IQTA' POLICY OF SULTAN BAYBARS I TSUGITAKA SATO* The Mamluk state (1250-1517) in Egypt and Syria inherited the iqta' system almost as it was in the Ayyubid period (1169-1250). Baybars I (1260- 77), who obtained the power immediately after the battle of 'Ayn Jalut, or- ganized his regime through the assignment of iqta's, in which there remained the Ayyubid traditions to no small extent. The next year of his enthronement, Baybars invested a relative of the Abbasids to the caliphate in Cairo, and in 1265 added the chief qadiships of the three leading law schools to the Shafi'ite one. On the other hand, he could externally achieve the brilliant military gains against the Mongols as well as against the Crusaders in Syria. The political history of the early Mamluks has already been studied in detail by such scholars as Dr. S.F. Sadeque(1) and Dr. A. Khoweiter,(2) but unfortunately they have not directed their attention to how important the iqta' assignments were in the formation of the Mamluk state during the reign of Baybars. And Dr. H. Rabie, who studied thoroughly on the iqta' system in the Ayyubid and the early Mamluk periods,(3) does not talk about his view focussed on the iqta' policy of Baybars. This applies also to the recent works of Prof. R. Irwin.(4) Accordingly it may be useful for us to make clear its roll and meaning through the concrete investigation of the iqta' system in the early Mamluk period. The main sources are two biographies of Baybars; one is al-Rawd al-Zahir written by Ibn 'Abd al-Zahir (d. 1292), and the other is al- Rawda al-Zahira of Ibn Shaddad (d. 1285), which was published recently by the name of Ta'rikh al-Malik al-Zahir.(5) Al-A'laq al-Khatira of the same author, Ibn Shaddad, is unique in particular for its providing useful informations on the Syrian provinces. The chronicle Zubda al-Fikra is also important to our study because its author, Baybars al-Mansuri (d. 1325), participated himself in the battles in Antioch and in Cilicia under the command of sultan.(6) * Associate Professor, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo. Vol. XXII 1986 85 I Establishment of the Provincial Administration 1 Na'ibs in Syria Since the Zangid period (1127-1222) the governors called na'ib or wali had been appointed to the main districts in Syria and Jazira. According to Prof. Cl. Cahen, the wali's income was to be registered in the central diwan, while iqta' holders (muqta's) were granted the free disposal of the revenues of their iqta's.(7) But, as Prof. R.S. Humphreys critisizes it,(8) the positions of wali and na'ib were sometimes attributed to the same person, and further the sahibs, who were the Ayyubid princes in most cases, ruled independently in some districts.(9) These sahibs kept, even after the establishment of the Mamluk sultanate, to hold their former rights with the reception of reassuarance docu- ments (taqlids) from sultan. For example, in 659 (1261) the following princes submitted to the sultan and got the taqlids from him; al-Malik al-Salih of al- Mawsil, al-Malik al-Mujahid of al-Jazira, al-Malik al-Muzaffar of Sinjar, al-Malik al-Ashraf of Hims and al-Malik al-Mansur of Hama.(10) But al- Malik al-Mughith of al-Karak continued to rule it independently until 661 (1263) rejecting the sultan's authority.(11) The government of Cairo, as we shall state afterwards, sent na'ibs one by one to the districts of the submitted sahibs whenever they died naturally. To put its process concretely, in 658 (1260) al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din, the last Ayyubid prince in Damascus (sahib Dimashq), was appointed to na'ib Dimashq by sultan Qutuz, but was soon arrested by the Mongols to be killed after the battle of 'Ayn Jalut.(12) On Ramadan 658 (August 1260) Qutuz appointed amir 'Alam al-Din Sanjar al-Salihi to na'ib Dimashq,(13) but the next sultan Baybars chose 'Ala' al-Din Taybars al-Waziri for this position.(14) Since the next na'ib Jamal al-Din Aqush al-Salihi was also the mamluk amir,(15) we learn that the successive na'ibs in Damascus were mostly the amirs from mamluks in that period. Al-Malik al-Ashraf, sahib Hims, was the last grandson of Saladin's un- cle, Shirkukh. But he died without his son, brother or heir-apparent (wali al-'Ahd) in 662 (1264), a few years after he submitted to Baybars. Consequently Baybars ordered amir Badr al-Din Baylik al-'Ala'i to rule over Hims, and then appointed amir 'Izz al-Din Aybak al-Zahiri to na'ib Hims successively.(16) When al-Malik al-Mansur, sahib Hama, died in 683 (1284), his son al-Malik 86 ORIENT IQTA' POLICY OF SULTAN BAYBARS I al-Muzaffar succeeded to the position until 698 (1299). Then the mamluk amir Qarasunqur was once appointed na'ib Hama,(17) but in 710 (1310) the rulership was restored to the Ayyubid princes who succeeded it until the mamluks began to administer there directly in 742 (1341).(18) Baybars found shelter with al-Malik al-Mughith (sahib al-Karak) for a while when he was still one of the mamluk amirs. But, after his accession to the sultanate, Baybars conquered al-Karak because of al-Mughith's disapproval of his legitimacy, and appointed amir 'Izz al-Din Aydamur to its na'ib in 661 (1263) granting al-Khalil as his iqta'.(19) As to Aleppo its sahib al-Malik al- Mu'azzam Turanshah died a few days after the conquest of Hulaghu in 658 (1260).(20) When Qutuz won the battle with the Mongols at 'Ayn Jalut in this year, he appointed al-Muzaffar, sahib Sinjar, to na'ib Halab although he had promised the position to Baybars previously.(21) In the reign of Baybars, the mamluks in Aleppo revolted against al-Muzaffar and succeeded in installing their leader, Husam al-Din al-Jukundar al-'Azizi in na'ib. But in a little while Baybars appointed 'Alam al-Din Sanjar al-Halabi, who was one of the Bahri mamluks, to the position in place of al-Jukundar, granting the iqta' adequate to him.(22) Thus, by the end of the reign of Baybars the mamluk amirs were sent to the main districts of inner Syria except Hama, which led to the establishment of the provincial administration by na'ibs in stead of the Ayyubid sahibs. Then, how was the district of al-Sahil which stretched from Ghazza to Safad? When Kurdish amir Shihab al-Din al-Qaymari (na'ib al-saltana bil- futuhat al-Sahilya) died in 662 (1264), his position and the iqta' of hundred horsemen were inherited by his son and then by Nasir al-Din al-Qaymari, the Kurdish amir.(23) As to Safad Baybars, who conquered this city in 664 (1265), appointed amir 'Ala' al-Din al-Kababi to its na'ib while he gave the position of wali al-qal'a (governor of the citadel) to amir Majd al-Din al-Tawri.(24) After the conquest of Shaqif in 666 (1267-8), Baybars also appointed Sarim al-Din Qaymaz al-Kafiri to na'ib al-qal'a in this city,(25) then in 669 (1270-1) he appointed several na'ibs in Hisn al-'Akkar following the conquest.(26) The above-mentioned instances illustrate that the government had the same policy towards al-Sahil as towards inner Syria appointing a na'ib to each district whenever it was conquered. Among these Syrian na'ibs, the status of na'ib Dimashq was the highest, of which al-Qalgashandi (d. 1418) describes as follows; Vol. XXII 1986 87 He (na'ib Dimashq) is the viceroy of sultan in Damascus dealing with the various matters connected with its viceroyship (niyaba). The official documents (tawaqi') and the documents (murabba'at)(27) to allot iqta'at to soldiers are written by him to be sent to the central government for taking sultan's signature.... He writes everything related with the viceroyship, that is, the authorizations of iqta' assignment (manashir), the official documents (tawaqi'), and the orders (marasim) confidently. He is also responsible for the inspection of the Nuri hospital and the Umayyad mosque in Damascus just as atabek al-'asdkir is responsible for the inspection of the Mansuri hospital in Cairo.(28) This shows that the main duties of na'ib Dimashq were such as drawing up the various documents and the inspection of the central public facilities in Damascus. Since na'ib Halab was also responsible for the issue of authoriza- tions of iqta' assignment and the documents related with the public office (wazifa) in Aleppo(29), we may conjecture that these were common duties to all na'ibs in Syria. Among the above-mentioned na'ibs, those who held iqta's were na'ib Dimashq, na'ib al-Karak, na'ib Halab and na'ib al-Sahil. Of course these na'ibs were not assigned the whole district of his niydba as iata', but were allotediqta' adequate to itsniyaba just as the successive na'ibs in al-Karak held al-Khalil as their iqta'. 2 Walis in Egypt Egypt had been divided into administrative districts (wilaya) since the early Islamic period; for example, in the Fatimid period four governors were appointed to the districts.(30) Although the next Ayyubid dynasty should have inherited the provincial administration in the Fatimid times, we can not find any description to show that the districts were governed by walis except wali Qus, wali al-Sharqiya and wali al-Gharbiya.(31) As Dr.