Agrarian Institutions and Economic Models in Bulgarian Lands, 15th – 18th Centuries

The present chapter of the book is related to the imposition and functioning of agrarian institutions in the Bulgarian lands, 15th – 18th centuries. The text deals with the legislative framework of the Ottoman empire related to agriculture and husbandry – the basic of the ottoman economic development at that time. The main units of production – çiftlik and baștina, the functioning of the tax system, and the main sources of revenue formed by the taxes collected are being examined too. In order to highlight the economic model of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, and to outline what economic experience was brought and incorporated in the Bulgarian lands by the migrated Muslim population, is presented the economic development of the sancak of Nikbolu, perceived as the successor of Shishmanova Bulgaria. The contrast is explored by tracing back the economic development of the eastern part of the Thracian Lowlands, a territory dominated by the new settlers from Ottoman Anatolia.