Tezin basılısı İstanbul Şehir Üniversitesi Kütüphanesi'ndedir.This study explores the question of Islamic character of the Ottoman land law through scrutinizing the administration of proprietary claims on the land in the şeyhülislam fatwas. It also tracks the changes in the fatwas related to the proprietary claims on the land.
ʿUlamaʾ views had a central role in the Ottoman land law from the beginning. First land codes were done either on the direction of their consultancies or directly by them. Therefore, as şeyhülislams were the head of that ulema, their fatwas played significant roles on the land issues.
Basics of the Ottoman thinking on the land system was first set by Ebussuud from a sharia-centred perspective. Later şeyhülislams mainly remained loyal to Ebussuud’s doctrine and built the land law upon that base. However, new circumstances forced some little but important changes on the proprietary claims on the lands. Tracking these changes, reveals some clues for the Ottoman mentality on land law.
This study finds those clues through analysing şeyhülislam fatwas between Ebussuud’s first extensive explanation in the code of Buda (1542) and the most extensive early-modern Ottoman achievement on land codification: Kanunname-i Cedid (dated 1674). It tackles the kanun-şeriat discussion in the context of the land law.
There were some attempts to make changes in Ebussuud’s doctrine such as the fatwas of Hocazade Esad Efendi. However effects of such fatwas lasted short and were eliminated in the text of Kanunname-i Cedid at the end. In short Ottoman land law was standartised according to Ebussuud’s doctrine. This thesis argues that the Islamic legal tradition provided the overarching paradigm for Ebussuud’s and other şeyhülislams’ opinions on the land law.Abstract ....................................................................................................................... iv
Öz ................................................................................................................................ vi
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... viii
CHAPTERS 1. Introduction: The Ottoman Land Law and Şeyhülislam Fatwas ..................... 1
1.1. Why to study Ottoman land issues and the question of religious law system? ................................................................................................................. 1
1.2. Nature of the Fatwas .................................................................................. 4
1.3. Conceptual Framework .............................................................................. 6
1.4. Literature Review ...................................................................................... 9
1.5. Sources ..................................................................................................... 13
1.6. Outline of the Chapters ............................................................................ 14
2.1. TheContext.............................................................................................. 16
2.2. Hanafite Origins ....................................................................................... 20
2.3. The Relationship between Land’s Status and Ownership ....................... 23
2.4. Proprietary Rights .................................................................................... 32
2.4.1. Farmer .............................................................................................. 32
2.4.2. Timar Holder .................................................................................... 40
2.4.3. Sultan ................................................................................................ 41
2.5. Taxation ................................................................................................... 43
2.6. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 51
3. Legal Continuity in the Time of Crisis .......................................................... 53 3.1. The
Context.............................................................................................. 53
3.2. The Period until Sunullah Efendi in the Office of şeyhülislam ............... 57
3.2.1. Two Lines of Şeyhülislam Fatwas ................................................... 58
3.2.2. Roots of New Lines .......................................................................... 65
3.3. Sunullah Efendi........................................................................................ 71
3.3.1. The Farmer’s and the Timar Holder’s Proprietary Claims ............... 71
3.3.2. The Sultan’s Ownership Claims on the Miri Lands ......................... 76
3.4. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 79
4. Impact of Zekeriyazade Yahya Efendi ........................................................... 81 4.1. The Context after the 1610s ..................................................................... 81
4.2. Esad Efendi: The Rise of Farmer’s Proprietary Claims .......................... 84
4.2.1. Ownership Claims ............................................................................ 85
4.3. Zekeriyazade Yahya Efendi: Restoration and Further Systemization ..... 92
4.3.1. Pre-emptive Practices and Inheritance on the Miri Lands................ 94
4.3.2. The Other Ownership Claims and Their Limitations on the Miri Lands… ........................................................................................................ 100
4.4. Road to Kanunname-i Cedid (1674) ...................................................... 105 4.5. Conclusion ............................................................................................. 112
5. Conclusions .................................................................................................. 114 References ............................................................................................................ 11
