Timar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Timar was a form of land tenure in Ottoman Empire, consisting in grant of lands or revenues by the Ottoman Sultan to an individual in compensation for his services, especially military services. The timar system was introduced by Osman I who granted land tenure to his troops. Later this system was expanded from Murad I for his Sipahi.

The timar-holder acted as an agent of the central Ottoman government in supervising the possession, transfer, and rental of lands within his territory and collecting tax revenue, in return for military service. A timar was not necessarily made up of contiguous property, but could consist of property scattered among different villages.

There was a similar system in the arab world, known as igta.

[edit] References

• Suraiya Faroqhi, Halıl İnalcik, Donald Quataert, An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire Vol I, 1300 - 1600 (Cambridge 1994)
• Encyclopædia Britannica entry on timar

[edit] See also:

• Fiefdom