The Waqf in the Bulgarian Lands, 15th – early 19th Centuries

The Islamic charitable foundation, waqf, was a means of imposing and establishing Ottoman power in the Balkans, and its development was closely tied to the specific military-political and socio-economic situation in the empire. As in the course of the conquest, bridges were built for the passage of the army, dervish zaviyes emerged in the depopulated territories to shelter the new settlers, the central commercial part of the first administrative centers of the empire was built and the urban space was expanded with the appearance of new neighborhoods around the established imaret, so in the 16th century the construction activity followed the same model. As an institution, the Waqf finances the construction of mosques, imarets, caravanserais, bridges and other institutions, but also provides funds for their maintenance and operation. Important urban centers were built and expanded with the complexes built by the Ottoman elite, new caravanserais and khans, and dükkans were erected in the central commercial parts of the cities and along the important road arteries. In addition, vacant land is being used to develop new settlements. The waqf is central to the urban and rural economy, but any finding on the place of the waqf in the development of the economy is appropriate to the economic reality in the country itself and must be seen in the context of the specific period. Thus, in the 14th-16th centuries, the Waqf institution was a decisive factor in the development of the economic structure – market, infrastructure, credit relations. The Waqf is the largest urban landlord, it regulates rents and the conditions of trade and production, and then loses these positions to the increasingly powerful Ayyan institution. In the context of the looming crisis in the empire, the state‘s intervention in the affairs of the waqfs, the abuses of the mutual funds and the subsequent reforms in the waqf system did not delay. The changing state policy aimed at maintaining the army and providing revenue to the treasury needed for the endless wars, directly directs the development of the Waqf institution, which has already fulfilled its task of imposing power and religious policy, urbanizing and absorbing the empty spaces around the cities and strategic places. The waqf retains its primary role in maintaining religion and education. Similar is the situation with the role of the Waqf institution in economic development with a view to urbanization, provision of infrastructure, urban economy and agrarian relations throughout the empire, of which processes the Bulgarian lands are an invariable part.