The ashar tax kept its place as the main source of income for the Ottoman Empire for more than 6 centuries. 'Aşar' was the plural form of 'öşr' in Ottoman Turkish. In Arabic, 'öşr' means a 1/10 proportion. The land with Muslim owners were also called 'öşri' land. These Muslim land owners, didn't have to pay a tax for the land they own, but instead, give the 1/10 of their harvest to the state. Although 'öşr' literally means 1/10, for various reasons, it was a common practice to change the proportion.The 'aşar' tax was so important for the Ottoman Empire, considering its economy based primarily on agriculture and stockbreeding but not on any kind of industrialisation. This taxation system, still practiced in the first years of the Republic, was abolished in 17.02.1341 (1925) with the "Law on the repeal of 'aşar' and the replacement of it by the tax 'mahsulat-ı arziye'".In this study, we have tried to bring into relief the historical developpement of Ashar tax and to reveal, in light of the documents in Prime Ministry Ottoman Archive, set of problems and exploitations that came to being at the time of collection of this tax in various cities of Central Anatolia Region, especially in Nigde. This is also important in terms of seeing the effects of this general problem of Ottoman Empire's last periods, that came to be a radical state tradition for 600 years, on local levels.
Ashar, Oshur, Ottoman, Tax, Finance, Nigde
| Author : | Ahmet ASKER -- Emrah YILDIZ |
|---|---|
| Number of pages: | 177-192 |
| DOI: | http://dx.doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.6631 |
| Full text: | |
| Diğer Dilde Full text: | |
| Share: | |
| Alıntı Yap: |
By subscribing to E-Newsletter, you can get the latest news to your e-mail.
