Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

Ottoman State System and their Decline
845
population. The za’ims and timariots, as holders of the corresponding fiefs were called, were a class of country gentlemen, honest, sober, true to the Islamic faith a;,j to the Sultan, better in morals than the kullars, if not so able of intellect. They were the substantial middle class of the empire. It was these who gave the first training to the ’Ajam Oghlans (slave boys selected for the Janissary corps), starting them well on the road from Christianity to Islam and preparing them to become members of the Ottoman nation.
There was a special category of fiefs called the khass. These were closely connected with the administration of the provinces. Some times the holders of the khass are even confused with provincial governors. But the idea of khass is in some sense distinct from that of the military fiefs. Some Ottoman writers have distinguised between provinces ruled as salayane, a word which means ”annual” and the khass provinces. The former were held by governors either in full ownership or for a year at a time. With this system the emoluments of the governors were deducted from the revenue of the State collected by fiscal officers. But the distinction cannot be taken too literally. Some salayance governors actually had khass and the khass were not all military fiefs. The Khan of Crimea levied 1,200,000 aspers on the customs of Caffa, under the name of khass. On the other hand, sanjaqs (provincial subdivisions) of different character are found in the same provinces, some salayane, some khass. The khass thus seems to be something larger than a military fief and differs from it in so far as the khass was attached, not to the person, but to the position of the governor. The Sultan had also regular private khass, which were called khass-i Humayuni.
The khass-holders were represented by two kinds of high officials, the beylerbey and the sanjaqbey (viceroys and provincial governors), both of them holders of khass. The beylerbeys held khass the value of the annual revenue of which varied from 50,000 aspers to 1,200,000 and were proportionate to their rank and precedence. Some of the portions of their revenue were exempt from military obligations. The beylerbeys were themselves allowed to issue berat conferring the small timar. When a viceroy died, the State gave timar to eleven of his servants. The sanjaqbey (provincial governor) in theory held khass of at least 200,000 aspers of annual revenue. When the holder was an officer of the palace, the minimum was higher and proportionate to the dignity. The Agha of the Janissaries had the highest 500,000 aspers.

846
Political and Cultural History of Islam

The augmentation or Teraqqi of the fiefs of the sanjaqbey was made by a sum of 100 aspers on each 10,000 revenue. When a vacant fief was allotted to a sanjaqbey, who had not yet a right to the whole revenue of it, the surplus went to the State. The high command of the feudatories was exercised by the provincial governors.
In the time of Sulayman, the system of fiefs had become
greatly disarranged. The distribution of them had been left to the
local governors and corruption had crept in ; the frequent wars also
had led to rapid changes and consequent confusion. Moreover, the
army always contained a large number of gonulu or volunteers who
came at their own expense and fought with the hope of receiving the
fiefs of the slain men. It is said that during the course of single day
one fief changed owners several times. If fiefs were thus granted in
the midst of battle, it is not easy to see how a condition of reasonable
order could have been preserved in the feudal system. Sulayman,
therefore, by a Qanun of the year 1530, attached the granting of all
fiefs above a certain size once more to the central government. Each
holder of such a fief must obtain a tezkerah or document from
Constantinople in order to have good title. The central treasury
administered such estates during vacancies. Only those fief-holders
who held a tezkerah were entitled to be called sipahis. Others were
known as timarjis. The feudal sipahis of Anatolia were more under
the authority of the governor than were the sipahis of Europe; they
were not so well paid, did not have much practice in fighting and
were not so highly esteemed as soldiers.
Local government and the command of feudal sipahis was
cared for by officials who belonged to the Sultan’s great slave family
and who brought with them to their posts a number proportionate to
their rank, of the sipahis of the Sultan, pages. ’Ajam Oghlans and
slaves of their own. The lowest of these officials were the subashis or
captains, who were in time of peace governors of towns, with enough
Janissaries and Azabs (irregular infantry) to police the locality. Next
above them were the Alai Beys or colonels, who in time of peace
were ready with a company of 200-500 to pass from place to place as
required. Above these, again, were the sanjaqbeys who governed
important cities and held superior rules over a number of towns and
the districts in \much they lay. Finally, in the Balkan peninsula and in
the western Asia Minor, there was from old a beylerbey, who had
authority over a-\\ the beys of this region. Incomes were provided by