Abstract:

The city of Basra, founded during the reign of Khalif Omar, came under Ottoman rule in 1538; but it was left under the administration of the local ruler, Rashid bin Megamis. Sheikh Yahya, who took over the administration of the city after Rashid, did not recognize the Ottoman administration and rebelled. Ayas Pasha, who was assigned to suppress the rebellion in 1546, took the city. After that, the city was organized as an Ottoman province. Basra, which was surveyed in 1552, 1574, 1575 and in 1590 after it came under the administration of Ottoman Empire. The results of these surveys were recorded in the synoptic (icmal) and in the detailed survey registers (mufassal tahrir defterleri). These registers contain detailed information about the social and economic structure of the region. In this study, the survey register of Basra numbered 94 in the Kuyud-ı Kadime Archive of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre in Ankara was used as primary source. The register contains information about waqfs in Basra city and region in the 16th century. The names of waqfs, their locations, their annual income and expenses, and employees were detailed in this register. Determining waqfs established in Basra is very important for the studies on the Middle East countries. 

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