Mālikāna

Abstract

Mālikāna as a liefelong lease of governmental estates, in contrast to a special form of mulk estate, represents one completely new institution of Ottoman law. It was established in 1695 under the direct influence of financial crisis in Ottoman Empire aiming at alleviating it.

After the defeat of the Turks (Ottomans) near Vieena (in 1683), when an enormous need for money arose, the governmental estates were leased ("sold") as a lifelong lease (mālikāna), that is a particular form of lease with dou b led liabilities for the lessee which appeared, firstly, in the fact that the lessee had to pay its price as a fixed amount (muaccel) at the reception of mālikāna , and, secondly, each year the lessee had to pay the amount called mueccel which had been given previously as an annual lease (mukat'a).

The government itself had more losses than benefits caused by mālikāna because by leasing its estates in the form of mālikāna, the government renounced one of its main revenue sources for a long period while, on the other hand, it strenghtend the material position of those social classes whose greed for material profit and power was undermining and destroying the authority of the sultan and the government. This became apparent especially in those parts of the Empire where the whole regions (sancak) and provinces were given as malikana.

Therefore, from 18th century, onwards, the central government made several futile attempts to repeal the mālikāna, but didn't achieve it until imposing the Tanzim (in 1839).