{{Short description|Temporary large estate under the Ottoman Empire}} Under the Ottoman Empire, an '''arpalik''' or '''arpaluk''' ({{langx|tr|Arpalık}}) was a large estate (i.e. sanjak) entrusted to some holder of senior position, or to some margrave, as a temporary arrangement before they were appointed to some appropriate position.<ref>{{Citation |last=Zeʼevi |first=Dror |title= An Ottoman century : the district of Jerusalem in the 1600s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vhx_v8m6uPoC&dq=arpalik&pg=PA121 |accessdate= 29 December 2011 |year= 1996 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |isbn=978-0-585-04345-6 |oclc= 42854785 |page=121}}</ref> Arpalik was a kind of appanage given to members of the Ottoman elite for tax farming.<ref name="Somel2010">{{cite book|last=Somel|first=Selcuk Aksin|title=The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UU8iCY0OZmcC&pg=PA24|date=23 March 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-1-4617-3176-4|page=24}}</ref>
== Etymology == The barleycorn was known as ''arpa'' in Turkish, and the feudal system in Ottoman Empire employed the term ''arpalik'', or "barley-money", to refer to a second allowance made to officials to offset the costs of fodder for their horses (for covering the expenses of keeping a small unit of cavalry).<ref>{{cite book|last=Houtsma M Th|author2=Arnold TW|author3=Wensinck AJ|title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936|publisher=Brill|year=1993|page=460|isbn=90-04-09796-1}}</ref>
== History == The number of viziers was steadily increasing in the Ottoman Empire since the 16th century. Many of them were not satisfied with the income they received so the institution of arpalik was introduced.<ref name="ÇiçekKuran2000">{{cite book|last1=Çiçek|first1=Kemal|last2=Kuran|first2=Ercüment|last3=Göyünç|first3=Nejat|first4=İlber|last4=Ortaylı|title=The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRNXAAAAYAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Yeni Türkiye|isbn=978-975-6782-20-0|page=1}}</ref>
The rank of the people who were given arpalik was often higher than rank of the regular governor of the whole district.<ref name="Ze'evi2012">{{cite book|last=Ze'evi|first=Dror|title=Ottoman Century, An: The District of Jerusalem in the 1600s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zHZrYQU4icC&pg=PA121|date=1 February 2012|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-2475-0|page=121}}</ref> The institution of arpalik was introduced to make burden of government officials easier by compensating losses of its high officials.<ref name="Katircioglu1984">{{cite book|last=Katircioglu|first=Nurhan Fatma|title=The Ottoman ayan, 1550-1812: a struggle for legitimacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doNYAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=University of Wisconsin--Madison|pages=98–99}}</ref> Instead of resolving problems, the arpalik created new, bigger ones.<ref name="Katircioglu1984">{{cite book|last=Katircioglu|first=Nurhan Fatma|title=The Ottoman ayan, 1550-1812: a struggle for legitimacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=doNYAAAAMAAJ|year=1984|publisher=University of Wisconsin--Madison|pages=98–99}}</ref> The exact duties of arpalik holders were never precisely defined by the Ottoman government which caused frequent tensions between the Porte and the province.<ref name="Ze'evi2012">{{cite book|last=Ze'evi|first=Dror|title=Ottoman Century, An: The District of Jerusalem in the 1600s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zHZrYQU4icC&pg=PA121|date=1 February 2012|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-2475-0|page=121}}</ref> This tensions probably additionally contributed to the decay of the traditional timar (fiefdom) system because it left sipahi out of the clear chain of command.<ref name="Ze'evi2012">{{cite book|last=Ze'evi|first=Dror|title=Ottoman Century, An: The District of Jerusalem in the 1600s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zHZrYQU4icC&pg=PA121|date=1 February 2012|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-1-4384-2475-0|page=121}}</ref>
Initially, in the sixteenth century, the number of sanjaks given as arpalik was very small.<ref name="ÇiçekKuran2000">{{cite book|last1=Çiçek|first1=Kemal|last2=Kuran|first2=Ercüment|last3=Göyünç|first3=Nejat|first4=İlber|last4=Ortaylı|title=The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRNXAAAAYAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Yeni Türkiye|isbn=978-975-6782-20-0|page=1}}</ref> After the decline of the timar (fief) system many sanjaks in Anatolia were given as arpaliks to high Ottoman officials.<ref name="NaffOwen1977">{{cite book|last1=Naff|first1=Thomas|last2=Owen|first2=Edward Roger John|author3=Near Eastern History Group, Oxford|author4=University of Pennsylvania. Middle East Center|title=Studies in eighteenth century Islamic history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-ptAAAAMAAJ|year=1977|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|page=30|isbn=9780809308194|quote=Following the decay of the timar (fief) system in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many sancaks [sic] in Anatolia were assigned as arpalik to high officials in Istanbul or to commanders of a fortress on the frontiers .}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire Category:Types of administrative division