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The Feeding of the five Hundred Thousand: Cities and Agriculture in Early Islamic Mesopotamia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2014

Hugh Kennedy
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Abstract

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This paper discusses the impact of the foundation of major cities in Mesopotamia in the early Islamic period (c. 636-900 CE) and their impact on the agricultural economy and rural settlement in the area. It considers the potential agricultural productivity of the area, the availability of river transport, the fiscal structure of the early Islamic state and the way in which it created demand for foodstuffs, and the development of the qaṭīca as a form of landholding which provided security of tenure and hence the encouragement of long-term investment in agricultural infrastructure.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 73 , 2011 , pp. 177 - 199
Copyright
The British Institute for the Study of Iraq © 2011

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