Defterdar
Defterdâr ( Ottoman دفتردار) was the title of the chief financial officer in the Ottoman Empire . It is of Persian origin and is derived from the term defter (tax register). The office of these tax officials was called Defterdârlık /دفتردارلق, the central financial authority of the Defterhâne empire headed by them /دفترخانه.
There have been two Defterdâre since the 15th century. One was responsible for Rumelia , that is, the European part of the empire, the other was responsible for the financial supervision of Anatolia and the other Asian parts of the empire. The Defterdâr of Rumelia was the main defterdâr (baş defterdâr), the minister of finance for the entire empire. In the second half of the 16th century a third Defterdâr was appointed based in Aleppo . From then on, he was responsible for the Arab provinces and Egypt.
The central financial authority of the Ottoman Empire ( Defterhâne ) was located in the Sultan's Palace in Constantinople. As early as the 16th century, this authority is said to have had 800 employees who worked in around 25 different departments. The Defterhâne's area of responsibility included the administration of the revenue of the Treasury, consisting of tributes, taxes, levies and customs duties, as well as the expenses, especially wages and salaries, maintenance of the Sultan's court and expenses for the army. In addition, this authority controlled the administration of the state property, which consisted of the so-called state domains (has-ı hümayun) and state lands assigned as Tımare . The Defterdâre and their co-workers used a kind of secret script , the siyakat , to keep the registers . This should prevent misuse and counterfeiting.
The centralization of the Ottoman financial administration reached its climax in the second half of the 15th century under the government of Mehmed II , when the Defterdare were directly subordinate to the Grand Vizier . During the heyday of the empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, its financial management was the most modern and efficient in Europe.
As part of the Tanzimat reforms, the financial administration of the Ottoman state, which had meanwhile fallen into disrepair, was reorganized from 1839 onwards. The central financial authority was henceforth Maliye . Defterdâr was now the title of finance director in the individual provinces .
literature
- Klaus Kreiser: The Ottoman State. ( Oldenbourg floor plan of the story , 30). Munich 2001, ISBN 3-486-53721-0 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Yilmaz Öztuna: Tarih ve Politika Ansiklopedisi (German: History and Politics Encyclopedia ) Editor: Ötüken, 1st edition, 2006 ISBN 975-437-599-2