Imagine an autumn at the end of the 18th century. In one village of a khanate the threshing is over, and the village headman cannot make his sums come out: part of the harvest goes to the bey who owns the land, part to the khan’s treasury, a separate share is counted for the neighbouring herdsman’s flock, and tomorrow the men must leave to repair a fortress wall. How did town and village live in the khanate era, who owed what to whom, and how were these small states governed?
Village life and farming
Most people lived in villages and the main occupations were farming and herding. Besides grain, cotton, dye plants, grapes and fruit were grown; silk-growing flourished in Shaki, Shirvan and Karabakh, and rice in Lankaran. In dry regions crops depended on artificial irrigation: canals and kahrizes were dug, and the mirab supervised the sharing of water. Herding was mostly the business of the elat — tribes moving between summer and winter pastures; Karabakh horses were famous.
The main forms of land ownership were:
- Khalisa — lands belonging to the khan; peasants paid their dues to him.
- Mulk — private property of beys, aghas and other feudal lords.
- Tiyul — a conditional holding granted for service (mostly military) and dependent on that service.
- Waqf — land donated for a mosque, a madrasa or charity.
- Jamaat — the land of the village community; pastures and irrigation were shared.
The village community (jamaat), led by the kadkhuda and the elders, organised the sharing of pastures and water, the collection of taxes and common work. The upkeep of fortresses, roads and bridges fell on the peasants through biyar, that is, their unpaid labour.
Town life, crafts and trade
Towns were the political and economic centres of the khanates: Shamakhi, Ganja, Shaki, Guba, Baku, Derbent, Nakhchivan, Erivan, Shusha and, in the south, Tabriz, Ardabil, Khoy and Urmia. Craftsmen joined trade guilds — the asnaf — and sold their goods in the bazaar; the bazaar, the caravanserai and the bathhouse were the main buildings of a town. The best-known trades were silk weaving (Shaki, Shamakhi, the Basqal kalaghayi), carpet-making, copperwork (Lahij), weapon-making and pottery. Some khanates had their own mints: Erivan struck the «black money», Ganja the «abbasi» and «shahi».
In foreign trade silk, carpets, copper vessels, dyes, salt and Baku oil were the main goods; merchants kept ties with Russia, Iran, India and the Ottomans. But trade was hampered because every khanate collected its own duties and the roads were unsafe. The Baku, Derbent and Lankaran khanates are described in «The Baku, Derbent and Lankaran khanates; communities, sultanates and meliks».
Interactive
Social strata, taxes and duties
| Stratum | Who | Key feature |
|---|---|---|
| Ruling feudal lords | the khan and his family, beys, aghas; Christian-Albanian meliks in Karabakh, sultans in some places; their armed retainers, the nökers | land, armed retinues, privileges in return for service |
| Clergy | sayyids, akhunds, mullahs, qadis | waqf lands, courts and teaching |
| Townspeople | merchants, craftsmen | bazaar, guilds, paying the tamgha |
| Peasants | raiyyat — those who used land and paid taxes; rancbar — landless, working another man’s land | bore the main load of taxes and duties |
| Elat | nomadic and semi-nomadic herding tribes | paid the çobanbeyi and supplied the khan’s cavalry |
Interactive
The khan’s treasury drew its income from the khalisa lands, trade duties and the levies paid by peasants. Taxes were collected mostly in kind (in produce) and partly in money. Their names and amounts differed from place to place, but the main kinds were the same:
| Name | What it was | From whom |
|---|---|---|
| Malcihat | land tax (in produce or money) | the peasant who tilled the land |
| Bahra | the share of the crop given to the landowner | those working on a bey’s or khan’s land |
| Çobanbeyi | a tax on livestock | herdsmen, the elat |
| Khana | a tax per household | the household |
| Tamgha | a duty on trade and crafts | merchant, craftsman |
| Biyar | unpaid labour duty: fortresses, roads, bridges, canals | the peasant |
How the khanates were governed
At the head of a khanate stood the khan with hereditary power: he was supreme ruler, commander-in-chief and highest judge. State affairs were handled by the divan at his side. A khanate was divided into mahals: a mahal was run by a naib, a town by a darugha, a village by a kadkhuda. The army consisted of the khan’s retainers, the armed retinues of the beys and the cavalry of the elat, led by yuzbashis; the backbone of defence was fortresses such as Shusha, Bayat and Derbent. A qadi dealt with Sharia matters. There were also attempts to put tax collection in order: in the Guba khanate, after Fatali Khan’s reform, the naibs were forbidden to collect taxes and the kadkhudas handed them straight to the khan’s treasury; in Shaki Muhammadhasan Khan’s «Code» put taxes in order.
| Office | What it did |
|---|---|
| Vizier | the khan’s chief adviser; for example Molla Panah Vagif in Karabakh |
| Mirza | the divan’s scribe, official correspondence |
| Yasavul | delivers the khan’s orders and demands their execution |
| Naib | ruler of a mahal: taxes and order |
| Darugha | public order and the market in a town |
| Kadkhuda | head of a village, tax collection |
| Yuzbashi | commander of a hundred men |
| Feature | The Safavid state | The khanates |
|---|---|---|
| State | one centralised state under the shah | dozens of small states, each with a hereditary khan |
| Local rule | beylerbeyliks | mahals, naibs and darughas |
| Army | Qizilbash cavalry, qorchus, ghulams | the khan’s retainers, beys’ retinues, elat cavalry |
| Treasury | the state treasury | each khanate’s own treasury and taxes |
There is a likeness too: both systems kept feudal landowners, tax-paying peasants and waqf lands.
The roots of this difference lie in the political situation after 1747. After Nadir Shah’s death the single authority fell apart and each khanate became a separate state. A separate state had its own fortresses, army and expenses, and to pay for them each khan kept his own treasury and fixed his own taxes and duties. So a merchant moving from one khanate to the next met different duties, while for the peasant the upkeep of fortresses, bridges and canals meant an extra burden through biyar. The example of Ganja shows that this fragmentation was felt in the village too: a population paying taxes to two rulers rose in revolt.
| Cause | Result |
|---|---|
| Political fragmentation, each khanate’s own duties | trade became harder |
| The need to keep up fortresses, bridges and canals | the load fell on the peasants through biyar |
| A dry climate | canals and kahrizes, control of water sharing |
| Taxes to two rulers in Ganja (1780–1783) | discontent and the uprising of 1783 |
- 1747
Nadir Shah is killed; the khanates arise
- 1757
Salyan joins the Guba khanate
- 1758–1789
Fatali Khan’s reign: the tax reform
- 1780
Ganja is divided: dual rule
- 1780s
Muhammadhasan Khan’s «Code» in Shaki
- 1783
The Ganja uprising ends dual rule
- 1786–1804
The «abbasi» and «shahi» struck in Ganja under Javad Khan
- 1795
Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar’s campaign
- 1805
Karabakh, Shaki and Shamakhi accept Russian protection
- 1813
The Treaty of Gulistan
Source and exam-style tasks
In the Karabakh khanate the village community is headed by the kadkhuda: he collects the dues and hands them to the naib of the mahal. A peasant who has no land and works on a bey’s holding gives part of the crop to the landowner, and the state tax is paid separately. Those who keep flocks pay a separate share according to the number of animals.
In addition, the peasants must repair fortress walls, bridges and irrigation canals for several days a year without pay, and carry loads at the khan’s order. When money is short, the tax is accepted in produce.
Source tasks
Problem
1) Name three concepts not named in the text: a) a peasant without land; b) unpaid work on fortresses and canals; c) the tax on livestock.
2) Explain one political and one economic reason why such unpaid work was demanded of the peasants.
3) Give two consequences of these rules that are NOT stated in the text.
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Solution
2) Political: the need for defence — fortress walls, bridges and irrigation canals had to be kept up, and loads carried at the khan’s order. Economic: according to the text, when money was short the tax was taken in produce; so the khanate used the peasants’ labour and produce in place of money. Marks: both — 1; one — ½.
3) Examples: peasants’ discontent and flight from the village; weaker farming and irrigation, and so lower revenue for the khanate. Marks: two consequences — 1; one — ½.
Exam task: matching
Problem
Match the terms with their meanings:
1. bahra
2. khalisa
3. jamaat
a. the khan’s lands
b. a share of the crop
c. community lands
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Solution
Step 2: khalisa is land «belonging to the khan» — 2-a.
Step 3: jamaat is the village community — 3-c.
Answer: 1-b, 2-a, 3-c.
Exam task: «does not belong»
Problem
Which does NOT belong among the taxes and duties paid by peasants in the khanates?
A) malcihat
B) çobanbeyi
C) biyar
D) khana
E) khalisa
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Solution
Step 2: E is no tax at all: khalisa is the khan’s land, a form of land ownership.
Answer: E.
Exam task: combination
Problem
Correct statements about the khanate era:
1. khalisa is land belonging to the khan
2. biyar is a tax paid in money
3. the darugha supervises order and the market in a town
4. a rancbar is a peasant who uses land and pays taxes
5. çobanbeyi is a tax on livestock
A) 1, 3, 5
B) 1, 2, 3
C) 2, 4, 5
D) 1, 4, 5
E) 2, 3, 4
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Solution
Step 2: check 4. The one who used land and paid taxes was the raiyyat, the rancbar was landless — 4 is false, so D drops out.
Step 3: in the remaining A, statements 1, 3 and 5 agree with the lesson.
Answer: A.
The cultural life of the khanates — madrasas, poet-viziers, palaces and fortresses — is the subject of the next lesson, «Culture in the khanate era»; their end is tied to «The last attempt at unification: Agha Muhammad Shah Qajar».
Remember
- The main occupations were farming, herding and silk-growing; the elat practised summer–winter pasture herding.
- Land forms: khalisa, mulk, tiyul, waqf, jamaat.
- Peasants were divided into raiyyat (who used land and paid taxes) and rancbar (landless).
- Malcihat — land, bahra — share, çobanbeyi — flock, khana — household tax; biyar is an unpaid labour duty.
- A khanate was run by the khan, vizier and divan, mahals by naibs, towns by darughas, villages by kadkhudas.
- Unlike the Safavids, each khanate had its own treasury and tax system; fragmentation hindered trade.