By the 18th century, as the central state's military power waned, the timar system was replaced by tax farming ( iltizam ). This allowed a new class of local notables, the ayan , to accumulate significant private wealth and local political influence. The 19th-Century Merchant Shift
As the Ottoman Empire centralized its administration and opened up to European trade, the nature of wealth accumulation changed. Wealth in the Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Balkans Wealth in the Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Balkans
Theoretically, all agricultural land belonged to the Sultan. Peasant families acted as "hereditary tenants," passing usufruct rights from father to son. By the 18th century, as the central state's