Timar Treasury (Defterdarlığı) in the Ottoman Finance Organization (1550-1650)

Abstract

The timar system, one of the fundamental economic and military systems of the Ottoman Empire, was administered by numerous bureaucrats both at the centre and in the provincial finances. Along with the central treasuries, as the country expanded, peripheral treasuries began to be established in the provinces.Also known as the Provincial Treasury (Eyalet Defterdarlığı), this institution was comprised of subunits called timar fiscal offices. This study examines the timar defterdarlığı office from the second half of the sixteenth century to the second half of the seventeenth century. A certain number of examples of timar defterdars, about whom there are no specific studies in the literature, were identified and details about the actors and functioning of the institution were researched based on these examples. As seen in examples of appointments made in accordance with the hierarchical order, appointments contrary to these rules have also been encountered. It is observed that people with a background of kul origin and careers unrelated to the fiscal bureaucracy are particularly prominent in such appointments. As in many institutions of the empire, there has been evidence of a deviation from the merit system. However, the merit system has not degenerated everywhere in the appointments of those who demonstrated their usefulness in war or achieved success in their careers.