SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The present thesis is a study of the financial system of Egypt from the appointment of Saladin to the vizierate by the last Fatimid Caliph al-'Adid in 564/1169 to the end of the reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun in 741/1341. It consists of five chapters, the first being a critical survey of the sources, prominent among which are the Geniza documents, the Vienna papers and the Mahkama collection. The second chapter is an account of the iqta' system, which was a way of paying soldiers and collecting taxes. It defines the nature of the iqta' as an assignment to the muqta' of the right to collect the whole or part of the agricultural or non-agricultural revenue of a given locality, in return for the performance of military and non-military duties. It discusses the other rights of the muqta'. and the range of size and value of iqt?'s. Chapter III discusses the numerous Egyptian taxes of the period, their assessment and yields, and the periods in which they were current. It deals with cases where particular taxes were abolished and sometimes re-introduced, and covers two further sources of revenue, confiscation and the mawarith hashriyya. Chapter IV is devoted to financial administration, with special consideration of methods of tax-collection and the fiscal roles of the sultan, the vizier and the nazir al-khass. It defines the functions of the financial diwans. the nazir al-dawawin. the shadd al-dawawin and their subordinates. Chapter V investigates the monetary system of Egypt in the period under review, tracing it back to pre-Ayyubid times. It studies the effects of changes in the supply of gold and silver on the standard of weight and fineness of the dinars and dirhams issued by particular sultans, the frequent monetary crises, their origins and the various attempts to solve them.