Publication: Making of a sultanic waqf : Hamidiye endowments and its institutionalization on the Eve of Evkaf-ı Hümâyûn Nezâret (1781-1826)
Abstract
Hamidiye Vakfı, uzun süren savaşlar, sürekli isyanlar ve tutarsız reformlarla tarif edilen bir kriz dönemi olan 18. yüzyılın sonunda Sultan I. Abdülhamid tarafından kurulmuştur. Bu tez, Hamidiye Vakfı'nın vakfiyesi, muhâsebe defterleri ve ahkâm defterleri ışığında hazırlanmış monografik bir incelemesidir. Tezin üç temel amacı vardır: hukuki, sosyo-ekonomik ve kurumsal. Hukuki amaç, gayri sahih vakıflar olarak adlandırdığımız devlet topraklarının (mîrî) vakfedilmesiyle ortaya çıkan sultan vakıflarının kurulmasının hukuki gerekçelerini sorgular ve imparatorluk vakıflarını genel vakıf sistemi içinde sınıflandırmaya çalışır. Sosyo-ekonomik amaç, bir yandan uzun 18. yüzyılın enflasyonist ortamında hayır hizmetlerinin sosyal etkisini, diğer yandan da merkezi hazinenin artan bütçe açıklarıyla mücadele ettiği çalkantılı dönemlerde vakfın ekonomik performansını ortaya koymayı amaçlar. Kurumsal amaç ise, hayır binalarının inşası ve personelinin atanması dahil olmak üzere vakfın kuruluşunu ve kurumsallaşmasını, gelir ve giderlerini, karar alma ve denetleme sürecini araştırır. Bu çalışma, Evkaf-ı Hümâyûn Nezâreti’nin kuruluş arefesinde vakıf müessesesinin yeniden yapılanmasına ışık tutmaya yönelik mütevazi bir girişimdir.
Hamidiye waqf was founded by Sultan Abdülhamid I at the end of the eighteenth century which was a period of crisis characterized by long-standing wars, constant rebellions, and inconsistent reforms. This thesis is a monographic study of the Hamidiye waqfs, prepared in the light of its charter, account books, and ahkâm books. The aim of the thesis is three-fold: legal, socio-economic, and institutional. The legal objective seeks to categorize the imperial waqfs within the overall waqf system and examines legal justifications for the establishment of the sultan waqf emanated from the state lands which is called gayr-i sahih waqfs. The socio-economic objective is, on one hand, to discover the social impact of charity services in the inflationist environment of the long-eighteenth century, on the other hand, the economic performance of the waqf in the turbulent times when the central treasury was dealing with ongoing budget deficits. The institutional objective is to explore the formation and development of the waqf including the construction of charity buildings and appointment of their personnel, its revenues and expenditures as well as the decision-making and supervision process. This study is a humble attempt to shed light on the re-organization of the waqf institution on the eve of the establishment of the Ministry of Imperial Foundations.
Hamidiye waqf was founded by Sultan Abdülhamid I at the end of the eighteenth century which was a period of crisis characterized by long-standing wars, constant rebellions, and inconsistent reforms. This thesis is a monographic study of the Hamidiye waqfs, prepared in the light of its charter, account books, and ahkâm books. The aim of the thesis is three-fold: legal, socio-economic, and institutional. The legal objective seeks to categorize the imperial waqfs within the overall waqf system and examines legal justifications for the establishment of the sultan waqf emanated from the state lands which is called gayr-i sahih waqfs. The socio-economic objective is, on one hand, to discover the social impact of charity services in the inflationist environment of the long-eighteenth century, on the other hand, the economic performance of the waqf in the turbulent times when the central treasury was dealing with ongoing budget deficits. The institutional objective is to explore the formation and development of the waqf including the construction of charity buildings and appointment of their personnel, its revenues and expenditures as well as the decision-making and supervision process. This study is a humble attempt to shed light on the re-organization of the waqf institution on the eve of the establishment of the Ministry of Imperial Foundations.