The Repercussions of Tax Policy on the Tribes of the Beylik of Titteri in the Late Ottoman Period

This study aims to shed light on a topic within the socio-economic studies of Algeria during the Ottoman period, namely the tax system and its social effects on society — one of the most fundamental pillars of the country's economic institutions and an important element for understanding its political, economic, and social history. Taxation constituted a major source of revenue for the treasury of the Algerian Regency, particularly following the decline of maritime jihad (privateering) spoils and the shortage of financial resources resulting from the weakening role of the Algerian navy in the late Ottoman period, after it had once been one of the principal financial sources for the treasury of the Regency. Tax collection thus became one of the central tasks of the Ottoman administration, and through it the nature of the relationship between the subjects (raʿiyya) and the ruling authority was defined. The Ottoman state accordingly resorted to a tax policy in the Beylik of Titteri, as in the other Beyliks, expanding it in its various forms, which differed according to region and locality, in accordance with specific laws and standards; the value of taxes was determined according to the nature of the economic activity of each tribe, with the aim of alleviating the fiscal deficit of the state treasury. This raises an important question regarding the mechanisms of tax collection in the Beylik of Titteri in the late Ottoman period, the reaction of the local population to it, and the most significant economic, social, and political effects that resulted from it.