Ottoman Waqfs in the Balkans. Waqf Deeds. Bulgaria

This publication resulted from a large-scale research project IRCICA undertook on the subject of the waqf institution. The waqf as a type of foundation was born in the Muslim world; over the centuries waqfs were established all over the Muslim world to serve a variety of functions ranging from the provision of basic means of subsistence to education, from charitable deeds to building mosques. The waqf also served as a model and found application outside the Muslim world with certain adaptations.

In this research project IRCICA aims to collect the original sources on waqfs such as the establishment deeds, the documents resulting from their operations and if any, the reports on their functions, to study them and to make them available for researchers. Special consideration is given to the waqfs which are at present located outside the OIC member countries, in particular those addressing the Muslim communities and minorities. The project started with a focus on the waqfs dating from the Ottoman period in the Balkan countries. The first outcome is a three-volume publication devoted to the waqfs in Bulgaria.

In this project the Centre collected and transliterated the deeds of 290 waqfs established in Bulgaria and published these transliterations together with the reproductions of the original documents. The deeds of 10 of these waqfs are in Arabic and all others in Ottoman Turkish. In the book the texts of the deeds are grouped according to the cities or districts. A summary of each document is provided, to make it useful also for those who do not read the Ottoman language.