Cash Waqfs of Ottoman Bosnia, 1526-1914: A Temporal Analysis Through Capital Levels

The main purpose of this study is to examine cash waqfs established in Ottoman Bosnia from the first decades of the sixteenth century to the First World War. In a first attempt to use a new data set, this study presents a comparative study of the amount of capital obtained from Bosnian cash waqf contracts (waqfiyyas) by periods and socioeconomic status of the founders. Employing the dataset on the titles of founders, towns, profit rates, and the number of witnesses in contracts, the analysis presents the main features of cash waqfs in Ottoman Bosnia. The findings suggest that cash waqfs of titled individuals and males had higher capital compared to untitled individuals and females, with a convergence emerging in the nineteenth century. The dataset also indicates the proliferation of cash waqfs in Ottoman Bosnia, particularly from the second half of the eighteenth century. The major finding, however, presents that capital levels of cash waqfs had a declining pattern even if their numbers increased during the nineteenth century.