The Sibayn Reclamation and Maslama's Estates

استخراج السيبين وضياع مسلمة

In al-Baladhuri: when breaches burst in al-Hajjaj's days he wrote al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik that he had costed their damming at three million dirhams; al-Walid found it excessive. Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik said 'I will pay, if you grant me the lowlands that still hold water after the three million is spent by your trusted adviser al-Hajjaj.' Granted, Maslama acquired adjoining tasasij lands, dug al-Sibayn, drew peasants and cultivators, brought the lands under tillage and annexed many estates to fortify himself. When the blessed dawla came and Umayyad wealth was seized, all al-Sibayn was granted to Dawud ibn Ali ibn Abdallah ibn al-Abbas, then bought from his heirs with its rights and bounds — becoming caliphal estates.

Overview

al-Baladhuri describes how Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik came to hold the land of al-Sibayn after he had borne the cost of damming the breaches, and how it then passed to the caliphate. ¹

Damming the breaches

Breaches in the dams burst out in the days of al-Hajjaj, and he wrote to al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik that he estimated the cost of damming them at three million dirhams. al-Walid thought the sum excessive. ¹

Maslama offered to pay for the work if he were granted the low-lying lands where the water collects, on condition that al-Hajjaj took charge of the money. al-Walid agreed. ¹

Development

Maslama obtained adjoining lands in several districts (tasasij), dug al-Sibayn, brought in workers and cultivators, and developed the lands. He added many estates to them, and the source says that this was to strengthen his position. ¹

After the Abbasid state

When the Abbasid state came, and the wealth of the Umayyads was seized, Dawud ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas was granted all of al-Sibayn. It was later bought from his heirs with its rights and boundaries, and it became one of the estates of the caliphate. The subject is connected to iqta'. ¹

Notes

The data gives no date for the event; it needs an additional source.

Abd al-Malik's Coinage Reform

Heraclius's dinars and the Persian Baghliyya dirhams reached Jahiliya Mecca and traded only as bullion: their mithqal twenty-two qirats less a fraction, ten dirhams seven mithqals, the ratl twelve uqiyyas of forty dirhams — weights the Prophet confirmed, and Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and Mu'awiya after him. Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr struck a few dirhams under Ibn al-Zubayr, later broken; then Abd al-Malik asked and tested, wrote al-Hajjaj to strike dirhams at fifteen qirats of the dinar-qirats, and struck the Damascene dinars — which came to Medina with Companions and Followers there and none objected. Al-Hasan ibn Salih: the Ajam dirhams ran great and small — twenty, twelve, ten qirats — and when Islam needed the mean for zakah they summed forty-two and struck the third, fourteen qirats, so ten Arab dirhams weigh seven mithqals. Quraysh's weights: the dirham for silver, the dinar for gold, ten dirham-weights to seven dinar-weights, the sha'ira a sixtieth of a dirham, the uqiyya forty dirhams, the nashsh twenty, the nawa five — all confirmed when the Prophet entered Mecca. And Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, asked who first struck engraved dinars, said 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan — dinars came Byzantine, dirhams Kisrawi and few Himyari'.

The Sibayn Reclamation and Maslama's Estates

At a glance

Overview

Damming the breaches

Development

After the Abbasid state

Notes

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Abd al-Malik's Coinage Reform