A History of Ottoman Political Thought Up to the Early Nineteenth Century

488 appendix 2

reap whatever cereals and crops they wish, and pay their proportional tribute

under the name ‘tithe’, and benefit from the land however they wish.

... The peasants do not own the lands in their possession. They are royal de-

mesne. At the time of the conquest, they were not given to anybody as [private]

property. It was commanded that [the occupants] should cultivate and till them,

and pay proportional tribute under the name of tithe, and fixed tribute under

the name of chift-tax. The right of the peasants is simply to bear the burden of

the land by cultivating and tilling and, after paying the said dues on the produce,

to keep the remainder. If they leave the land fallow for three years, it is lawful to

take it from them and to give it to someone else.

From a fetva answering Çivizade regarding the question of cash-vakf, translated by
Jon E. Mandaville:9

Although the citations of books seem to be against the permissibility of akçe

and fıluri awqaf, it is also well known which sources of these books are true and

sound. It is recognized absolutely that throughout the lands of the provinces of

Rum cash waqf is popular and generally practiced, that most of the awqaf of the

mosques and welfare establishments are based on cash, that judges past and

present relying on the aforementioned citations have ruled in favor of its permis-

sibility, that up till now military judges and provincial governors have been rul-

ing in favor of its validity and irrevocability, and no one has spoken out against

this. The practice is perfectly sound and irrevocable.

8 Celalzade Mustafa (See Chapter 3)

From Tabakâtü’l-memâlik ve derecâtü’l-mesâlik (“Layers of kingdoms and levels of
routes”), translated by Mehmet Şakir Yılmaz:10

The office of drawing the noble, world-adorning signature [i.e. the office of

nişancı] is the greatest among all offices and the noblest among all services.

The supremacy of the nişancı’s office over other offices ... is obvious in many

respects. First of all, all great Sultans ... needed two types of servants to rule over

vast lands; men of pen and men of sword. As a matter of fact, sword and pen

are twins; one of them is the soul and the other is the body. However, the pen is

9 Mandaville 1979, 297.
10 Celalzade – Kappert 1981, 259b–260b; trans. based on Yılmaz 2006, 89–90.