The Ottoman State’s tax registers are valuable sources of information about the demographic structures of regions and the financial, social and professional status of its inhabitants. In this work published by IRCICA, the well-known historian of Ottoman economy and finance Prof. Halil Sahillioğlu (d. 2012) examines and interprets the data contained in the âvârız tax register nr. 1977 of Damascus dating from the 17th century, describing its people’s economic and social profiles at the time. Âvârız tax was levied on the basis of households, generally in extraordinary situations such as wartime.
Professor Halil Sahillioğlu made important contributions to research on the history of financial administration and monetary policies during the Ottoman period; an insightful historian with an excellent knowledge of Arabic and Ottoman Turkish, he was at the same time a modest scholar and a generous teacher. He also contributed valuable papers to IRCICA’s various symposiums.
