Iqta Land Grant System

Timeline

1. c. 901–930Baghdad · IraqAbbasid caliphs replaced early military pay distribution with iqta, granting commanders the revenue rights of land tax (kharaj) in specific regions; grantees had to maintain their troops and acknowledge the caliph's suzerainty, while land ownership remained with the state or original owners.
2. c. 930–970Iranian Plateau · IranCommanders of dynasties such as the Buyids and Samanids controlled local finances through iqta, and a military aristocracy rose; central approval and rotation of grants weakened, and iqta tended toward hereditary succession and expansion.
3. c. 970–1000Khurasan · KhurasanIn the late 10th century, Seljuk Turkic military groups accepted iqta grants in exchange for frontier defense service; this system became the basic framework for organizing cavalry and administration in the subsequent Great Seljuk Empire, with influence lasting until the Ottoman timar system.