Osmanl Devleti'nde Reaya (K ylü- ift i)-Y rük Ay r m ve el Sanca rne i//// Subjects (Peasant-Farmer) - Y rük (Nomad) Difference in the Ottoman Empire: the Case of District of el

Relying on the law codes, property tax registries and chronicles as well as other main sources, this article in general explains the concepts of reaya (subjects) and y rük (nomads), along with their differences; and particularly it examines the dimensions of this difference in the district of el and its effects on the rural settlements. In Ottoman society, the tax payers who were composed of city-dwellers, peasants, and nomadic tribes, were largely called reaya (subjects). This group were tax-payers and ruled people. However, peasants dealing with agriculture were also called as reaya in a narrow sense. The nomadic life style of y rüks had led to the emergence of some juridical and economic differences between them and settled subjects in the rural areas. Although the nomads were regarded a part of subjects because they were liable to same kind of taxes as the settled subjects, in many historical source they were classified as different from the settled peasants, who paid the tenancy tax (raiyyet rüsumu).