Basing on firsthand research on original, largely unused Ottoman archival registers (Anadolu ve Rumeli eyâletleri avârizhâne defterleri), this paper intends to examine in a systematic way avâriz and nüzul levies and their rates in the province of Karaman from 1620s to 1700. The focus of this paper will be the development of avâriz and nüzul levies as an alternative major source of regular taxation for the Ottoman government during the seventeenth century. It is a line of research that has so far attracted little attention from scholars despite the fact that there is now more debate on Ottoman socio-economic history generally.This examination will enables us to see for the first time how the avâriz and nüzul rates fluctuated during the seventeenth century down to the level of livas within the Province.

Relying on first-hand unpublished archival documents this paper focuses on two related aspects: first, it provides a picture of the range of individuals involved in avâriz and nüzul collection in the Ottoman province of Karaman during the 17th century, whether from the military class, the ulema (learned people) or others; second, it examines the changes during the 17th century in the type of person appointed, and what ranks the collection candidate held before attaining those of avâriz and nüzul collection. It will be interesting to assess at what stage, if at all, the palace officials or the followers of 'great men of state' became involved in the collection process. This paper examines the available information to see what, if any, pattern emerges from it.