The Askeri Chiftliks in the Bulgarian Lands, 16th – early 19th Centuries

Some researchers believe that there is no single, precise definition of askeri chiftlik, and that its genesis and development are too complex, involving many internal and external factors. Rather, it is possible to seek an answer to the question of what actually distinguished the askeri chiftliks from the other chiftlik forms that existed in the Ottoman Empire in parallel with it during the period from the 16th to the beginning of the 19th century. The askeri chiftlik was a landholding, sometimes of large size, in which the production was monocultural and mainly market-oriented. A number of factors influence its genesis, development and economic efficiency. But the greatest intensity of the processes associated with the emergence, growth and expansion of the chiftliks and the settlement of a larger number of people within the boundaries of the chiftliks is observed in the context of the military-political situation and the accompanying need for revenue for the benefit of the treasury. In addition, the reforms in response to the financial difficulties that lead to the emergence of new and heavier taxes and fees, to a change in the way they are collected, provide the conditions for the seizure of more and larger land areas and their attachment to the chiftliks, the provision of a labor force that finds refuge from the taxes due by hiding it from the collectors, using the difficult position of the central government in the context of the inability to collect revenues to the treasury or in the growing anarchy of the increasingly powerful ayan institution. The main characteristic of the askeri chiftliks is that the owner is not the ordinary peasant, but a representative of the Ottoman elite (askeri). Their interest in investing money, in accumulating profit and wealth by selling the agricultural production on the market, the connection of the funds earned and invested in the combination with the other activities and business or financial operations in which the owner was engaged, determine another main characteristic of the askeri chiftliks. This type of landholding can be defined as a means of making money for the chiftlik-holders, is mainly market-oriented and is linked to the economic and political situation in the Ottoman Empire, which at certain periods changed dynamically. The interest of the representatives of the Ottoman elite in the askeri chiftliks appears to have lasted throughout the period under review. Only the ability of the askeri to circumvent the legal framework, to illegally seize land, to evade taxes on the resulting production and to secure a workforce by hiding the population from the tax authorities can lead to the formation of a large landholding with high profits. Such farms remain limited in time and depend on the specific political and economic situation in the region and in the country itself. Thus, the chiftlik-holders participated in the change of the Ottoman social model, in the reformulation of the duties and functions of the askeri class.