Rayah

A rayah, raya, or reaya (the usual modern scholarly spelling) (also spelled raiah, re'aya; Ottoman Turkish رعايا IPA| [re'ʔaːjeː] ; Modern Turkish râya IPA| [raː'jaː] or reaya) was a member of the tax-paying lower class of Ottoman society, in contrast to the askeri.

The rayah (literally 'members of the flock') included Christians, Muslims, and Jews who were 'shorn' ("i.e." taxed) to support the state and the associated 'professional Ottoman' class. [Sugar, p. 33]

But both in contemporary and in modern usage, it often refers to non-Muslim subjects in particular, more accurately called zimmi. The word is sometimes translated as 'cattle' rather than 'flock' or 'subjects' to emphasize the inferior status of the rayah, though it is the same word used by Christian Arabs to refer to a priest's 'flock' or 'parish'. [Maan Z. Madina, "Arabic-English Dictionary of the Modern Literary Language", 1973.]

In the early Ottoman Empire, rayah were not eligible for military service, but starting in the late 16th century, Muslim rayah became eligible, to the distress of some of the ruling class. [Greene, p. 41, quoting Halil Inalcık]

Etymology

The Arabic word رعايا IPA| [raʕaːjaː] is the plural of رعيّه IPA| [raʕiːjah] , which literally means 'flock' and is extended to 'subject' (of a sovereign).

References

* Molly Greene, "A Shared World: Christians and Muslims in the Early Modern Mediterranean", Princeton, 2000. ISBN 0-691-00898-1
* Peter F. Sugar, "Southeastern Europe under Ottoman Rule, 1354-1804", series title "A History of East Central Europe", volume V, University of Washington Press, 1983. ISBN 0-295-96033-7.