Surplus-Receivers (Zevaid-Horan) from Imperial Waqs: Between Philanthropy and Political Economy

This book scrutinizes the place of surplus-receivers in the waqf institutions through their contribution to the philanthropy and the political economy of the 16th-17th century Ottoman Empire. By revealing their importance, the questions circle around surplus-receivers aim to reveal who they are, what their place and importance in the waqf, how and on which base they were assigned to these duties and how they can be interpreted in the context of the philanthropy by the examination of mainly the registers of zevāid-horān and waqf account books with complementary sources. The examination and analysis of the sources set forth that this group is a mean for providing social security by sustaining high-ranking officers and also a vehicle for providing social welfare, at the same time, contributed to the legitimization of the ruler.