Tax-farming agreement at the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Muctadid (892 CE): an extract from the Kitāb al-Wuzarā’ by Hilal al-Sabi

Abstract

The publication is a commented translation from Arabic into Russian of an extract from the book by Hilal al-Sabi (Abū'l-Ḥusayn Hilāl b. Muḥassin b. Ibrahīm al- Ṣābi 969–1056 AD) “Kitāb al-Wuzarā’ ” (The Book of Wazirs. The extract comprises an account about the circumstances and conditions of a lease agreement between the wazir of the Caliph al- Mu‘tadid billah (r. 892–902 AD) and a certain Muhammad at-Tai concerning the fertile lands of Central and Southern Iraq. The translation is introduced by a preface, which outlines the political and economic situation in the caliphate in the year of the accession of the caliph al-Mu‘tadid to the throne and explains the reasons for the emergence of the tax-farming deals during the rule of the Abbasid caliphs. The extract also provides the description of the circumstances of the agreement as well as provides the actual text of the document. Altogether they describe the relations between the government officials and the tax-farming dealers in the Abbasid caliphate at the end of the 9th century AD. They offer a vivid picture of creating corruption schemes to enrich government bureaucracy and tax dealers. They also provide many interesting details, which illustrate the life of the caliph court and the army.