Deftedar: 'keeper of books' refers to Finance officials in Ottoman Empire
This is a list of the top officials in charge of the finances of the Ottoman Empire, called Defterdar (Turkish for bookkeepers; from the Persianدفتردارdaftardâr, دفترdaftar + دارdâr) between the 14th and 19th centuries and Maliye Naziri (Minister of Finance) between 19th and 20th centuries. They were originally in charge of the defters (tax registers) in the Ottoman Empire, hence the name defterdar.
History of the office
Depiction of a defterdar, anonymous Greek artist, ca. 1809Louis-Nicolas de Lespinasse: Defterdar's office
The exact date of the formal establishment of the office is unknown.[1] According to some sources, the first defterdar was the Kadı (judge) of Mihaliç, Çelebi bin Mehmed, appointed in 1359 or 1360, during the reign of Murad I.[1] During the reign of Bayezid I (1389–1402), the poet Zahiri is mentioned as the defterdar.[1]
In the classical period, the finances of the Empire were organized under a single Defterdar, literally the main bookkeeper, in charge of a single imperial treasury (Hazine-i Amire). Starting in 1793, smaller treasuries independent of the imperial treasury were organized, each with a separate defterdar in charge. In 1837, a modern ministry was founded under the name of Maliye Nezareti, merging most of the independent treasuries back to the Imperial Treasury. In 1840, the merging of the remaining independent treasuries was completed.[2]
Rank and title
Ministers of Finance in the classical period were called Defterdar, were members of the Divan-ı Hümayun and held rank higher than agha (military commander of the central organization, situated in Istanbul) and bey (provincial governor), and lower than vizier and kazasker (chief judge).[3] Starting from 1837, Ministers of Finance were called Maliye Nazırı, held the rank of vizier, and were titled Pasha.[2]
List of Defterdars (until 1837)
The office of the Defterdar continued until 1837.[2]
Reign of Sultan Mehmed II
Titrek Sinan Çelebi (1452–1459)
Hekim Yakup Pasha (1459)
Osman Çelebi (1461)
Fenarı–zade Ahmed Çelebi (1474–1479)
Nureddin Hamza Ibn–i Ali Efendi (Leys Çelebi) (1479–1482), 1st term
Reign of Sultan Bayezid II
Feylezof–zade Ahmed Çelebi (1482–1485)
Isa Fakih (1485–1486)
Nureddin Hamza Ibn–i Ali Efendi (Leys Çelebi) (1486–1492), 2nd term
Cendereci–zade/Çandarlı Şemseddin (1492–1495)
Nureddin Hamza Ibn–i Ali Efendi (Leys Çelebi) (1495–1499), 3rd term
Ahmed Çelebi (1499–1501), 1st term
Hüseyin Çelebi (1501–1502)
Taci Bey (1502)
Nureddin Hamza Ibn–i Ali Efendi (Leys Çelebi) (1502–1504), 4th term
Cezeri–zade Koca Kasım Safı Pasha (1504), 1st term
Agop Ohannes Kazasyan Pasha (December 1886 – March 1887), 2nd term
Mahmud Celaleddin Pasha (1839-1899) [tr] (December 1887 – August 1888)
He embezzled funds and therefore received an official termination. He would have otherwise received capital punishment, but he paid a fine to avoid it. Evangelia Balta and Ayșe Kavak, authors of "Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century," wrote that the fine was "large" and that the newspaper Servet had a "militant stance" on the behavior.[7]
^ a b cMaliye Teşkilatı Tarihçesi ve Mevzuatı. Ankara: T.C. Maliye Bakanlığı (Turkish Ministry of Finance). 1994. p. 5. 1994/3.
^ a b cMaliye Teşkilatı Tarihçesi ve Mevzuatı. Ankara: T.C. Maliye Bakanlığı (Turkish Ministry of Finance). 1994. pp. 5–44, 131–142. 1994/3.
^"Tarihçe-i Defterdarlık". T.C. Maliye Bakanlığı (Turkish Ministry of Finance). Archived from the original on 2007-02-17. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
^Great Ottoman History by Ord. Prof. I. Hakki Uzun Carsi
^Sicil-i Osmani, Mehmet Süreyya Bey
^Son Dönem Osmanlı Erkan ve Ricali (1839 - 1922) Prosopografik Rehber, Sinan Kuneralp, ISIS Press, İstanbul, ISBN 978-975-428-118-7, 1999
^Balta, Evangelia; Ayșe Kavak (2018-02-28). "Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century. Following the trail of Dimitris Nikolaidis in the Ottoman archives". In Sagaster, Börte; Theoharis Stavrides; Birgitt Hoffmann (eds.). Press and Mass Communication in the Middle East: Festschrift for Martin Strohmeier. University of Bamberg Press. pp. 33-. ISBN 9783863095277. - Volume 12 of Bamberger Orientstudien // cited: p. 44.