Muqata'ah

Under the Ottoman Empire, Mukata’a were hass-ı hümayun, parcels of land owned by the Ottoman crown. These were distributed through the iltizam 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, 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, which had previously been limited to the kul.^[1]

This both opened up the echelons of power to those previously excluded, and also served to move power away from the sultan 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

reaya) on that land a portion of their crops every growing season. In return the sipahis served in the Sultan's army.^[2]

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, at least by the state, providing much-needed sources of currency to the Treasury.^[3]

Role in the Ottoman Transformation

The move away from timar farming, and to

Ottoman ruling class emerged, open to any with the wealth or savvy to buy into the system.^[3]^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Darling, Linda T. "Public finances: the role of the Ottoman centre." The Cambridge History of Turkey: 118-32.
^ Tezcan, Baki. The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 14-37
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 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.
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ Lewis, Bernard. “Ottoman Land Tenure and Taxation in Syria.” Studia Islamic. (1979), pp. 109–124

[Darling-1] Darling, Linda T. "Public finances: the role of the Ottoman centre." The Cambridge History of Turkey: 118-32.

[Tezcan-2] Tezcan, Baki. The Second Ottoman Empire: Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 14-37

[Inalcik-3] 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.

[Salzmann-4] 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.

[5] Lewis, Bernard. “Ottoman Land Tenure and Taxation in Syria.” Studia Islamic. (1979), pp. 109–124

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