Governing property, making the modern state - PSI424

Notes to chapter 4
enough to shelter his/her children) and
the land necessary for support of the
household. Should the cultivator owe more
than he could thus pay, guarantors were
to be asked to assume the balance of the
debt for tax arrears. See Karakoç: Tahşiyeli
Kavanin, pp. 257–9.
56 Karakoç: Tahşiyeli Kavanin,
pp. 54–5. Such announcements were
printed in the official newspapers of the
provinces, such as Suriye, the official paper
of Damascus.
57 The law of 7.Ra.1279, 2 September
1862, Düstur, vol. 1, p. 244.
58 Düstur, vol. 1, p. 209, dated
8.L.1276, 29 April 1860.
59 Al-Muradi: ‘Arf al-basham,
p. 224, states that al-Hamzawi (1234–
1305AH/1818–87) studied in Damascus and
was appointed to the court of al-Buzuriya
in Damascus and then to the great court
in Istanbul. In 1266/1849–50 he became
a member of the council of the eyalet; in
1269/1852–53 he was appointed director of
the waqfs of Damascus and then to many
posts, the most of important of which was
to the council investigating the events of
1860. He was made mufti in 1284/1867–68
and wrote several works.
60 Al-Ikhbar ‘an haqq al-qarar in
al-Majmu‘ min al-rasa’il of Mahmud
al-Hamzawi, ZAL.100, fols 47a–50a. The
epistle is dated 1299AH/1881.
61 Al-Ikhbar, fol. 47a. Al-Hamzawi
states that he has consulted Ebussuud,
Kemal Paşazade, ‘Abd al-Rahim Efendi,
Yahya Efendi, Jami‘ al-ijaratain and the
writings of ‘Ata’llah and others but in the
epistle he cites only Ebussuud, Muhammad
Bahaî, al-Ramli and al-Hanuti.
62 This is sheikh-ul-Islam Bahaî Efendi
(d. 1654), see Chapter 3, note 80.
63 Al-Hamzawi stresses the necessity
of the presence of the government official
in any law suit in the civil courts, noting,
in classical manner, that these lands are in
the possession of the ra‘aya only by virtue
of faulty lease and that their right therein
is but usufructuary like that of the holder
256
of an office (haqqu-hum fi-ha al-intifa‘
ka-sahib al-wazifa). Al-Ikhbar, fol. 48b.
64 Al-Ikhbar, fol. 48a.
65 Al-Ikhbar, fols 48b, 49a.
66 Al-Ikhbar, fol. 49a.
67 Ibid. ‘fa-huwa amrun qanuni la
hukm qurani’.
68 Al-Ikhbar, fols 49b, 50a.
69 The text of the report and the note
sent to the sultan are given in Karakoç:
Tahşiyeli Kavanin, pp. 260–61.
70 The date of the report and note
of the Meclis-i Vala were 7.B. 1278 and
17B.1278, 9 and 19 January 1862. The
sultanic irade was dated 18.B.1278, 20
January 1862.
71 The term is that of the Mecelle, see
clauses 128 and 129.
72 See Dein için emval-i gayr-i
menkulenin füruhtu hakkında nizamname,
Düstur, vol. 1, pp. 237–8.
73 See Taşralarda musakkafat ve
müstagilat için verilecek ilmühaberlerin
tarifnamesi in Düstur, vol. 1, pp. 251–6,
dated 9 Şubat 1280AM, 21 February 1865.
74 DLS.AT.Talimat: Emlak yoklama
nizamnamesi 28.B.1291, 9 September 1874,
and Emlak yoklama defterleri hakkında
tarifname 5.N.1291, 16 October 1874,
Arazi-i mevkufe senedatının defterhaneden
verilmesi hakkında talimat 6.B.1292, 8
August 1875.
75 The şer’î courts were increasingly
relegated to cases of family law, still uncodified
law, or ancillary procedures
such as vekalet, one of the rare ways
to effect property transfers outside the
administration or civil court. The şer’î
courts also determined the proper shares
of inheritance for both mülk and miri land
and matters related to family vakıfs.
76 DLS.AT.Talimat, item 3, folio 1:
Defterhane nezaret-i celilesinden meb’us
tezkirenin suretidir, 5.L.1288, in a collection
marked Arazi kanunnamesiyle talimat
ve tarifname ‘al-qadima’. This required the
appointment of a yoklama official at the
level of each sanjak to be supported by a
number of scribes. The officials were to go