Iqta'

Iqta‘ (Arabic: اقطاع‎‎) was an Islamic practice of tax farming that became common in Muslim Asia during the Buyid dynasty. The prominent Orientalist Claude Cahen described the Iqta‘ as follows:

a form of administrative grant, often (wrongly) translated by the European word “fief”. The nature of the iḳṭāʿ varied according to time and place, and a translation borrowed from other systems of institutions and conceptions has served only too often to mislead Western historians, and following them, even those of the East.

Iqta‘ in the Seljuq era

In the Seljuk Empire, the move toward the iqta' system was facilitated by the Persian bureaucrat Nizam al-Mulk "who developed and systemized the trend towards feudalism that was already inherent in the tax-farming practices of the immediately preceding period," It is made clear that muqtis hold no claim on the peasants/subjects other than that of collecting from them in a proper manner the due land tax that has been assigned to them. When the revenue has been realized from them, those subjects should remain secure from an demands of the muqtis in respect of their persons, wealth, families,lands and goods. The muqtis can't hold any further claims on them. The subjects can go to the King and address their grievances in case they are being subjugated by the muqtis. It is thus clear that the muqtis only hold the land under the king, the land in truth belongs to the Sultan. Nizam-ul-Mulk emphasizes an important element in the iqta- muqti's right to collect and appropriate taxes. Of course, the muqtis also had certain obligations to the Sultan. He had to maintain the troops and furnish them at call. The revenues he got from the iqtas were meant to be resources for him to do the same. The revenue was meant for his own expenses, payment and maintenance of the troops and the rest had to be sent back to the king. The muqti was thus a tax collector and army paymaster rolled into one.

Iqta‘ in the Mamluk sultanate

Iltutamish established the `Iqta‘ system` based on Mohammad Gori's ideas. Iqta‘ meant revenue assignment in lieu of salary. The Iqta‘ system was later reorganized by Balban, who divided his empire into small pieces of land and opposed making Iqta hereditary . Rather than paying his officers, he gave nobles land or iqtas. The people had to pay the king a part of the revenue they collected from the land. People called iqtedars collected the revenue. Iqta system was revived by Firuz Shah Tughlaq of the Tughlaq dynasty & he made the assignments hereditary to please the nobles.

Iqta‘ and feudalism

Although there are similarities between the Iqta‘ system and the common fief system practiced in the west at similar periods, there are also considerable differences.

The Iqta‘ holders generally did not technically own the lands, but only assume the right to the revenue of the land, a right that the government typically reserved the right to change. Many Iqta‘ holders did not hold their Iqta' for life, and at least in most cases they were not subject to inheritance to the next generation.

Although the subjects attached to the Iqta‘ were still technically free men, in real practice the end result often end up with them functioning like serfs.

There are significant variance in the actual implementation of Iqta' systems throughout the different periods and in different area, so it is difficult to completely generalize them.

See also

• Tax farming
• Kharaj
• Jizya

Further reading

• Cahen, Claude, "Iḳṭā'," Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. 3, pp. 1088–1091.
• Cahen, Claude, “L’évolution de l’iqṭāʿ du IXe au XIIIe siežcle,” Annales, économies-sociétés-civilisation Vol. 8, (1953), pp. 25–52.
• Duri, A. A., “The Origins of the Iqṭāʿ in Islam,” al-Abḥāṯ Vol. 22 (1969), pp. 3–22.
• Küpeli, Ismail: iqta als "islamischer Feudalismus"? Munich, 2007, ISBN 978-3-638-74966-4

External links

• Encyclopædia Iranica