Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Assistant Professor of the Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Facullty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Allameh Tabataba`i University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Graduate Master, Department of History of Culture and Civilization of Islamic Nations, Faculty of Islamic Sciences and Research Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
Abstract
Facing a structural decline in the traditional Iqta system and recurrent exogenous shocks—including plague, famine, and external military threats—the Burji Mamluk state increasingly relied on non-territorial revenue streams to sustain its military hegemony. Utilizing an 'extractive political economy' framework, this study analyzes the mechanisms through which Mamluk sultans exerted control over six primary non-agrarian financial sources: endowments (Awqaf), arbitrary levies (Makūs), state monopolies, the sale of offices (Bay’ al-Waza’if), the Diwan al-Mufrad, and monetary manipulation via the mint. The research evaluates the extent to which these fiscal practices diverged from the normative principles of Islamic political economy, specifically regarding justice, anti-hoarding injunctions , and administrative probity. Employing a descriptive-analytical methodology grounded in primary historical chronicles, the findings demonstrate that sultans (notably Barquq and Barsbay) transformed these resources into instruments of state capture . While practices such as the institutionalization of corruption , strategic monopolies on sugar and spices , and the sale of high offices (reaching up to 32,000 dinars) provided short-term liquidity for the military elite, they triggered long-term systemic pathologies . These included artificial inflation , capital flight, and a profound loss of public legitimacy, which ultimately accelerated the economic and political collapse of the Mamluk Sultanate .
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