Impact of Kizlarga’s wakf loans on the development of Varcar Vakuf kasaba at the end of 16th and during 17th century

Abstract

The subject of the paper on impact of Kiozlarga’s wakf loans on the development of Varcar Vakuf kasaba at the end of 16th and during 17th century is the large financial amount of 674100 aspras that initiated establishment and speedy development of Varcar Vakuf kasaba. This was the second largest foundation in the territory of Bosnian Eyalet, immediately after Gazi Husrev- bey’s wakf of 944794 aspras.

It is mentioned that registration lists of around 1724 wakf loans are preserved. Those are partly bound and partly loose pages with no dates of issue recorded. However, the manner of registration that is identical with registrations made to the earliest sijjils of the Sarajevo Court in 1565, and the analysis of a few subsequent defters: ribha, murabeha, and residat, as well as of inspection defters of wakf operations certified by court in 1624, lead to the conclusion that these partially loose pages of defters were created immediately after the endowment charter was issued in 1595. It has been determined that the mentioned loans not only initiated the development of the kasaba but the development of a wider region between Jajce and Varcar Vakuf. Several loans were even approved for Banja Luka. Loans were assigned to both rural and urban population and to Muslims and Christians alike.

The list shows that the recipients of loans were those who were capable of taking responsibilities of the development of kasaba and of activities in cultivation and land clearing in villages, as stated in defters. There is also a description of conditions in the kasaba where KÕzlaraga’s wakf was the most important local institution until the displacement of population in 1697. Varcar Vakuf never had its court so the Ottoman mahkema authorities were never applied.