Petar Dobrev,
Senior Assistant Professor, PhD
Department of History
Sofia University
Institute for Historical Studies
Bulgarian Academy of Science
15, Tzar Osvoboditel Blvd.
1504 Sofia BULGARIA
E-mail: peterzad@gmail.com
Web of Science ResearcherID: AAM-4716-2021
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5666-213X
Nikolay Todorov,
Associate Professor, PhD
“Angel Kanchev” University of Ruse
8, Studentska St.
7017 Ruse BULGARIA
E-mail: todorovnikolay@abv.bg
SCOPUS Researcher ID: 57416480900
Web of Science Researcher ID: AAF-7073-2021
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1306-1289
Съдържанието е достъпно само за абонирани потребители.
Pages: 71 – 104 | https://doi.org/10.53656/978-619-7667-81-3-v2.02
Abstract. The land question is one of the main research problems in contemporary Ottoman studies. Until the end of its existence, the Ottoman Empire predominantly maintained an agrarian character, which explains the importance of the agrarian change that occurred in the 19th century. Still, the transformation of land at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century is an issue that is not yet not fully clarified. Difficulties arise both from the lack of documents and from the absence of legislative acts that reflect the change. Traditionally, the question of land has been intensely studied after 1858, when the “Land Code” was adopted. Our study attempts, first and foremost, to trace the changes in the status of the land from the late 18th century to the 1840s. The changes in land ownership as a result of the proclaimed reforms in the 1840s – the Tanzimat era – are also examined. The Land Code of 1858 and the gradual transformation of the land into private property are discussed in detail. The “Çiftlik debate” is also thoroughly explored, as it remains central to modern studies on the agrarian regime in the Ottoman Empire. We try to contribute to this debate by showing the different types of çiftliks that existed in the lands inhabited by Bulgarians. Some of them followed the path of capitalist modernization and turned out to be extremely sustainable farms that continued to exist in the Bulgarian state after 1878. Analyzing the available historiography and using new archives, we analyze in detail the reasons why certain areas were more suitable for this type of agriculture, while in most of the Bulgarian lands such development was absent.
Keywords: çiftliks; Ottoman Empire; Bulgaria; historiography; Agrarian question; feudalism; sipahi
