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A raiyah or reaya (from , a plural of "countryman, animal, sheep pasturing, subjects, nationals, flock", also spelled ''raiya'', ''raja'', ''raiah'', ''re'aya''; , ; Modern Turkish ''râiya'' or ''reaya''; related to the Arabic word ''rā'ī'' راعي which means "shepherd, herdsman, patron") was a member of the tax-paying lower class of Ottoman society, in contrast to the askeri and kul.
The raiyah made up over 90% of the general population in the
A raiyah or reaya (from , a plural of "countryman, animal, sheep pasturing, subjects, nationals, flock", also spelled ''raiya'', ''raja'', ''raiah'', ''re'aya''; , ; Modern Turkish ''râiya'' or ''reaya''; related to the Arabic word ''rā'ī'' راعي which means "shepherd, herdsman, patron") was a member of the tax-paying lower class of Ottoman society, in contrast to the askeri and kul.
The raiyah made up over 90% of the general population in the millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae.
Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
communities. In the Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
world, raiyah is literally ''subject'' of a government or sovereign. The raiyah (literally 'members of the flock') included Christians, Muslims, and Jews who were 'shorn' (''i.e.'' taxed) to support the state and the associated 'professional Ottoman' class.
However, both in contemporaneous and in modern usage, it refers to non-Muslim subjects in particular, also called zimmi.
In the early Ottoman Empire, raiyah were not eligible for military service, but from the late 16th century, Muslim raiyah became eligible to the distress of some of the ruling class.Greene, p. 41, quoting Halil Inalcık
See also
* Ryot: A land holding system developed during the Mughal rule in India. * Giaour * Ottoman millet system * Second-class citizen * Qara bodunReferences
Sources
* Molly Greene, ''A Shared World: Christians and Muslims in the Early Modern Mediterranean'', Princeton, 2000. * Peter F. Sugar, ''Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804'', series title ''A History of East Central Europe'', volume V, University of Washington Press, 1983. . {{Religious slurs Social classes in the Ottoman Empire Taxation in the Ottoman Empire