Revenue Raising and Legitimacy : Tax Collection and Finance Administration in the Ottoman Empire, 1560–1660

368 Pages·1996·2.84 MB·English

by  Linda T. Darling

REVENUE-RAISING AND LEGITIMACY
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
AND ITS HERITAGE
Politics, and Economy
Socie~
EDITED BY
F
SURAIYA AROQ,HI AND HALIL INALCIK
Advisory Board
Fikret Adanir · Idris Bostan · Arnnon Cohen · Cornell Fleischer
Barbara Flemming · Alexander de Groot · Klaus Kreiser
Hans Georg Majer · Irene Melikoff · Ahmet Ya §ar Ocak
Abdeljelil Temimi · Gilles Veinstein · Elizabeth Zachariadou
VOLUME6
REVENUE-RAISING AND
LEGITIMACY
Tax Collection and Finance Administration
in the Ottoman Empire
1560-1660
BY
LINDA T. DARLING
EJ.BRILL
LEIDEN · NEW YORK · KOLN
1996
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Darling, Linda T., 1945 -
Revenue-raising and legitimacy: tax collection and finance
administration in the Ottoman Empire, 1560-1660 I by Linda T.
Darling.
p. cm. - (The Ottoman Empire and its heritage. ISSN
1380-6076 ; v. 6)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9004102892 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Taxation-Turkey-History. 2. Tax collection -Turkey-History.
3. Tax administration and procedure-Turkey-History. 4. Turkey
-Economic conditions-History. I. Title. II. Series.
Iij2906.5.D37 1995
336.2'00956 l-dc20 95-24 727
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Darling, Linda T.:
Revenue-raising and legitimacy: tax collection and finance
administration in the Ottoman Empire, 1560-1660 I by Linda
T. Darling. - Leiden; New York; Koln: Brill, 1996
(The Ottoman empire and its heritage ; Vol. 6)
ISBN 90-04-10289-2
NE:GT
ISSN 1380-6076
ISBN 90 04 10289 2
C Copyright 1996 by EJ. Brill, Uiden, The Nether/,ands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transloled, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitttd in any form or by any means, electronic,
mecho.nical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
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Fees are subject to change.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
To my mother
Blank page
CONTENTS
List of Tables ............................................................................... ix
Preface ........................................................................................... xi
List of Abbreviations .. . .. .. .. . . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . . . .. ............ .. .. .. xiii
Transliteration and the Turkish Alphabet ............................... ... xiv
Identification of Archival Sources . .................................... ......... xv
Introduction: The Myth of Decline . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Myth of Ottoman Decline ................................ ~.......... 2
Crisis and the Ottoman State ..... .............. .................... .... .. 8
Sources for the Study of the Post-Classical Age ............. 16
I. Classical Ottoman Finance .................................................. 22
Ottoman Taxation .. . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . .. . .. .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . 22
Revenue Assessment by Survey (Tahrir) ........................... 29
The Monetary System and the Price Revolution . ............ .. 35
Population and Economic Change . .. .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . . . . . . .. .. 41
II. The Ottoman Central Finance Department ........................ 49
Early Finance Department Organization .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . .. 51
Reorganizations in the Finance Structure ........................... 57
The Seventeenth Century and Beyond ......... .......... .. .. ......... 67
III. Revenue Assessment by the Central
Finance Department: Cizye and Avarzz .............................. 81
Revenue Surveying by the Finance Bureaus ....... .. .......... .. 82
Registration of Taxpayers and Population Estimation ...... 100
Amounts of Money Taken in Tax .. . .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . 108
IV. Taxation Without Assessment?
Tax Farming (iltizam) .......................................................... 119
Mukataa Revenues and Records .......................................... 123
Bidding and Revenue Amounts ........................................... 136
Bidders' Conditions and Personnel Recruitment ................ 146
iltizam Supervision ................................................................ 152
viii
CONTENTS
V. Tax Collection Personnel .................................................. 161
Appointment of Revenue Collectors . .. ........ .. .. . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . 161
The Military in Cizye and A varzz Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
The Military in Tax Farming ........................................... 178
VI. Tax Collection, Remittance, and Reporting ..................... 186
Collection Procedures: Cizye and ~varzz ......................... 187
iltizam Collection . .. .. . ..... .. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . ....... .. .... .. .. ...... .. .. 194
Remittance and Reporting . . . . . . . .. .. .. . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. . . . . .. . . . . . . 203
VII. Arrears, Accounting, and Balance-Sheets ........................ 213
Collectors' Accounts (Mu hasebe) ..... .. .. . . . . . . .. . .. ..... .. .. .. .. . . .. 213
Arrears and their Collection . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. 222
Central Accounting Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . .. .. .. . . .. . . . . . . . . .. .. . . 231
Balance-Sheets and Budgets ............................................. 237
VIII. Complaints and Corruption ............................................... 246
The Petition Process ............. ............................................. 248
Changing the Assessment . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Corruption in Tax Collection ....... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . . . . . . .. . .. . . 267
IX. Revenue-Raising and Legitimacy ....... ..... ... ........ .. .... .. . . . . . . . 281
Revenue and Legitimacy: The Circle of Justice ............. 283
Revenue-Raising and Decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Glossary ... ...... ............. ... .. .... ...... .. . . .. . ..•...... .. . . .. . . . . .. .. .. . . . . . . . . .. .... .. . . . 307
Bibliography ............. .. .. .... ... . .. .. . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .. .. .. ... . ...... ...... .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. 325
Index . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . 35 3
TABLES
1. Price Inflation in the Ottoman Empire, 1555-1655 ....................... 36
2. Total Numbers of Salaried Scribes .................................................. 59
3. The Structure of the Maliye in the Mid-Sixteenth Century .......... 63
4. Number of Scribes in Finance Bureaus .......................................... 68
5. Cizye Rates in Text, 1560-1660 ...................................................... 110
6. Seventeenth-Century Cizye .............. ......... ... .. ......... .......... .......... ....... 112
7. Avarzz Rates in Text, 1500-1660 .................................................... 114
8. Avarzz Assessed around 1640 ........................................................... 116