Note 678 — Chapter VII · THE MOSLEM INSTITUTION OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

The Subashis in particular were closely connected with the administration of justice. Postel, i. 120, says loosely that Pasha, Kazi, and Subashi all mean the same thing. Chesneau, 47, says that the sultan had two judges in every city, a Kazi for civil cases and a Subashi for criminal cases. This is certainly incorrect, for the Sacred Law provided for many criminal cases, while Kanuns dealt with many civil cases. The Sanjak Beys and Beylerbeys held Divans, or councils, resembling on a lesser scale the sultan’s Divan (Heidborn, 143, note 17); following the analogy of the Kaziaskers, the Kazi of the city in which each such officer resided would sit in his Divan and decide the cases that came up touching the Sacred Law, and would also hold independent court at other times. In cities of lesser importance, the Kazis appear to have been the heads of the restricted municipal governments (ibid., note 16).