of soil. Half of the land was fallowed every year. So the familes cultivated mostly dönüms.
There were more than 1 million çift-hane units in Anatolia in the 16th century.

14. Ottoman Peasants
Most Ottoman peasants were free subjects. There was no serfdom in the Ottoman Empire.
Sharecroppers (ortakçı kullar) were in a worse situation. They were slaves settled in the Ottoman villages. They paid more taxes.
Nomads were sometimes forced to settle and establish villages.

15. Tax
The whole Ottoman agrarian-fiscal system was based on the collection of peasant family tax called çift-resmi.
In the Ottoman law, this tax was based on the person’s labor capacity. Peasants with families paid high rates and single people paid low. People who could not do any productive work (elder people, disabled and children) were exempted.
Çift-resmi has different categories based on the social status of peasants: çift-tax, half çift-tax, bennak for married, mücerred for unmarried. There were also other minor taxes.
Full çift-resmi= 1 gold piece or 22 akça
In theory, taxes could be paid with labor services like three days work for landlord, bringing hay or straw and providing firewood. However, Ottoman state preferred cash instead of labor services.

16. Other taxes
Öşür (âşâr): The word means "a tenth", although the exact proportion might vary. It was taken by sipahi from all agricultural produce.
Ağnam: Annual tax on sheep and goats.
Cizye: A per capita yearly tax historically levied on non-Muslim subjects, permanently residing in Muslim countries. 
Çift-bozan: A tax for punishing those who leave their lands without permission. It aims the maintenance of agricultural production.
Angarya: Compulsory duties of peasants like carrying agricultural products, providing straw for sipahi’s animals etc.
Avarız: Extraordinary wartime taxes aiming at provision of army’s needs.