Making sense of musadere practice, state confiscation of elite wealth, in the Ottoman Empire, circa 1453-1839

Abstract

This article surveys the historiography of musadere, that is, state confiscation of elite wealth in the Ottoman Empire (circa 1453-1839) and offers a new approach to understand this practice. The existing literature has focused on its legality, functions, methods of enforcement, or economic consequences. The lack of such comprehensive analysis supported by archival data has led not only to some misconceptions but to a failure to locate it into the larger themes of Ottoman state formation. The article first presents a critical review of the historiography of musadere, discussing these misconceptions stemming from negligence of three crucial elements of musadere, that is, time-specificity, selectivity, and flexibility. Then, it introduces a political economy approach, putting the practice of musadere into the context of survival strategies of a state with relatively limited capacity. Finally, it connects the political economy approach with the debate on the nature of Ottoman governance. The aim of the article is to help students of Ottoman history to make better sense of one of the most important institutions of Ottoman political economy and the logic of governance and state formation in general.