Defter

Defter ( Ottoman Turkish, from Persian دفتر, Daftar, pl. Dafātir / دفاتر ) is a term from the Ottoman administration language and means book, file tape or register. Even in the modern Turkish language the word is used and means something like book or notebook.

Derived from Defter are Defterdar, title of the highest tax officials of the Ottoman Empire, and Defterhane, name of the office of financial management in the sultan's palace.

Defter as historical sources

The Ottoman administration had achieved a high degree of literacy in the 15th century. Here, the Turks oriented models from Persia and the Byzantine Empire. Both the central institutions at the court of the Sultan as well as the officials in the various provinces resulted in a plethora of official books and records in which a wide variety of important for the state administration things were recorded. In the example Dafātir were captured military personnel, the resources of the court and the army, the incumbent judge of a sanjak were registered, listed or subordinate officials gathered in the instructions of their superiors.

The most numerous by far the form of Dafātir were detailed control register ( tahir defterleri ). Add them all households of a province were recognized with their movable and immovable possessions. They not infrequently almost unbroken information on the distribution of land ownership, the yield of the soil and the anticipated income. In addition, they contain information about religion (given the poll tax ) and legal status of each household. For example, the holders of military fiefs were reported separately. Moreover, in such Dafātir more fiscally relevant information has been broken down by Nahiye and village resigned and sometimes also considered special assets such as Islamic or Christian monastic foundations. This type of Defter were so census and land in one. For historical research they are therefore important sources on demography, economic and social history of the Ottoman -dominated countries. Your edition and evaluation is one of the major tasks of the Ottoman.