Tracing the origin of a new meaning of the term re‘āyā in the eighteenth-century ottoman Balkans
Besides its usage with the primary meanings: 1) social status; 2) subjectship, the term re‘āyā was used to denote, as many historians tend to claim, “only non-Muslim subjects” from “sometime” in the second half of the eighteenth and in the nineteenth century. The paper demonstrates that thi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institute for Balkan Studies SASA
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Balcanica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-7653/2017/0350-76531748055F.pdf |
| Summary: | Besides its usage with the primary meanings: 1) social status; 2)
subjectship, the term re‘āyā was used to denote, as many historians tend to
claim, “only non-Muslim subjects” from “sometime” in the second half of the
eighteenth and in the nineteenth century. The paper demonstrates that this
meaning of the term re‘āyā had already been in use since the first decades of
the eighteenth century, and not to the exclusion of but along with other
meanings. More frequent replacement of the neutral shari‘a term zimmī(ler)
and the usual official term kefere with the word re‘āyā should be considered
a consequence of structural social change taking place in the same century.
[Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological
Development, Grant no. 177003: Medieval heritage of the Balkans: institutions
and culture] |
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| ISSN: | 0350-7653 2406-0801 |