Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.22586/ss.23.1.1
The account book of the waqf of Hadži Alija from Brčko in the Archive of the Francke Foundation from Halle
Nedim Zahirović
Abstract
The account book of the foundation of Hadži Alija from Brčko is kept in the Archive of the Francke Foundation in Halle (Saxony Anhalt). Hadži Alija erected a mosque, a religious school for children, a caravanserai, a store house for salt, ten shops, one stone and three wooden bridges in Brčko in the first half of the 17th century. Alija also bequeathed the amount of 173,600 akçe and determined that from this sum money could be lent at interest, and that the shops and the salt warehouse were to be leased. The foundation's employees and repairs on the buildings that belonged to it were paid from the income obtained from lending money at interest, as well as from the income from the lease of shops and salt warehouses. The borrowers were local people of the kasaba of Brčko. Almost all were Muslims and the majority of them were members of the military or religious class as well as various craftsmen. In several cases the borrowers were Muslim women from Brčko.
The inhabitants of the surrounding villages, who took loans from the foundation, were mostly non-Muslims. The shops were leased by craftsman from the Brčko kasaba, but also craftsmen and tradesmen from Belgrade, Rača, Tuzla and Gračanica. Also, salt merchants came to Brčko from Orşova in present-day Romania. This account book provides important information about the economic life of the Brčko kasaba as well as about its topography in the first half of the 17th century.
Keywords
Hadži Alija of Brčko; Brčko (kasaba); waqf (charitable endowment); loans; real estate lease; account book; 17th century
Hrčak ID:
311040
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2023.
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