Clerks of Maliye Ahkam Bureau in Ottoman Bureaucracy in the 16th Century

Abstract

One of the least examined areas in the field of Ottoman bureaucracy is the emergence of a class of clerks and further specialization of the bureaucracy into areas of expertise. Although the work on the Divan-i Humayun clerks has enriched our knowledge about this class considerably, there has been no equal study for clerks of the Maliye Ahkam bureau. This article demonstrates that clerks of the Maliye Ahkam bureau worked together with the Divan clerks until the reign of Kanuni, and developed into an independent entity in his reign. I have examined 47 Ruus registers belonging to the period between 954 and 1001 (1547-1592) for appointments of finance clerks and their career paths. The transcripts of the documents found in the Ruus registers is also given at the end of the article.