What Was the Timar System?

A timar was land granted by the Ottoman sultans between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, with a tax revenue annual value of less than 20,000 akçes. The revenues produced from land acted as compensation for military service. A Timar holder was known as a Timariot.

What was the Timar system of the Ottoman Empire?

Timar, in the Ottoman Empire, grant of lands or revenues by the sultan to an individual in compensation for his services, essentially similar to the iqṭāʿ of the Islamic empire of the Caliphate. (See also sipahi).

When was the Timar system established?

The timar system began under Murad I (1359–1389), who granted land rights as payment to his military officers. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries timars became the primary means of financing the Ottoman military.