Twenty Years' Residence among the People of Turkey: Bulgarians, Greeks, Albanians, Turks, and Armenians

by Fanny Janet Sandison Blunt

The division of property among all the children and the reduction of its value by these duties tend constantly to the diminution and deterioration of Turkish estates and lead generally to mortgage. Mortgage on landed property is at an average interest of eighteen per cent. The result is easily imagined. Freehold lands may be legally mortgaged before two witnesses without any further precaution; but crown and “church” lands to be mortgaged must be registered by the registrar of title-deeds, or the directors of vakouf property, for the fee of (nominally) one per cent.

A great number of large estates can be purchased in all parts of Turkey for very small sums. The wealthy native Christians would gladly purchase these, but for the complications that surround the possession of landed property that is not vakouf, and the difficulties and opposition to which a Christian land-holder is exposed. Turks seldom look favorably upon the passing of such estates into Christian hands. Those who purchase them are generally foreign subjects; the rayahs who venture to do so can never enjoy their acquisitions in the same peace and security. Among many instances of encroachment on such estates by hostile beys, Circassians, and other neighbors, I may mention two that have come under my personal observation. The first refers to a wealthy Bulgarian gentleman, whose acquaintance I made ten years ago at R⸺. He was a man of great influence, and a member of the Medjliss, or town council. A large estate owned by him, not far from the town, was twice set on fire by his Mohammedan neighbors, and a large mill he had constructed was pulled down. Neither his influence in the district, nor his wealth, nor his position as member of the council, could protect his estate, which he was finally obliged to abandon.

The second case was that of a wealthy Greek at Baba Eski, a pretty village between Constantinople and Adrianople. Some years ago I passed a night in the house of this Chorbadji. When I talked to him about his property he complained bitterly of the hostility he experienced from his Turkish neighbors, and of the encroachments of the Circassians. The former had attempted to set fire to his mill, and the latter had stolen in the course of one year three hundred and fifty head of cattle from him. “Wealth and prosperity,” said he, “are the sure recompense of every man’s labor in a fine country like this, but it is hard work to keep them when acquired.” Last year I met the unfortunate man at C⸺; he was a complete beggar in appearance, and, with tears in his eyes, told me how the Circassians and other enemies, profiting by the troubles in Bulgaria, had completely destroyed his property. He had come to the town to obtain redress, but I thought that his efforts would be fruitless.

Many gentlemen in Macedonia are owners of large estates. Some of them are Greeks by birth, and all foreign subjects; for foreign subjects are now permitted to hold land in Turkey on the same conditions as the subjects of the Porte. Having capital at their command, and being more intelligent than the Turks, they improve their property, and realize from seven to ten per cent profit; but even their estates are not quite free from the attacks and depredations of brigands, who often prevent them from visiting their farms freely, or introducing all the improvements they are desirous of making. Out of four of these, three sent their sons to Europe, where they were educated for the profession of agriculturists, a proceeding quite unknown among the Turkish proprietors. Bonâ-fide Europeans are more respected and feared, and consequently are not exposed to the hostilities to which native Christians are subjected. Some English gentlemen possessing farms in Macedonia have had no occasion to complain, even in these disordered times, when perfect anarchy prevails; their property has been respected, and every assistance is afforded them by the local authorities.

Estates can also be rented for a mere trifle, and when restored to good condition are said to yield lucrative returns. Here again, however, great care has to be taken to ascertain that they are not disputed property, and, in the case of their belonging to several individuals of one family, that all are of age, and sign the title-deeds. A case was related to me by a member of the civil court of A⸺ of a rayah who had rented an estate from a Turkish family, consisting of a widow and her three sons, all of whom were of age and had signed the contract together with their mother. The tenant, who was a man of moderate means, set to work to improve the property, and spent £1000 upon it; but just as he was beginning to realize the profits of his toil and outlay, a fourth son of the widow came of age and disputed the validity of the contract. The case was tried before the local civil court, and the rayah was declared to have justice on his side; but as the case was one of heritage, the Turk had the right to transfer it to the Mehkemé, or religious court of the Kadi, which decided it in his favor. The result was that the tenant was driven out of his estate, and lost all the money he had spent upon it.

Almost every village in Roumelia and Macedonia, and in fact all over Turkey, had once its own common and forest, in which the peasant proprietors, under certain laws and regulations, had the right to burn charcoal, cut wood, and let the pasturage in spring to the herdsmen, who brought down their sheep and cattle and kept them there the greater part of summer. This was a great resource for the rural population, who, in bad years, could always make some profit out of it.

After the organization of the vilayet system this privilege was curtailed, and the forests and grazing grounds were placed under government supervision. A Forest Department was established at Constantinople, and a chief inspector appointed in every district, together with agents to superintend the pasturages. The laws that were to regulate these were said to be excellent, and, whilst equitable towards the peasants, promised at the same time to yield considerable revenues to the state. One of these regulations set forth that a portion of forest and pasturage land should be left to the use of each village, securing its provision of fuel and pasturage for its cattle. None of these laws were, however, observed in the interior, and nothing definite was decided with respect to either of these rights.

The beys, through bribery and favoritism, continued to enjoy their ancient privileges over the forests and grazing lands, while the forest inspectors are said to have realized such immense profits that every official was desirous of becoming connected with the Forest Department. The Government at the beginning, no doubt, derived some good receipts from this new source, but the great expense inseparable from it, the robberies that took place, and the destruction of property allowed, could not fail, in the long-run, to be injurious to its interests. The abuses, partiality, and waste that mark the proceedings of this branch of the administration are most prejudicial to the rural population.

But the agents of pasture lands and the forest keepers are still more tyrannical.

The extent of these grounds in the government possession was never defined, nor has a limit ever been drawn. The beys rented the commons to the herdmasters; the contracts were made with the cognizance of the local authorities, and on stamped paper. Some of the villages that possessed pasturage let it to the Wallachian sheep-owners, who, in the early part of spring, migrate annually into Macedonia to pasture their flocks on the commons.