"Bölmek" manasındaki kısmet mastarından türeyen kassam "taksim eden, bölüştüren" anlamında olup Osmanlı Devleti’nde kassam; özellikle miras davalarına bakan, gerekli incelemeleri sonucunda davayı karara bağlayarak terekeyi mirasçılar arasında pay eden görevli olarak anlam kazanmıştır.¹⁰⁶ Dolayısıyla askeri ve beledi olarak iki ayrı kassam bulunmaktadır. Askeri kassam berat sahibi olan zümrenin miras taksimi ile görevliyken, beledi kassam bu zümre dışındakilerin miras paylaşımından sorumlu tutulmuştur. Kassamın bulunmadığı bölgelerde onun vazifesini naipler yerine getirmiştir. Kassamın gözetiminde, vefat eden kişinin terekesi kayıt altına alınmıştır. Böylece kadılıklarda bağımsız bir kassam defteri yer almaktadır.¹⁰⁷ Ayrıca belgelerde “geride kalan; geriye bırakılan” anlamındaki muhallefin çoğulu olarak “muhallefât” veya “tereke” veya “metrukat” kelimeleri de geçmektedir. Aslında Osmanlı hukukuna göre ölen kişilerin geride bıraktıkları eşya ve mallarının tesbit ve taksimi kadıların görevleri arasındadır. Zamanla mirasın taksimi işi kadıların maiyetindeki kassâm denilen memurlara bırakılmış fakat sivil kesimin miras taksimini kadıya yaptırması isteğe bağlı kalmıştır. Eğer mirasçılar veya alacaklılar taleb ederse ya da mirasçılar arasında küçük çocuklar varsa miras taksimine kadı müdahale edebilirdi. Ayrıca askerî zümre mensuplarının terekesinin kayıt altına alınması da zorunludur. Bu nedenle şer‘iyye sicillerinde görülen tereke kayıtlarının çoğu askerî zümre mensuplarına ait muhallefâttan meydana gelmektedir.¹⁰⁸ Kassâm, muhallefât defterleri özellikle biyografilerin yazımında isim tespiti, çocuklarının isimlerinin veya mirasçılarının tespiti gibi soy takibinde müellifin faydalandığı kaynaklardır.
Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar · ESER VE YAZAR HAKKINDA · 2. AMASYA TARİHİ HAKKINDA · 2.4. Eserin Kaynakları · 2.4.2. Arşiv Kaynakları
Kassâm and Muhallefât Registers
Encyclopedia · History of Amasya, Introduction: The Work and Its Author, p. 64–65 • Edited by: Doç. Dr. Songül KEÇECİ KURT
Footnotes
- 106 Said Öztürk, “Kassam,” TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, c. 24, İstanbul, 2001, s. 579.
- 107 Fatih Bozkurt, Osmanlı Dönemi Tereke Defterleri ve Tereke Çalışmaları, Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi, c. 11, S.22, 2013, s. 196-197.
- 108 Tahsin Özcan, “Muhallefât”, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, c. 30, İstanbul, 2005, s. 406.
In Modern English
The word kassâm, derived from the root kısmet, which means "to divide" in the dictionary, means "one who apportions, one who divides". In the Ottoman state, kassâm came to mean the official who handled inheritance cases in particular, who after making the necessary investigations decided the case and divided the estate (tereke) among the heirs. For this reason there were two separate kassâms, the military and the municipal. The military kassâm was responsible for the division of inheritances of the class holding berats; the municipal kassâm handled the division of inheritances of those outside this class. In regions where there was no kassâm, the kadı's deputies (naips) performed his duty. Under the kassâm's supervision the estate of the deceased was entered in the record. Thus an independent kassâm register came to be kept in the kadılıks. In the documents the words "muhallefât", the plural of muhallef, meaning "what is left behind", as well as "tereke" and "metrukât" also occur. According to Ottoman law, determining and dividing the goods and property left behind by the dead was in fact among the duties of the kadıs. In time the work of dividing inheritances was left to officials alongside the kadıs called kassâms; however, for the civilian population, having the kadı divide their inheritance remained optional. The kadı could intervene in the division of an inheritance if the heirs or creditors wished, or if there were small children among the heirs. Entering the estates of members of the military class in the record, by contrast, was mandatory. For this reason most of the estate records seen in the şer'iyye sicils consist of the estates of members of the military class. The kassâm and muhallefât registers are sources the author used in tracing family lines, especially for establishing names in writing biographies and for determining the names of children or the heirs.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- kassâm: the official who divides an inheritance among the heirs
- tereke, muhallefât, metrukât: the property left behind by the deceased
- berat: a document of office or privilege issued by the sultan; the military class was identified by this document
- naip: the deputy who stood in for the kadı
- şer'iyye sicili: the register of the kadı court
Who the Kassâm Was and What He Did
According to the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation Encyclopedia of Islam, kassâms ranked in the second grade of judicial officials and were regarded as the kadı's assistants. The office of kassâm took on a more independent structure in the Ottoman state and was divided into two, the military kassâm and the reâyâ (civilian population) kassâm. The first divided the inheritances of the ruling class in the name of the kazasker, the second the estates of the people in the name of the kadıs. When the kassâm went out to work he took with him a clerk who entered the estate in the register, experts who valued the property, and assistants. The items of the estate were written in his register in front of the kassâm, and the values set by the experts and by brokers who knew the market were entered in the record in the presence of the heirs. Kassâms took from the estates they divided a fee called "resm-i kısmet", between 15 and 25 per thousand; in practice this rate could vary between 8.5 and 35 per thousand.
Hüsameddin's text says he used the kassâm and muhallefât registers for tracing family lines. The reason is that the heading of an estate record gives the identity of the deceased, his title, his occupation, the place where he lived and died, the date of death and who his heirs were. The second part gives a detailed inventory of the remaining property and the values set by the experts, the third the funeral expenses and debts, and the last the share of each heir. It is noted that about forty per cent of the Istanbul registers consist of estate and inheritance records.
The date of the last regulation concerning the military kassâm office is also known: with the law of 1924 abolishing the sharia courts, the duties of these courts were transferred to the courts of first instance, and the work of the kassâm court was taken over by the sixth civil chamber within the courts of first instance.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, Introduction, p. 64–65. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- Said Öztürk, "Kassâm", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 24, Istanbul 2001, p. 579-582. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kassam
- Tahsin Özcan, "Muhallefât", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 30, Istanbul 2005, p. 406. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/muhallefat
- Fatih Bozkurt, "Osmanlı Dönemi Tereke Defterleri ve Tereke Çalışmaları", Türkiye Araştırmaları Literatür Dergisi, vol. 11, no. 22, 2013, p. 193-229.