The Ottoman military, socio-economic and administrative order in the Lower Danube (from the mid-15th to the end of the 16th century): the cases of Vidin and Niğbolu

Abstract

This study examines changes in the military, socio-economic, and administrative structures of the Niğbolu and Vidin sancaks (districts) in the Lower Danube region of the Ottoman Empire from the mid-15th to the end of the 16th century. It argues that transformations observed in these structures in Vidin and Niğbolu sancaks from the mid-fifteenth to end of the sixteenth century reflected the fiscal-military adaptations of the Ottoman state to the changing frontier dynamics and financial pressures. While earlier studies have examined Vidin and Niğbolu sancaks primarily through the frameworks of institutional continuities and changes, this thesis offers a novel approach by exploring the evolving structures from a fiscal and frontier-focused perspective. It further argues that the Ottomans established their authority in the frontier regions through their socio-economic, military, and legal institutions. It analyzes whether the influence of the “uc beys” continued from the mid-fifteenth century to the end of the sixteenth century, by examining the changing profile of the sancakbeys (governors). Moreover, it illuminates the shift in the status of the Niğbolu and Vidin sancaks in the frontiers from the fifteenth to the sixteenth century by emphasizing the evolving payment methods of the garrison forces, which changed the status of Niğbolu sancak into an interior region, and Vidin into semi-frontier. Finally, it discusses the emergence and expansion of havass-ı hümayun revenues, as well as changes in the tahrir-timar system and tax collection methods in the sancaks of Vidin and Niğbolu, demonstrating how these systems evolved in response to financial and military shifts.