defterdar

Defterdar is an Ottoman Turkish title meaning “keeper of registers,” referring to the official who headed the empire’s financial administration, the treasury and budget. The office was one of the highest ranks in the central government and a senior member of the Divan, the imperial council.

The defterdar supervised the Defterhane, the treasury, and was responsible for revenue collection, accounting, and the payment of salaries to troops and state officials. The role included oversight of financial records (defters), auditing accounts, managing expenditures, and monitoring state debt and loans. The defterdar coordinated with other financial and administrative bodies on budgetary matters and reported to the grand vizier and, ultimately, to the sultan.

Appointments were made by the sultan, typically on the recommendation of the grand vizier; holders were drawn from senior officials or viziers with financial or bureaucratic experience. The position was a senior one within the Ottoman administration and often carried substantial influence.

In the long view, the defterdarlık remained a central office through much of the classical period of the empire. With late 19th-century reforms and the development of modern ministries, the financial administration was reorganized, and the defterdar’s function gradually gave way to centralized fiscal departments within a formal Ministry of Finance. The title, however, persisted in various forms in some periods and regions as a historical reference to the empire’s financial leadership.