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Mülk was a form of land holding in the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
.


Characteristics of mülk

Mülk was similar to
freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple * Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice ...
land; owners could buy, sell, and mortgage freely. It was exempt from some kinds of land taxes. Mülk was about more than just the ''land''; it might also include the right to annual malikane payments from tenants and farmers.


History

The term mülk has its origins in Arabic and was historically significant in the context of property and land ownership, particularly in the Islamic world. During the Ottoman Empire, ''mülk'' specifically referred to privately owned land, distinct from other forms such as miri (state land) and vakıf (land dedicated to religious endowments). The concept of ''mülk'' played a key role in the Ottoman land tenure system, influencing how wealth and power were distributed across different societal classes. In the Ottoman Empire, private ownership of land was relatively rare. Most land was considered ''miri'' and belonged to the state, which allowed the sultan to exert control over agricultural production and taxation. However, some landowners—often elites—held mülk lands, giving them full rights over their property, including the ability to sell, bequeath, or transfer it. This created a distinct class of wealthy landowners with significant economic and political influence. Following the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the legal and administrative structures surrounding property rights evolved. The ''mülk'' system, while no longer central to land management, remains an important legal concept in modern Turkey, where it still signifies property ownership. Additionally, the legacy of ''mülk'' survives in institutions such as Mülkiye, which refers to the Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University. This institution, originally established to train Ottoman civil servants, continues to symbolize the state's administration and governance of land and resources


Context

In much of the near east, mülk can be contrasted against miri, which was effectively state-controlled land (perhaps a former mülk forfeited to the state when the owner had no heir to pass it on to). In some ways, mülk was similar to
waqf A (; , plural ), also called a (, plural or ), or ''mortmain'' property, is an Alienation (property law), inalienable charitable financial endowment, endowment under Sharia, Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot ...
property.


See also

* çiftlik *
Iltizam An iltizam () was a form of tax farm that appeared in the 15th century in the Ottoman Empire. The system began under Mehmed the Conqueror and was abolished during the Tanzimat reforms in 1856. Iltizams were sold off by the government to wealthy n ...
*
Tapu resmi The tapu resmi was a feudal land tax in the Ottoman Empire. A ''tapu'' was the equivalent of a title deed for farmland, in a feudal system where farmers were proprietors rather than outright owners; this would be recorded in a ''tapu tahrir'', a s ...
* Sinirname * Malikane * Miri * mawat: Dead land, or wilderness.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulk Land management in the Ottoman Empire Property law