1.
Cyprus
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Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, north of Egypt, the earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC, Cyprus was placed under British administration based on Cyprus Convention in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain in 1914. While Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population, the partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders, following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. On 15 July 1974, a coup détat was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta in an attempt at enosis and these events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute. The Cyprus Republic has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus, as well as its territorial sea and exclusive economic area, another nearly 4% of the islands area is covered by the UN buffer zone. The international community considers the part of the island as territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The occupation is viewed as illegal under law, amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union. Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, on 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone. The earliest attested reference to Cyprus is the 15th century BC Mycenaean Greek
2.
Religious persecution
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Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within society to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history, Religious persecution may be triggered by religious bigotry or by the state when it views a particular religious group as a threat to its interests or security. At a societal level, this dehumanisation of a religious group may readily turn into violence or other forms of persecution. Indeed, in countries, religious persecution has resulted in so much violence that it is considered a human rights problem. Religious persecution can be considered the opposite of freedom of religion, Religious persecution may also affect atheists in that they may be denounced as being amoral or be persecuted by the religious on the grounds that they are godless. Persecution in this case may refer to confiscation or destruction of property, incitement to hate, arrest, imprisonment, beatings, torture, denial of civil rights on the basis of religion is most often described as religious discrimination, rather than religious persecution. The difference between religious and ethnic identity might sometimes be obscure, cases of genocide in the 20th century cannot be explained in full by citing religious differences, the Holocaust made no distinction between secular Jews, atheistic Jews, orthodox Jews and Jews that had converted to Christianity. The descriptive use of the religious persecution is rather difficult. Religious persecution has taken place at least since the antiquity, and has happened in different historical, geographical and social contexts, until the 18th century, some groups were nearly universally persecuted for their views about religion, such as atheists, Jews and zoroastrians. One period of persecution which has been studied extensively is early modern England, since the rejection of religious persecution, now common in the Western world. The most ambitious chronicle of that time is W. K. Jordans magnum opus The Development of Religious Toleration in England, jordan wrote as the threat of fascism rose in Europe, and this work is seen as a defense of the fragile values of humanism and tolerance. More recent introductions to this period are Persecution and Toleration in Protestant England, 1558–1689 by John Coffey, tolerance and intolerance in England, 1500-1700 by Alexandra Walsham. To understand why religious persecution has occurred, historians like Coffey pay close attention to what the persecutors said they were doing, no religion is free from internal dissent, although the degree of dissent that is tolerated within a particular religious organization can strongly vary. This degree of diversity tolerated within a church is described as ecclesiastical tolerance. However, when people speak of religious tolerance, they most often mean civil tolerance. Before that, theologians like Joseph Hall had reasoned from the intolerance of the early Christian church in the New Testament to the civil intolerance of the Christian state. Before a vigorous debate about religious persecution took place in England, for centuries in Europe, in England there had been several Acts of Uniformity, in continental Europe the Latin phrase cuius regio, eius religio had been used. Concerning the church, he went on, A church, then, I take to be a society of men
3.
Ottoman Cyprus
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The Eyalet of Cyprus was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire made up of the island of Cyprus, which was annexed into the Empire in 1571. The Ottomans changed the way they administered Cyprus multiple times and it was a sanjak of the Eyalet of the Archipelago from 1670 to 1703, and again from 1784 onwards, a fief of the Grand Vizier, and again an eyalet for the short period from 1745 to 1748. During Venetian rule, the Ottomans at times raided Cyprus, in 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Turks attacked the Karpass Peninsula, pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery. In 1539 the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol, fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians had fortified Famagusta, Nicosia, and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey. In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, about 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2,1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. The city fell on September 9,1570,20,000 Nicosians were put to death, and every church, public building, only women and boys who were captured to be sold as slaves were spared. Word of the spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted with the Siege of Famagusta and put up a defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571, the fall of Famagusta marked the beginning of the Ottoman period in Cyprus. The victory over the Turks, however, came too late to help Cyprus, in 1570, the Turks first occupied Cyprus, and Lala Mustafa Pasha became the first Turkish Governor of Cyprus, challenging the claims of Venice. Simultaneously, the Pope formed a coalition between the Papal States, Malta, Spain, Venice and several other Italian states, with no real result, in 1573 the Venetians left, removing the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. As soon as Nicosia was conquered, Cyprus was declared an eyalet under the administration of a beylerbey, and Mustafa Pasha, Cyprus was divided into three sanjaks, Famagusta, Kyrenia and Paphos. Additionally, the sanjaks of Alâiye, Tarsus, İçel, Sis, Zülkadriye, Cyprus was also divided into several kazas, Tuzla, Limassol, Episkopi, Kythrea, Paphos, Kukla, Lefka, Morphou, Hirsofu, Famagusta, Kyrenia and Mesariye. These kazas each had their own kadı or naib, the sanjak of Tripoli, however, was removed from the jurisdiction of Cyprus in 1573 due to its distance and given to the Damascus Eyalet. The sanjaks of İçel, Alâiye and Tarsus were also removed in 1610, however, after the conquest of Crete, the Cypriot Orthodox Church argued that Cyprus had lost importance, that trade volume had decreased and that people were emigrating. It thus requested a change in the status as Cyprus could not afford remaining an eyalet. Thus, in 1670, Cyprus became a sanjak under the Eyalet of the Archipelago, under the control of Kapudan Pasha. This control was exercised through an appointed mütesellim, however, under this system, local aghas were the tax collectors. This magnified their power and resulted in discontent, with the rivalry between them causing a long revolt in the 1680s by Boyacıoğlu Mehmed Agha
4.
Turkish Cypriots
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Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given once they arrived in Cyprus. Additionally, many of the converted to Islam during the early years of Ottoman rule. Nonetheless, the influx of mainly Muslim settlers to Cyprus continued intermittently until the end of the Ottoman period, today, while Northern Cyprus is home to a significant part of the Turkish Cypriot population, the majority of Turkish Cypriots live abroad, forming the Turkish Cypriot diaspora. The emigration was exacerbated by the violence in the 1950s and 1960s. The vernacular of Turkish spoken by Turkish Cypriots is Cypriot Turkish, the vast majority of Turkish Cypriots are Sunni Muslims. Some of these captives accepted or were forced to covert to Christianity and were baptized, by 1425 some of these slaves helped the Mamluke army to gain access to Limassol Castle. Despite the release of some of the captives, after the payment of ransoms, the medieval Cypriot historian Leontios Machairas recalled that the baptized Turks were not permitted to leave Nicosia when the Mamlukes approached the city after the battle of Khirokitia in 1426. According to Professor Charles Fraser Beckingham there must therefore have been some Cypriots, at least nominally Christian, by 1488 the Ottomans made their first attempt at conquering Cyprus when Sultan Bayezid II sent a fleet to conquer Famagusta. However, the attempt failed due to the intervention of a Venetian fleet. Thereafter, the Queen of Cyprus, Caterina Cornaro, was forced to relinquish her crown to the Republic of Venice in 1489, in the same year Ottoman ships were seen off the coast of Karpas and the Venetians began to strengthen the fortifications of the island. Nonetheless, by 1500 coastal raids by Ottoman vessels resulted in the loss of Venetian fleets forcing Venice to negotiate a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire in 1503. However, by May 1539 Suleiman I decided to attack Limassol because the Venetians had been sheltering pirates who continuously attacked Ottoman ships, Limassol stayed under Ottoman control until a peace treaty was signed in 1540. Nonetheless, Cyprus continued to be a haven for pirates who interrupted the safe passage of Ottoman trade ships and Muslim pilgrims sailing to Mecca and Medina. The basis for the emergence of a sizeable and enduring Turkish community in Cyprus emerged when Ottoman troops landed on the island in mid-May 1570, However, there were also some new converts to Islam on the island during the early years of Ottoman rule. This influx of mainly Muslim settlers to Cyprus continued intermittently until the end of the Ottoman period, by the second quarter of the nineteenth century approximately 30,000 Muslims were living in Cyprus, comprising about 35% of the total population. Throughout the Ottoman rule, the ratio between Christian Greeks and Muslim Turks fluctuated constantly. During 1745-1814, the Muslim Turkish Cypriots constituted the majority on the island against the Christian Greek Cypriots However, by 1841, according to the first British census of Cyprus, in 1881, 95% of the islands Muslims spoke Turkish as their mother tongue
5.
Greek Orthodox Church
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Historically, the term Greek Orthodox has also been used to describe all Eastern Orthodox Churches in general, since Greek in Greek Orthodox can refer to the heritage of the Byzantine Empire. Over time, most parts of the liturgy, traditions, and practices of the church of Constantinople were adopted by all, thus, the Eastern Church came to be called Greek Orthodox in the same way that the Western Church is called Roman Catholic. Orthodox Churches, unlike the Catholic Church, have no Bishopric head, such as a Pope, however, they are each governed by a committee of Bishops, called the Holy Synod, with one central Bishop holding the honorary title of first among equals. Greek Orthodox Churches are united in communion with other, as well as with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches. The Eastern Orthodox hold a doctrine and a common form of worship. The most commonly used Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church was written by Saint John Chrysostom, others, are attributed to St. Basil the Great, St. James, the Brother of God and St. The majority of Greek Orthodox Christians live within Greece and elsewhere in the southern Balkans, but also in Lebanon, Cyprus, Anatolia, European Turkey, and the South Caucasus. In addition, due to the large Greek diaspora, there are many Greek Orthodox Christians who live in North America, Orthodox Christians in Finland, who compose about 1% of the population, are also under the jurisdiction of a Greek Orthodox Church. Thus, they may attend services held in Old Russian and Old Church Slavonic, the Church conducts its liturgy in Koine Greek in the areas of Albania populated by the ethnic Greek minority, alongside the use of Albanian throughout the country. The Greek and Eastern Churches online Constantelos, Demetrios J. Understanding the Greek Orthodox church, its faith, history, the Orthodox Eastern Church Hussey, Joan Mervyn. The orthodox church in the Byzantine empire online Kephala, Euphrosyne, the Church of the Greek People Past and Present Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, II, The Nineteenth Century in Europe, The Protestant,2, 479-484, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, IV, The Twentieth Century in Europe, The Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Churches McGuckin, John Anthony. The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, media related to Greek Orthodox Church at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Lapithos
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Lapithos or Lapethos is a town in Cyprus. De facto, it is under the control of Northern Cyprus, according to Strabo, the settlement was founded by Spartans. In Assyrian inscriptions, Lapithos is mentioned as one of the eleven Cypriot kingdoms, during the Persian rule, Lapithos was settled by Phoenicians. The last independent king Praxippos was subdued by Ptolemy I in 312 BC, Lambousa is the name currently used for the ancient Roman town on the coast about 3 kilometres north of the current Lapta. Strabo wrote that Lapethos is a construction of the Laconians and of Praxandros, the philosopher Alexander of Ephesus called it Imeroessa, meaning attractive and passion-arousing. Lapithos is usually referred in literature as a Laconian colony built after the Trojan War, by Praxandros. However, findings from excavations i. e. pots and pottery date back its existence as early as 3000 BC. According to Diodoros of Sicily, who wrote in the 4th century BC, peisistratos, king of Lapithos, with his flotilla, together with Nicocreon of Salamis and Stasanor of Curion, came to the aid of Alexander the Great, helping him to capture Tyre in Phoenicia. For this reason Alexander, the army commander, declared Cyprus free from the Persians. The last king of Lapethos was Praxippos, during the period of the Roman Empire, Lapethos had more than 10,000 inhabitants. It formed one of the four districts of Cyprus, from ancient times, Lapithos became a centre for the processing of copper and more importantly an earthenware centre. During the proto-Christian period Lapethos experienced a great commercial drive because of the plethora of its produce, during the first years of Christianity the apostles Paul, Barnabas and Mark passed by Lapethos coming from Tarsus. According to Apostle Barnabas, Lapethos had city walls and he cites that during his second tour with Apostle Mark, they stayed outside the walls because they were not given access to the city. In late antiquity, Lapethos enjoyed great prosperity in commerce as well as in riches, art, Lapethos was heavily damaged during the Arab incursions. The population often had to flee and take refuge in the interior, during the Lusignan period, Lapithos boasted a greater population than Limassol, Famagusta or Paphos. It was known under the name Le field de la Pison,3000 troops were stationed at Lapithos under the command of Zanetto Dandolo in the years preceding the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571. Dandolo was killed during the defence of Nicosia, in 1780 a section of Lapithos was split off to form a new village, Karavas. Lapithos became a municipality soon after the transfer of power to the British rule and it spreads from the high mountains of Pentadactylos to the waters of the Mediterranean
7.
Hemshin peoples
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The term the Hemshin is also used in some publications to refer to Hemshinli. Robert H. Hewsen shows the region where todays Hemşin is located to be populated by a people with different designations throughout the ancient and he indicates thereby that some designations may have alternative forms and partially presents the names used with question marks. The Hemşin region is shown as part of Colchis, Tzanica, the specific location of Hemşin is indicated as Tambur/Hamamašen as a fort and town for the first time in the map covering the period 654–750. This event is declared by Mamikonian to have taken place in early seventh century, simonian who conveys this story reports also that the date given by the author may be wrong. Ghewond conveys this immigration to be to heavy taxes imposed on Armenians by the Arab rulers. The Amatuni lords are offered fertile land to settle down by the Byzantine Emperor and this migration is dated to be after 789 by Ghewond and as 750 by Stephen Asoghik of Taron. Redgate informs about possible symbolism used in the Ghewond’s history and possible garbling in Mamikonian’s history, hachikian states “There is no clue as to where Tambur, the legendary capital of Hamshen, was located. The only certain thing about it is that it belonged to a much earlier time- if it existed at all”. He also mentions in the footnote the name similarity between Tambur and a known as Tahpur or Tagpur, in the heights of Kaptanpasa. Simonian states that Tambur is probably in the vicinity of Varoşkale, hetum describes the region to be miraculous and strange place unbelievable unless seen by own eyes, dark and without roads. Signs of human settlement are that, the referenced translation suggests this Emperor could be Shapuhr II. Simonian considers the so described difficulty in not to imply total isolation. On the contrary, he reports, Hamshen served sometimes as a route between the coastal regions and the Armenian plateau. Robert W. Edwards has defined the geographical perimeters of that region, sources of the ruling powers in the region, are silent about Hemshin, until the conquest by the Ottomans. The Ottoman conquest of Hemshin occurred sometime in the 1480s, an Ottoman register dated around 1486 calls it Hemshin, in the 15th century, the region of Hamshen was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During the Turkish rule, two most important developments are human migrations and conversions, most sources agree that prior to Ottoman era majority of the residents of Hemshin were Christian and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The details and the circumstances for the migrations and the conversions during the Ottoman era are not clearly known or documented. As a result of developments, distinctive communities with the same generic name have also appeared in the vicinity of Hopa
8.
Metaphor
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A metaphor is a figure of speech that refers, for rhetorical effect, to one thing by mentioning another thing. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two ideas, antithesis, hyperbole, metonymy and simile are all types of metaphor. The Philosophy of Rhetoric by rhetorician I. A. Richards describes a metaphor as having two parts, the tenor and the vehicle, the tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed. The vehicle is the object whose attributes are borrowed, other writers employ the general terms ground and figure to denote the tenor and the vehicle. Cognitive linguistics uses the target and source, respectively. Metaphors are most frequently compared with similes, a simile is a specific type of metaphor that uses the words like or as in comparing two objects, whereas what is commonly referred to as a metaphor states that A is B or substitutes B for A. What is usually referred to as a metaphor asserts the two objects in the comparison are identical on the point of comparison, a simile merely asserts a similarity, for this reason a common-type metaphor is generally considered more forceful than a simile. The metaphor category also contains these types, Allegory, An extended metaphor wherein a story illustrates an important attribute of the subject. Antithesis, A rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences Catachresis, A mixed metaphor used by design and accident. Hyperbole, Excessive exaggeration to illustrate a point Metonymy, A figure of speech using the name of one thing in reference to a different thing of which the first is associated, example, in lands belonging to the crown the word crown is metonymy for ruler or monarch. Parable, An extended metaphor narrated as an anecdote illustrating and teaching such as in Aesops fables, pun, Similar to a metaphor, a pun alludes to another term. However, the difference is that a pun is a frivolous allusion between two different things whereas a metaphor is a purposeful allusion between two different things. Metaphor, like other types of analogy, can usefully be distinguished from metonymy as one of two modes of thought. Thus, a metaphor creates new links between otherwise distinct conceptual domains, whereas a metonymy relies on the links within them. A dead metaphor is one in which the sense of an image has become absent. Examples, to grasp a concept and to gather what youve understood use physical action as a metaphor for understanding, the audience does not need to visualize the action, dead metaphors normally go unnoticed. Some people distinguish between a dead metaphor and a cliché, others use dead metaphor to denote both. A mixed metaphor is one that leaps from one identification to a second identification inconsistent with the first, e. g. Checkmate
9.
Vallahades
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The Vallahades or Valaades were a Greek-speaking, Muslim population who lived along the River Haliacmon in southwest Greek Macedonia, in and around Anaselitsa and Grevena. They numbered about 17,000 in the early 20th century, most other Greek converts to Islam from Ottoman Macedonia, Thrace, and Epirus generally adopted the Turkish language and culture and thereby assimilated into mainstream Ottoman society. The name Vallaades comes from the Turkish-language Islamic expression vallah, even their call to prayer was said to be un-canonical and in Greek. Though some Western travellers speculated that Vallaades is connected to the ethnonym Vlach, de Jong has shown how the frequent Vallahades self-reference to their identity as Turks was simply used as a synonym for Muslims. However, most historians are in agreement with Hasluck, Vakalopoulos, according to Bulgarian geographer Vasil Kanchovs statistics there was 14,373 Greeks Muslims in southwestern Macedonia at the end of the 19th century. According to Greek statistics from 1904, however, there were at least 16,070 Vallahades in the kazas of Anaselitsa, in addition to continuing to speak Greek as their first language, the Vallahades also continued to respect their Greek and Orthodox Christian heritage and churches. The Vallahades were resettled in western Asia Minor, in towns as Kumburgaz, Büyükçekmece. Many Vallahades still continue to speak the Greek language, which they call Romeïka and have completely assimilated into the Turkish Muslim mainstream as Turks. The 1923 Population Exchange Greek Muslims Caucasus Greeks Cretan Muslims Pomaks Pontic Greeks Western Thrace Turks Cham Albanians Peter Alford Andrews, Rüdiger Benninghaus, ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey Wiesbaden, Reichert,1989. Victor A. Friedman, The Vlah Minority in Macedonia, Language, Identity, Dialectology, university of Chicago Selected Papers in Slavic, Balkan, and Balkan Studies. Full text Margaret M. Hasluck, The Basil-Cake of the Greek New Year, Folklore 38,2,143 JSTOR F. W. Hasluck, Christianity and Islam under the Sultans, Oxford,1929. Speros Vryonis, Religious Changes and Patterns in the Balkans, 14th-16th Centuries, in Aspects of the Balkans, Continuity, the Vallahades of Western Macedonia, in, History of Macedonia 1354-1833, Thessaloniki 1973
10.
Karamanlides
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The Karamanlides, or simply Karamanlis are an Orthodox, Turkish-speaking people native to the Karaman and Cappadocia regions of Anatolia. Today, a majority of the population live within Greece, though there is a diaspora in Western Europe. Karamanlides were Greek-Orthodox Christians in Central Anatolia who had adopted Turkish as their primary language, the term is geographical, derived from the 13th century Beylik of Karaman. This was the first Turkish kingdom to adopt Turkish as its official language, after the Christians in the area were exchanged with Muslim population of Greece in 1923, the title became a label for local Muslim inhabitants. Historically, the Karamanlides adopted and spoke Karamanli Turkish and its vocabulary drew overwhelmingly from Turkic words with many Greek loan words. The language should not be confused with Cappadocian Greek, which was spoken in the region during the same timeframe. It should be noted while their language was Turkish, they employed the Greek alphabet to write it. Academic disputes over the origins of the Karamanlides have led to the formation of two major theories, according to the first theory the Karamanlides descended from Turkish soldiers that Byzantine emperors settled in Anatolia. The second theory states that Karamanlides are the descendants of Byzantine Greeks. Despite their linguistic Turkification, they maintained their Greek Orthodox faith, hence the process of Turkification was documented. It also has a precedent with the Copts in Egypt, who abandoned the Coptic language for Arabic as their first language. This event was mentioned by the Armenian historian Aristakes Lastivertsi in 1072, the territory was conquered by the Seljuk Turks first during the Battle of Manzikert. Many Karamanlides were forced to leave their homes during the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, early estimates placed the number of Orthodox Christians expelled from central and southern Anatolia at around 100,000. However, the Karamanlides were numbered at around 400,000 at the time of the exchange, the former premier of Greece, named Karamanlis, has his roots in Karaman. From the 14th to the 19th centuries, they enjoyed an explosion in literary refinement, Karamanli authors were especially productive in philosophy, religious writings, novels, and historical texts. Lyrical poetry in the late 19th century describes their indifference to both Greek and Turkish governments, and the confusion they felt as a Turkish-speaking people with a Greek ethos
11.
Taxation in the Ottoman Empire
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Taxation in the Ottoman Empire changed drastically over time, and was a complex patchwork of different taxes, exemptions, and local customs. As the Ottoman Empire conquered new territories, it adopted and adapted the existing tax systems already used by the previous governments, for instance, at the conquest of Belgrade, the Sultan instructed an official to gather information on the pre-conquest tax system, which would be replicated post-conquest. At the start of each areas tahrir was an outline of the tax laws in that area. This led to a patchwork of different taxes in different parts of the empire. Discriminatory rates tend to lead to production inefficiencies, the defter was a tax register. It recorded names and property/land ownership, it categorised households, and sometimes whole villages, the Ottoman double-entry accounting method, merdiban, was inherited from the Abbasid empire. The primary role of the Timar system was to collect feudal obligations, the Ottoman Empire had a hierarchy of different types of estate, a Hass was larger than a Zaim estate, which in turn was larger than a timar. This system closely resembles the medieval Serb feudal system, which in turn inherited from the Byzantine, as well as regional variation, there were different taxes applied to different religious and ethnic groups, Muslims paid resm-i çift whilst non-Muslims paid İspençe. These taxes might be further graduated according to ability to pay. In 1530, the Eyalet of Rumelia had graduated taxes even between different religious subsets of an ethnic minority, Muslim Romani paid 22 aspers per household. In some cases, local taxes were imposed on nonmuslims specifically to encourage conversion, conversely, measures might be taken at times to prevent conversion. There was a practice of making villages communally responsible for the tax, if one villager fled. There was a special tax, rusum-e eflak, one sheep. Because Vlachs were taxed differently, they were listed differently in defters, there was also a patchwork of tax exemptions called muafiyet, which might be applied to towns, social groups, or even individuals. Waqfs were, in one sense, a form of tax avoidance, however, some were very well-endowed, and provided various local services such as education which compensated for the Ottoman governments inability to provide local services funded by taxation. Some became so powerful that whole towns developed around the social services they provided, a well-endowed vakuf might even take on the role of helping a community pay their annual tax obligations. Taxes were often difficult to collect, especially from rebellious areas, conversely, high taxes could often provoke rebellion. The Ottoman state went bankrupt in 1590, this led to economic collapse, avariz, a centralised cash tax, became the norm rather than an exception
