Accounting and Fiscality in the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

The Ottoman Empire was an imperial superpower that manifested its domination in the Mediterranean zone between 1299 and 1922. At the moment of their maximum glory, the ottomans ruled over three continents, meaning 19,9 millions km2. The tax system applied during 600 years, but also the accounting methods used, prove a remarkable administrative and fiscal organization in the Empire. There were taxes based on the Islamic law, but also taxes established by the sultan concerning the salaries of employees and the military campaigns. The necessity of a correct evidence of tax collecting and distribution required keeping registers “in stairs”, according to an accounting method overtook from the Arabs, named the “Merdiban Method”. The method was based on principles available until nowadays. It was applied until the end of XIXth century, when it was replaced with the method based on double-entry recording, overtook from the west.