The business of state : Ottoman finance administration and ruling elites in transition (1580s-1615) / Pal Fodor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fodor, Pal, author.

Series:

Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur der Turkvolker.

Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte und Kultur der Turkvolker

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Finance, Public--Turkey.

Finance, Public.

Turkey--History--Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918.

Turkey.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (402 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berlin, Germany : Klaus Schwarz Verlag, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Based on original Ottoman sources, the author traces the transformation of the financial and administrative system of the Ottoman Empire at the turn of the 17th century. The changes were made necessary by the burgeoning budget deficit, a consequence of overspending by the oversized Ottoman state. The author proves that the phenomena previously thought to be signs of decline were in fact aspects of a well-considered reform program, dismantling step by step the centralized redistributive system. As part of this process, most of the state functions were privatised, and the officials were forced to undertake their jobs as private entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, a radical overhaul of the taxation system provided the extra resources needed for the maintenance of the system, with the reforms being largely financed by the working and tax-paying population. An important conclusion of the book, with relevance beyond Ottoman history, is that while a state can be modernised without modernising society, such a course will diminish the capacity for renewal in the long run. The volume provides useful information and insights not only for specialists in Ottoman history but also for those who are interested in the Islamic world, the state and modernisation.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

Note on transliteration and usage

I. About the theme

II. Outlines of the Ottoman system in the sixteenth century

III. The crisis of the system in the second half of the sixteenth century

I. The disruption of the Ottoman monetary system and attempts to manage the crisis

II. Venality and tax-farming

III. Confiscation

IV. “Fixed-amount has” (icmallü has) and “annual salary” (salyane)

V. Private and forced loans to the treasury

VI. Taxing the middle and lower ranks of the army: The “substitute money” paid by timar-holders, fortress garrisons, volunteers, and those waiting for a post

VII. The regularisation of extraordinary war taxes (avarız-i divaniye)

VIII. An increase in the poll-tax (cizye) and levying supplemental taxes

IX. The last major land/tax surveys of the empire— Farewell to the tahrir system

X. Compensation for the decrease in income: “fodder money” (arpalık), “service” (hizmet) and “employment” (istihdam)

XI. Settling the matter of the fortress garrison troops and the provincial kuls: transition to the ocaklık system

In conclusion: Some major consequences of the crisis and of the transformation

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783112209431

3112209435

OCLC:

1198929142