raja

Its Turkish form: reájá; meaning: "herd". The law and order of the Ottoman Empire divided society into two main groups: the so called soldiers (the "aszkeri"s in Turkish) and the rajas. To the first group belonged all those who were employed by the state and received payment or remuneration in property and did not pay any taxes. Everybody else who carried out production work (mainly agricultural) and paid taxes to the state were regarded as rajas regardless of whether they were Muslims or Christians. Land used by a raja was theoretically a state property but if it was cultivated properly it could not be taken away from the raja.

FP