Özet:

States must have economic power in order to maintain their political organizations. One of the leading elements contributing to economic structures is taxation and its implementation. From Ottoman state’s foundation, taxes were the most important components of revenue sources, primary contributor to the institutionalization and diffusion of its economic structure. Among them, the sheep tax (ağnam vergisi) was the most prominent. This tax, collected under manifold names in Islamic states, appears as resm-i ganem (lit. the sheep tax) or adet-i ağnam (lit. sheep number) in the official records of the Ottoman Empire. The amount of tax varied according to the characteristics of the regions, and it was collected not only from sheep but also from goats. From the 17th century onwards, the amount of the sheep tax was gradually increased, and it imposed a significant burden on the peasantry. Earlier, the amounts of sheep tax were determined by provincial administration, after 1857 the central government began to assign the amount of this tax, and due to economic collapse of the state, the central government frequently raise the amount. These raises especially troubled the farmers, who earned their livelihood with husbandry, in some regions. Thus, sheep owners hid their animals from tax collectors in order to avoid the tax or to pay less, which leading to the ağnam-ı mektume (concealed sheep) problem. The practice of concealing sheeps appears in official records and parliament discussions, hence one can establish that it was a widespread practice in all Ottoman regions and the state was aware of it. This study examines the concealed sheep problem revealed by military corps sent to Plasnicha and Drugova villages in the Kırçova district of Manastır Province in the middle of 1908 and their investigations. The sources of this study are the documents found within the Rumeli Inspectorate classification Manastır records, in the Directorate of State Archives/Ottoman Archives.

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