The Edremit Taxfarming (Mukataa) of the Waqf of Sultan Murad II (1530-1641)

In Ottoman society, the waqfs of sultans assumed important duties about building up the country, effecting educational actitivities and public services. Sultans desired to build their waqf incomes on strong foundations in order to cover expenses of the pious foundations established with big investments. The waqfs Sultan Murad II with sources of income about a million akçes were widespread to various cities for preventing possible problems in the income and expenditure accounts. Because Sultan Murad II aimed to reduce the impact of the natural disasters and the social turmoils that might have happened in time, he formed the taxfarming areas in Bergama, Söğüd, Edremit, Tavsanlı and Bursa. In this work, the financial situation of incomes of the waqfs Sultan Murad II in the Edremit county (kaza) between 1530-1641/42 is investigated. It is also aimed to emphasize the impact of the progress in 110 years on the waqf incomes according to the financial account books (muhasebe defterleri) and the Edremit evkâf registers. Consequently, this work gives a hint about the structure of incomes of the waqf of Sultan Murad II in the Edremit county and names of the nomadic Yörüks that composed income sources of the system.