Charitable Foundations for Lending: Cash Waqfs in Ottoman Bulgaria – Distribution and Limitations

Hristiyan Atanasov ()
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Hristiyan Atanasov: State University of Library Studies and Information Technologies, Sofia, Bulgaria

Proceedings of the Centre for Economic History Research, 2024, vol. 9, 117-131

Abstract: This article aims to survey Ottoman charitable foundations operating in the Bulgarian lands during the 18th and 19th centuries, with a particular focus on the so-called cash waqfs, which functioned as credit institutions. The research is based on near 100 waqfiyyas (waqfname) and other archival materials. The data have been statistically presented and analyzed in four tables that outline the general profile of these waqfs – detailing the origins of their assets, their founders, and their methods of operation. Waqf institutions are grouped and analyzed based on their monetary assets, interest rates, and the profits they managed (or failed) to generate. The study seeks to answer the question: why didn't these monetary foundations evolve into modern banking institutions? Is the Islamic concept of “perpetuity” responsible for this limitation? Examples from various cities in Ottoman Bulgaria are provided, initiating the mapping of these institutions.

Keywords: Ottoman Bulgaria; Cash Waqfs; Interest Rate (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N13 N24 N33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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