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Seljuk Iqta System
Iqta was a feudal military system in the Islamic world granting tax-yielding lands in exchange for military service, which Seljuk sultans used to mai…
Timeline
- c. 1050–1092Khwarazm–Iraq · Seljuk EmpireSeljuk sultans granted provincial tax rights to military commanders (iqta'dar) in exchange for cavalry service and local security, forming a sultan–emir hierarchy of divided authority.
- c. 1121–1130Seljuk successor states of West Asia · the whole worldUnder Sultan Sanjar's nominal rule in the 1120s, local iqta holders were effectively autonomous, using fief revenues to maintain ghulam cavalry and Turkic tribal forces, resisting the crusaders and internal succession disputes.
- c. 1170–1250Syria–Egypt · EgyptThe Ayyubid dynasty inherited and reformed iqta allocation, laying the foundation for the later Mamluk military slavery and lifelong fief models.
Sources
- The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods — J. A. Boyle (1968)
- Muslim Institutions — M. Gaudefroy-Demombynes (1950)