Rav akçesi

Taxation in the Ottoman Empire
Taxes
Adet-i Ağnam Adet-i deştbani Ashar Avarız Bac-i pazar Bedl-i askeri Cizye Cürm-ü cinayet Damga resmi Gümrük resmi Haraç Ihtisab İspençe Istira Maktu Mururiye resmi Muskirat resmi Nüzül Otlak resmi Rav akçesi Resm-i arusane Resm-i bennâk Resm-i bostan Resm-i çift Resm-i dönüm Resm-i filori Resm-i ganem Resm-i hınzır Resm-i mücerred Resm-i sicill Rusum-e-eflak Selamet isni Tapu resmi Tekalif-i orfiye Temettu Tuz resmi Zakat
Implementation
Ahidnâme Defter Emin Evkaf-i Hümayun Nezareti Hazine-i Hassa Hazine-i Amire Hane Iltizam Istira Kadı Kanun-i Raya Kanunname Malikâne Merdiban Millet Muafiyet Muhassil Muqata'ah Mütesellim Ottoman Public Debt Administration Regie Company Siyakat Sürsat Tahrir Tanzimat Waqf

Rav akçesi was a "rabbi tax" paid by Jewish communities in the Ottoman Empire.^[1][2] The origins of Rav akçesi are unclear; it has been suggested that it was one of two taxes imposed specifically on Jews, and that it may have developed in parallel with the authority of a senior rabbi in Istanbul, who was at nominally a representative and judge for Jewish communities in the Ottoman empire, although their authority may not have extended far beyond Istanbul.^[3][4]

It has been suggested that Mehmet II imposed the tax in return for separate representation of Jews after 1455, as part of a broader effort to rebuild and revive Istanbul; this may also have served to undermine the Greek patriarchy. Under the Ottoman empire there was, at time, friction between "Greeks" and "Jews"; the authorities may at times have favoured one over the other.^[5]

Although rav akçesi was a cash tax, rather than a tax in kind, it could be hypothecated to provide specific goods; tax records for 1655 show that the rav akçesi in Monastir (Bitola) was a significant source of funding of drapery for janissaries; the tax official responsible for purchases would be the same person responsible for collecting the tax.^[6]

Non-Muslims were usually taxed at a higher rate, overall, in the Ottoman empire, thanks to taxes such as rav akçesi and ispence. Jews in particular may have been singled out to pay higher rates of ispence.^[7] The Porte was well aware of this - and even aware that this would tempt nonmuslims to convert; Bayezit II ruled that courts should treat nonmuslims more leniently (including such measures as lower fines), "so that the poll-tax payers shall not vanish".^[8]

As with other taxes in the Ottoman empire, rav akçesi could be affected by a complex patchwork of local rules and exemptions, including muafiyet; the Jews of Selanik (Thessaloniki) were among those exempted from taxes by a muafname after the city was conquered by Murad II.^[9]

References