ABSTRACT
Land in the Ottoman Empire fell into three categories. First, there was privately owned land, which was relatively uncommon. Second, there was land belonging to awqaf (sing. waqf), which were trusts whose revenues went to a charitable cause or institution nominated by the founder. Typically a waqf would support a pious or social institution, such as a mosque or a bridge, but a founder could also nominate his or her family as benefi ciaries. Converting family property, and especially land, to waqf had the advantage of keeping the property intact upon the death of the founder. Islamic law allows a person to bequeath one-third of his or her property at will, while the remaining two-thirds goes to the surviving spouse, descendants, and other relatives in fi xed proportions. Unless the total estate was suffi ciently large to allow the owner to bequeath a piece of privately owned land as part of the one-third, the land would be divided among the heirs and further subdivided as it passed down through the generations. Waqf property, by contrast, was indivisible and held in perpetuity. The conversion of land to waqf was therefore a means by which a family could preserve the integrity of its land, regulate the terms of inheritance, and prevent its dispersal down the generations. Since Islamic law places no barriers on women, married or unmarried, owning property, women-especially wealthy members of the sultan’s household-were prominent as founders of awqaf.
