The fall of icarus: The paradox of the Ottoman centralization and the abstraction of timars

Abstract

In the decades following the conquest of Constantinople the Ottoman administrative and military system underwent a major reorganization in the direction of centralization. The effort to some degree assured the state control over the feudal-like timar system and gave it its exceptional characteristic. However, the same endeavour in the long run made the state lose control over vast agricultural production. It was a paradox of centralization which made the Ottoman state firm but fragile.