The Encroachments on the Endowed Lands in the Mamlūks Egypt: Consequences and Reactions

This article is a study on the Egypt endowed lands in the Mamluks era. The Mamluk officers formed a type of military dictatorship by absolute control over their Iqta’at and their profits. Consequently, they had always curbed the power of Sultans and later on, the powerful emirs were not satisfied with their own incomes and farms and invaded some of endowed lands. Furthermore, the military nature of the generals leads them to employ other political-economic methods, such as bribery to the endowed supervisors, aiming to increase their wealth and power. Therefore, Mamluk sultans took various policies in order to restrain and control the excessive power of Emirs and prevent their encroachments. For instance: taking endowed and habous from Shaf’ids and instead, giving them to the sultan, regent or one of the country, s reliable leader, such as Davādār Kabir; separating the duties of the dīvāns of endowed and habous to control the endowed lands and appointing the supervisors of endowed lands by Sultan, were among the fruitless policies which caused the corruption and the social rebels.