Rayah

A raiyah or reaya (from Arabic: رعايا raʿāyā, a plural of رعيّة raʿiya "countryman, animal, sheep pasturing,[1] subjects,[1] nationals,[2] flock", also spelled raiya, raja, raiah, re'aya; Ottoman Turkish: رعايا, [ɾeˈʔaːjeː]; Modern Turkish râiya [ɾaːˈja] or reaya; related to the Arabic word rā'ī راعي which means "shepherd, herdsman, patron"[3]) was a member of the tax-paying lower class of Ottoman society, in contrast to the askeri and kul.

In the Muslim world, raiyah is literally subject of a government or sovereign.

The raiyah (literally 'members of the flock') included Christians, Muslims, and Jews who were 'shorn' (i.e. taxed) to support the state and the associated 'professional Ottoman' class.

[4] However, both in contemporaneous and in modern usage, it refers to non-Muslim subjects in particular, also called zimmi.

[5][6][7] In the early Ottoman Empire, raiyah were not eligible for military service, but from the late 16th century, Muslim raiyah became eligible to the distress of some of the ruling class.