İltizam İn The Financıal Structure Of The Ottoman Empire

Abstract

The transfer of a portion of state revenues to individuals for a certain fee is called iltizam. The iltizam system was put into practice in the Ottoman Empire instead of the timar system. The transition to the iltizam system was influenced by the economic and social transformations experienced in the world. The idea that this system, the application areas of which were increased due to the cash needs of the budget, would have many positive aspects is dominant. In particular, the fact that the money would be received from the tax farmers immediately or in a short period of time, that the money would not be affected by inflation and economic fluctuations due to the immediate receipt of the money, and that there was no obligation to bear the transaction cost of collecting taxes were important reference points in the transition to the iltizam system. However, over time, the fact that the tax farmers demanded high amounts of taxes from taxpayers in order to maximize their profits, and the transition to the malikâne system and the extension of the rights of the tax farmers from 1-3 years to the period they survived revealed the sides of the system on behalf of the people and the state. However, the possibility that the agreement signed with the tax farmer could be broken at any moment and given to a tax farmer who made a higher offer strengthened the ambition of the tax farmer who won the tender in the first place and this situation harmed the subjects. In this context, when the budget revenues and expenditures of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th and 17th centuries are examined, it is seen that the budget revenues did not increase as much as desired and that serious budget deficits occurred together with the increasing budget expenditures.