What changed for Albanian peasants after the Ottoman Empire abolished the timar system in 1831?

Following the official abolition of the timar system in 1831, the structure of economic and social power in Albania underwent a significant transition. Previously, the timar system functioned as a feudal military arrangement where land was granted to lords in exchange for service to the Ottoman Empire.12

With the collapse of this system, power shifted away from these feudal lords toward private landowning beys and, in the northern highlands, to tribal chieftains known as bajraktars. For the peasants, this change meant a shift in their legal and economic status: those who had formerly been serfs under the timar system transitioned into tenant farmers working on the estates of the beys. Despite these administrative changes, Ottoman rule in the region remained characterized by backwardness and oppression.12