writes that when he reached Qatiya, on the border between Egypt and Syria, he saw that ‘there are offices here with officers, clerks and notaries, and the daily revenue is one thousand dīnārs’.128 It was an internal custom duty because Egypt and Syria were within Mamluk jurisdiction.
A tax called ḥuqūq sāḥil al-ghallah was imposed on grains imported to Cairo through the harbours of Fustat and Alexandria. It was one of the major components of the revenue of the dīwān. About 4,600,000 dirhams were realized annually from this tax. Since Copts were mostly employed in its collection, they earned unlimited incomes, while the people suffered a lot of injustice.129 At the time of his rawk, Sultan Nāṣir abolished this tax along with some other taxes.
Sales tax was also a source of revenue in the Mamluk period. According to Maqrīzī, in 1338–39 a tax called the qarārīṭ was imposed on property transactions.130 It was a tax on sales of property amounting to 20 dīnārs per 1,000 dīnārs, i.e. 2 per cent. This tax remained in force until 1376, when Malik Ashraf Sha‘bān abolished it.131
On dhimmīs, jizyah or jawālī a poll tax was imposed. Sometimes it was collected at double the legal amount of the jawālī tax.132 There was another tax imposed on dhimmīs, namely ‘muqarrar al-Naṣārā’. Along with some other taxes, Sultan Qalāwūn abolished it in 1279, when it had been in force for eighteen years. As a result of the abolition of these taxes, prices came down.133
In 1300, the Sultan imposed some new taxes, including a registration fee for shopkeepers amounting to 40 dīnārs, which, however, was withdrawn after the intervention of chief justice Ibn Makhlūf al-Mālikī.134 There were taxes on weddings and prisoners, which were abolished by Nāṣir during the rawk of 1315.135 War taxes were collected from the public whenever the Sultan made preparations for war. Sultan Qutuz imposed a tax of one dīnār on every Egyptian to finance the war against the Tatars.136 War tax was abolished and reimposed many times in the Mamluk era. Taxes were collected on the use of public services, such as irrigation dams.137 A tax on vice, such as prostitution, dancing parties, singers and musicians, was also a source of income in that period. The production of intoxicants and acts of prostitution were allowed on the payment of taxes.138 The experts of Islamic law always opposed taxation of this kind, as they considered it an infringement of the Sharī‘ah and an encouragement of sin.139
Apart from the above-mentioned permanent taxes, there were some irregular and occasional revenues from casual sources, e.g. muṣādarah (confiscation of property), al-mawārīth al-hashrīyah (heirless property), etc. During Lājīn’s reign and the long reign of Nāṣir, cases of confiscation of officiate’ property were numerous. But confiscation was not always on economic grounds. Very often it was used as a punishment. For example, in 1266, the property of some amīrs was confiscated because they had supported the Sultan’s enemy.140
Income from al-mawārīth al-hashrīyah was huge during the frequent epidemics when numerous persons died suddenly without heirs.141
(b) State borrowing
Examples of state borrowing are also found in this period. Sometimes the Mamluk Sultans borrowed money from major traders, as the need arose.142 But no details are available of terms and conditions, etc.
(c) Collection and administration
Taxes were generally collected by the muqṭa‘ if they were conferred upon them. Sometimes Sultānī officials were assigned the responsibility of tax collection.143 Another system of collection was that of ḍamān, in which the ḍāmin (the guarantor) used to guarantee payment of a fixed amount of money, irrespective of an increase or decrease in the amount that he would collect from people. His position was like that of a middle man. In this system the tax payers were always badly hit, as the ḍāmin used to collect more than the official amount.144
There were a number of dīwāns (departments) dealing with different taxes and financial matters; for example, dīwān al-rawātib for wages and salaries, dīwān al-ṣa‘īd (office related to the affairs of Upper Egypt), dīwān asfal-al-arḍ (office of Lower Egypt), dīwān al-jawālī wa’l-mawārīth al-hashrīyah (office of the poll tax and heirless estates), dīwān al-kharāj, for the collection of kharāj (land tax), dīwān al-hilālī, for the collection of amwāl-hilālīyah (those goods which were collected according to lunar months), etc. The centre of these dīwāns was bait al-māl, the concept of which as a state treasury was of early Islamic origin.145 Dīwān al-naẓar or dīwān naẓar al-dawāwīn were the other terms used, in this period, for bait al-māl. It was a very important department of the government, comparable to a present-day ministry of finance. All accounts of state income and expenditure were the concern of this office. The head of this office was known by several different names, such as nāẓir al-dawā-wīn, naẓīr al-nuẓẓār or nāẓir al-māl.146 He was assisted by a large number of subordinates. The second most important financial office was that of dīwān al-khāṣṣ. It was established by Sultan Nāṣir in 1326, to manage the Sultan’s personal purses. The chief of this office was called nāẓir al-khāṣṣ. Sometimes his influence was greater than that of the nāẓir al-māl.147 He was responsible for managing the expenditure on food and uniforms for the court of the Sultan, and chief officers, governors, judges and the Sultānī Mamlūks.148
(d) Heads of expenditure
No detailed information is available regarding the budget of Mamluk governments or their pattern of expenditure. The overall picture that we derive from the piecemeal information available is as follows:
The income from kharāj reached twelve million dīnārs during the reign of Ẓāhir Baibars.149 Priority was given to army expenditure, in view of the Mamluks’ preoccupation with military activities. They paid due attention to preparation of arms and ammunition and the manufacture of warships.150 They had an outstandingly disciplined army, which put an end to the crusades and turned back the Mongols. Apart from the army expenditure, a lot of money was spent on the Mamluk royal family and royal functions.151
Next carne the expenditure on ministers, governors, viziers, qāḍīs, supervisors of dīwāns, accountants, scribes, etc. Provision of public services, like dams and canals, schools and hospitals, was one of the heads of public expenditure. A number of buildings, dams and canals were built in the Mamluk period. These historical monuments reveal even today their dignity and grandeur.152 Spare income was spent on the purchase of horses, the advantages of which, in the medieval age, need no description.153 In many cases extravagance and misuse of public funds took place, and contemporary thinkers criticized it.154
1. Ḥarrān is situated in North Mesopotamia on the small river Jullāb at the intersection of important caravan routes to Asia Minor, Syria and Mesopotamia. Today it is a part of modern Turkey.
2. Cf. Ibn ‘Abd al-Hādī, Al-‘Uqūd al-Durrīyah (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah, 1938), p. 2.
3. Muir, S. William, The Mameluke or Slave Dynasty of Egypt (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1896), p. 5.
4. Ibid., p. 14.
5. Lane-Poole,
