LEGAL OPINIONS IN ADJARA DURING THE OTTOMAN RULELEDALL

Abstract

The article notes that prolonged domination of Ottomans and spreading of Islam in Adjara caused introduction of completely new legal system , which was different from traditional Georgian legal norms. They started introduction of their official legal standards for making Adjara as a part of their empire. An official legal system of the Ottoman Empire  was derived from Islam.  Gradually, Ottomans introduced Islamic law “Sharia”.

During the Ottoman domination in Adjara, “sharia” was considered to be the main legal norm.

Naturally, Turkey considered this region as their own territories. So, they carried out the same reforms in this region as in the Ottoman empire. For example, Ottomans carried out Tanzimat in every occupied territories equally, which helped them to strengthen their power on the occupied territories and form Ottoman legislature. For Georgia, the most important decision was legislature about ground, which was activated in 1858.

According to “sharia”, every muslims could have a ground for cultivation, however this property was not constant for them, because Allah was considered to be an owner of ground.

 Key words: Ottoman empire, Adjara, spreading of Islam, Georgian legal norms, Tanzimat, legislature, Sharia, muslim