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==Rise of the Ayan and significance==
Though not all a'yan were tax farmers, the a'yan rose particularly in conjunction with the Iltizam tax structure (Ottoman tax farming). Prior to that system, only those close to the Sultan had any political capacity. Under the Timar
This decision granted, for the first time, political access and power to those outside of the Sultan's inner circle. This decentralization allowed wealth to play a more significant factor in local influence and power. Author Gabriel Piterberg notes that, "…the main social characteristic of the rising ayan was that they were of reaya (Ottoman subject, non-military) origin, and that their ascendency can be seen as a part of a wider phenomenon… through which people of reaya origin had been able to join the askeri (tax-collecting, military) class of the empire since the 17th century."<ref name=Piterberg1990/> From the 16th century on, the Ottoman central government made repeated efforts to re-centralize the Empire, and though some efforts were more successful than others, none were able to eliminate the local influence held by the ayan.
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