Defining Village Boundaries at the Time of the Introduction of the Malikane System: The Struggle of the Ottoman State for Reaffirming Ownership of the Land

This article examines four cases in which a need arose to define clearly the boundaries of properties belonging to the endowments of Şeyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi (1695–1703). The process of drawing village boundaries not only served the interests of the Ottoman government and the villagers, but also the interests of a land-owning class enabled by mülk grants. In response to the introduction of the malikane system at the end of the seventeenth century, high-ranking functionaries belonging to the old elites strived to secure rural income by attempting to convert public resources into private property. In this process, the preparation of the demarcation document (hududname) was very important. After receiving the official grant, which only mentioned the names of the mülk objects, the interested dignitary wanted to be certain of the boundaries of the defined properties, so that his rule over these properties would be full and unconditional. The article shows that nevertheless the state always retained ultimate ownership of the land.