The Caliph’s Feudalism and the Sultan’s Feudalism: Theory and Practice According to the Orientalist Poliak

Abstract

This study explains the nature of the relationship between the feudalism (land grant) of the caliph and that of the sultan during the Mamluk era, which reflected a form of political duality in the structure of governance. The caliph retained symbolic status and religious legitimacy, while actual authority and control over resources and lands shifted to the sultan. Whereas in earlier periods caliphs themselves granted iqṭāʿs, in the Mamluk era the caliph received a fixed iqṭāʿ determined by the sultan. This gradually transformed into a financial allocation, closer to a salary, without conferring administrative influence or direct authority over the management of those lands.