Timars

A timar was land granted by the Ottoman sultans between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with a tax revenue annual value of less than 20 000 akçes. The revenues produced from land acted as compensation for military service. A Timar holder was known as a Timariot. If the revenues produced from the timar were from 20,000 to 100,000 akçes, the timar would be called zeamet, and if they were above 100,000 akçes, the land would be called hass.

In the Ottoman Empire, the Timar system was one in which the projected revenue of a conquered territory was distributed in the form of temporary land grants among the Sipahis (cavalrymen) and other members of the military class including Janissaries and other kuls (slaves) of the sultan. These prebends were given as compensation for annual military service, for which they received no pay. In rare circumstances women could become Timar holders. This position however was restricted to women who were prominent within the imperial family, or high-ranking members of the Ottoman elite. Timars could be small, when they would be granted by governors, or large, which then required a certificate from the Sultan, but generally the fief had an annual value of less than twenty thousand akces (an Ottoman silver coin). This system of land tenure lasted roughly from the fourteenth century through to the sixteenth century. The goals of the system were necessitated by financial, state and expansionist purposes. The financial aims of the system were to relieve pressure from the Ottoman state of paying the army as well as to gain a new source of revenue for the central treasury. The expansionist aims were to increase the number of cavalry soldiers and to gradually assimilate and bring conquered countries under direct Ottoman control. The Ottoman state also desired to centralize the sultan’s authority by removing the feudal system and aristocratic elements from dominating the empire.

Within the Timar system the state gave Timar holders, including the Sipahis (cavalryman), the authorization to have control of arable lands, vacant or land possessed by peasants, wastelands, fruit trees, forests or waters within the Timar territory. The Sipahis employed agents or surrogates called Keetuda, Vekil, or voyvoda to collect revenues and exercise the delegate powers. They had the right to collect certain parts of the tax revenue from arable lands in certain localities in return for service to the state. They were responsible to supervise their Timar territory and the way it was cultivated and possessed by peasants. The Sipahis was rewarded if he procured the settlement of vacant land. However he was punished if he caused the abandonment of cultivated land. Timar holders had police authority to pursue and arrest wrong doers within their territories. However they could not enforce penalties until they received a verdict from a local judge with accordance to imperial law. Their duties were to protect peasants and persons in their territory and to rejoin the imperial army during campaigns. The sultan gave Sipahis vineyards and a meadow which would take care of their families, retainers and horses needs. One of the main conditions imposed by the state was that a Timar holder did not own the land; land ownership was held by the Ottoman state. Another essential condition was that Timars could not be inherited but it was not uncommon for a Timar to be reassigned to a son provided they performed military service. Timar holding was contingent on active military service and if a Sipahis failed to engage in military service for seven years he lost his duty and land. Nevertheless, the Sipahis retained their title and could be eligible for another Timar if they remained in the military class and participated in military campaigns.

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Wikipedia