Defter

A defter (plural: defterler) was a type of tax register and land cadastre in the Ottoman Empire.

The information collected could vary, but tahrir defterleri typically included details of villages, dwellings, household heads (adult males and widows), ethnicity/religion (because these could affect tax liabilities/exemptions), and land use.[1] The defter-i hakâni was a land registry, also used for tax purposes.[2] Each town had a defter and typically an officiator or someone in an administrative role to determine whether the information should be recorded. The officiator was usually some kind of learned man who had knowledge of state regulations. The defter was used to record family interactions such as marriage and inheritance.[3] These records are useful for historians because such information allows for a more in-depth understanding of land ownership among Ottomans. This is particularly helpful when attempting to study the daily affairs of Ottoman citizens.

Some Ottoman officials responsible for these tax registries were known as defterdars.

Daftars in India

Records of this kind are known as daftars in Northern India as well, for instance the Peshwa's daftar of Pune.[4]

Origin of term

The term is derived from Greek diphthera διφθέρα, literally processed animal skin, leather, fur, meaning a book, having pages of goat parchment[5] used along with papyrus as paper in Ancient Greece, borrowed into Arabic دفتر: daftar meaning book. The term 'diphtheria' or 'diphtheritis', acute contagious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Klebs-Loffler bacillus) has the same origin.

References

Cosgel (2004). "Ottoman Tax Registers (Tahrir Defterleri)". Historical Methods. 37 (2): 87–100. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
Barnes (1987). An introduction to religious foundations in the Ottoman Empire. Brill. p. 151. ISBN 978-90-04-08652-4.
Cleveland, W. L. (2004). A history of the modern Middle East. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press.
Govind Sakharam Sardesai (Ed.): Selections from the Peshwa Daftar. Bombay : Gov. Central Press 19XX
Wünsch, Διφθέρα. In: Realencyclopaedie des Classischen Alterthums, vol. V,1, col.1157-1158

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[1] Cosgel (2004). "Ottoman Tax Registers (Tahrir Defterleri)". Historical Methods. 37 (2): 87–100. Retrieved 1 November 2011.

[2] Barnes (1987). An introduction to religious foundations in the Ottoman Empire. Brill. p. 151. ISBN 978-90-04-08652-4.

[3] Cleveland, W. L. (2004). A history of the modern Middle East. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press.

[4] Govind Sakharam Sardesai (Ed.): Selections from the Peshwa Daftar. Bombay : Gov. Central Press 19XX

[5] Wünsch, Διφθέρα. In: Realencyclopaedie des Classischen Alterthums, vol. V,1, col.1157-1158