nevertheless the Caliphs for the most part respected the hereditary transmission of its occupation or enjoyment. After theTurkish conquest, the Sultan Selim applied the principle of the Koran more rigorously. He formed many lands into a domain,and appointed a Defterdar to administer them. The old occupiers were henceforth only regarded as usufructuaries. Thesuccessor had to purchase the continuation of the tenancy by a tax arbitrarily determined. The mamelukes took advantage oftheir power to seize possession of lands, and the class of moultezins was thus formed. They were about six thousand innumber; and their right was nearly that of absolute ownership. The lands of the moultezins were of two kinds. In one thefellahs had a right of hereditary occupancy, paying a tax to the State, and a rent to the moultezins : the others were cultivateddirectly by the proprietors; these were the oussieh lands. They had to pay a very high duty on alienation, otherwise theyreturned to the State. The property of the mosques, waqfs , was very considerable, and constantly extending. Lands weredevised or given to the mosques, the right of occupation being reserved, because by this means the State exactions wereavoided. For the same reason at the commencement of the middle ages, the allods were transformed into benefices and fiefs.
The State, to put a stop to this practice, made its consent necessary to the validity of every gift or legacy to a mosque.
Mehemet Ali applied the principle of the Koran even more strictly than Selim. He endeavoured to bring all the soil into thehands of the State. He took hack the lands of the mamelukes and moultezins , allowing them a certain compensation and atemporary usufruct of the oussieh lands. He also took possession of the waqfs property, except gardens and houses.
Mehemet All is known to have treated all Egypt as his private property. He regulated cultivation; established manufacturiesand places of instruction; and himself engaged in commerce. (3) It is perhaps the most curious instance of communisticcentralization which history tells of. From that time, private property has been gradually reconstituted by the grants of thesovereign or the tolerance of the State. Finally, the edict of Saïd Pasha in 1858 accords to the precarious possession of thefellahs, though theoretically subject to the eminent domain of the State, rights which border on absolute property.
Hereditary succession is recognized, even for females. Lands never return to the State except in default of heirs, and, in thiscase, the village can claim them in precedence of the State.Mortgage is recognized under .the form of a sale à réméré , thatis liable to redemption; but notice must be given to the authorities.Whoever reclaims uncultivated land becomes proprietorof it. The government cannot eject anyone, except on payment of a fair indemnity. It must, however, be added that by meansof the tax, the government effectually takes rent from the lands of the fellahs; who, both in person and property, are really inits hands.
Lands are divided into two classes, the moulk lands, over which the occupiers have full power of disposition; and the mirieh lands, the occupiers of which are mere usufructuaries. Theoretically, the latter cannot be transferred without the authority ofthe sovereign. The greater portion of the soil is mirieh .
There is also a distinction between acherieh lands of Mussulman origin, subject to the tithe in virtue of the Koran, and the kharadjié lands, formerly conquered, but left in the hands of the vanquished inhabitants, conditionally on the payment oftribute. The sovereign at one time made grants of lands on condition of military service. These were the zimmets and timars,or great and little fiefs. They were only descendible in the male line. These fiefs have been abolished. As in the Mark or inJava, when the cultivation is abandoned, the soil returns to the State. Cultivation is the condition of occupancy and ofownership.
The constitution of property in Turkey is similar to what it is in Egypt. We here transcribe a sketch of it, as given in someinteresting letters, which appeared in the Economiste français (September, 1873).
With the exception of the Mulk lands which are private property, the soil has but one proprietor,the State. This, however, isthe classification of land as established by the old law ( Multequa ), the principal provisions of which have been re-enacted inthe law at present in force, that of June 21, 1868:
1. Mulk lands, the absolute property of individuals;2. Emirié land, the domain of the State, granted by it, on certain conditions, to individuals;3. Vacoufs , property that is tied up. The vacoufs cannot be compared to what we understand in Europe by lands inmortmain, because, besides the grants made for a religious object, they comprise a great quantity of individual property tiedup with an entirely different motive, and on a peculiar system which will be explained;4. Metrouké lands, belonging to the State, and granted by it for public use;5. Mevat (dead) lands, belonging to the State, and granted to individuals at its pleasure.
MULK LANDS.One might suppose, from the meaning of the word mulk, that these lands were all free, and that there wasno difference between them. Such a conclusion would, however, be incorrect.
