Analysis of Cash Waqfs and Real Wages in Ottoman Rumelia, 1500-1914

Abstract

Purpose - This study employs a substantial number of primary sources of cash waqf contracts (waqfiyya) to conduct a long-term analysis of cash waqfs and the real wages of waqf employees in Ottoman Rumelia from the sixteenth century to the First World War. Design/Methodology/Approach - The descriptive analysis includes economic variables recorded in contracts. The analysis focuses on the trend of capital levels, profit shares (riba), and numbers of cash waqfs over 50-year periods, and the daily wages of the five different groups. Originality/Value - This study’s main contribution is the quantitative and systematic analysis of capital levels and real wages, for the first time. Research Implications - The findings indicate that daily wages increased and peaked during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which may reflect economic growth. However, real wages decreased in the early twentieth century, likely because of the exogenous shocks of wars, revolts, and revolutionary movements in the Balkan territories. Keywords -  Economic History, Islamic Finance, The Ottoman Empire, Cash Waqf, Rumelia, Real Wages Article Classification – Research paper