These lands are, in fact, divided into four classes; and the rate of taxation is not the same for all. Thus there is the melkiiet ,the uchriiè and kharadjiiè . Melkiiet land is that of which the ownership is governed entirely by the rules of the religiouslaw. Uckriiè , or tithe land, is that which was divided, at the time of the conquest, among the conquerors, and given them infull ownership. Kharadjiiè lands are those which, at the same time, were left, on recognized titles, in the possession of thenatives (non-Mussulmans). These kkaradjiiè lands are subject :some to the kharadji-mou quaumè , that is the proportionaltax, which, according to the importance of the produce, may rise from one-tenth to one-half of the harvest; the others paythe kharadji-muvazzat , a fixed tax on the land. Uckriiè and kkaradjiiè land, on the death, without heirs, of the owner,returns to the State domain, and becomes émirié laud.
Thus there exist even for mulk lands, legal intricacies, which in practice are an impediment to their free alienation.
EMIRIE LANDS. Emiré lands, constituting the larger portion of the territory of the Empire, belong to the State. They arederived, in great measure, from the old fiefs, which were granted to military chiefs, on condition of their rendering personalaid, at the head of a certain number of horsemen, in wars offensive or defensive. These fiefs were of two sorts: the Timar (inPersian, to nourish or tend) and the Ziamet (from zaim , chieftain).
The law of April 21, 1858, abolished these fiefs. It declared that they were to return to the State; and that the landsdependent on them were to be granted to the inhabitants severally. The provisions of the law have been observed, and thepresent state of things is as follows:
The grantees received titles ( tapou ) establishing their right of grant ( teçarruf ). The explanation of these two terms will shewthat in reality the holder of lands so allotted has no right of ownership. What, then, is the teçarruf and what is the tapou ?
The teçarruf signifies a mode of grant, which gives the holder, it is true, the right to take the fruits of the property, and even,in some cases, to sell it, but under the express condition of annually paying a specified rent to the State. Moreover, thetributary nature of émirié land is still indicated by the fact that, in certain cases, the holder is obliged to obtain a new title ofpossession, which, stating precisely the origin and nature of this land, renews, so to speak, the act of vassalage.
The name tapou , which the title of possession bears, also calls attention to the dependent nature of émirié land. Tapou isderived from the verb tapmaq (to render homage, or worship), and hence it bears the sense of act of servitude, or vassalage.
In practice, the tapou is a title of possession delivered on the payment of a certain sum, by means of which the right ofenjoyment and transmission is secured to the holder and his heirs, on conditions determined by law.
Vacouf lands, that is lands tied up for religious purposes, are very extensive in Turkey. They comprise a large portion of thewhole territory, and are administered by a special minister, the Eveaf . Vacouf lands are let on lease, but they bring in a verysmall income, as the law enacts that the lease shall always be granted at the same rent, and will allow of no increase, evenwhere from competition a higher price is offered. The rents having been fixed long ago, the revenue is almost nothing inconsequence of the depreciation of money. The holders of vacouf lands have, therefore, a hereditary lease at a nominal rent.
There are two kinds of vacoufs . The religious vacouf , granted or devised for a pious object; and the customary vacouf ,which is very similar in its origin to certain benefices of the middle ages.
The customary vacouf is land obtained by the mosques at a price very much below its real value. By a sale of thisdescription, the proprietor grants his land to a mosque, for a stipulated price. The peculiarity of this contract is that theproprietor retains the enjoyment of the land, paying an annual rent ( idjarè ), regulated by the amount of the purchase-money.
Conventions of this kind were subject to no restriction, but were framed simply and absolutely at the will of the parties.
Formerly, these conventions were very common, as the grantor derived numerous advantages from them. In reality, heremained master of the property, and occupied it or let it, as he pleased; in case of debts, the property, being vacouf wasprotected from judicial procedure. On his death the vacouf returned, it is true, to the Evcaf , if he had no heirs in the firstdegree; but he could in some measure obviate this inconvenience by assigning his rights to another person. Finally, by thismeans, he withdrew his property from liability to the Chefâia , or " retrait vicinal ," exercised by every proprietor over landcontiguous to his own, and giving him precedence, in case of its sale, over every other purchaser. The mosque, on its part,found the following advantages in the arrangement:a safe investment for its funds, guaranteed by the land; exemption fromrepairs, which the tenant had to execute; the benefit of all repairs and improvements carried out on the property; the dutieswhich had to be paid to the mosque on the proprietor disposing of his rights in favour of a third party ( droits de Moukatea );finally, the right of succession to the property, which devolved absolutely on the mosque, on the death of the tenant withoutchildren.
Vacouf lands as well as émirié land were in no way set free by the laws of May 21, 1858, and of June 18, 1867. Since thepromulgation of these laws, as well as before, they have borne in the highest degree the character of " immobilisation ' anddependence from the State.
