kharaj

kharaj
Tax imposed on recent Islamic converts in the 7th–8th century.

In Islamic territories, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians who did not convert to Islam were required to pay a tax called the jizya. Many people converted to Islam to avoid this tax or to escape the ban on non-Muslims owning land. As financial problems mounted for the Umayyad rulers, authorities imposed the kharaj as a property tax for recent converts. Popular opposition to the tax led to a revolt in 747 and precipitated the downfall of the Umayyad dynasty.

* * *

▪ Islamic tax
      a special Islāmic fiscal imposition that was demanded from recent converts to Islām in the 7th and 8th centuries.

      The origin of the concept of the kharāj is closely linked to changes in the status of non-Muslims and of recent converts to Islām in newly conquered Islāmic territories. The indigenous Jewish, Christian, or Zoroastrian populations of these territories were permitted either to convert to Islām or to maintain their previous religious affiliations. Those individuals who preferred not to convert were required to pay a special tribute, usually in the form of a poll tax or head tax known as the jizyah (jizya). But those who chose to convert, in theory, would be placed on an equal fiscal footing with other Muslims.

      Under Islāmic law, only original Muslims or converts to Islām could own land. Thus, there was incentive for non-Muslim cultivators to convert to Islām so that they could maintain their agricultural holdings. Upon conversion, the cultivators were required to pay the ʿushr (or tithe), a tax equivalent to one-tenth of their produce. In theory these converts were exempt from other taxes on their lands. But the Umayyad (Umayyad Dynasty) caliphs (reigned 661–750), faced with increasing financial problems, imposed a kind of kharāj on the land of recent converts in addition to their payment of ʿushr. This extra imposition of the kharāj was unpopular, and many converts felt that it violated the egalitarian principles of Islām.

      In Khorāsān, the northeastern province of Iran, the collection of the kharāj was one of the grievances that led to Abū Muslim's (Abū Muslim) revolt in 747, which precipitated the downfall of the Umayyad caliphate. During the early years of the succeeding ʿAbbāsid caliphate, the collection of the kharāj fell into disuse.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kharaj — Kharâj Religion religions abrahamiques : judaïsme · christianisme · islam C …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kharaj — In Islamic law, kharaj is a tax on agricultural land. Kharaj has no basis in the Qur an or hadith, being rather the product of ijma , consensus of Islamic scholars, and urf , Islamic tradition.Initially, after the first Muslim conquests in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Kharâj — Le kharâj (en arabe ḫarāj, خراج, haraç en turc) est un impôt foncier sur la terre, initialement levé sur les terres que les dhimmis possédaient. Cet impôt n était basé ni sur le Coran, ni sur un hadith, mais sur l ijma, consensus des théologiens… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kharaj —    The land tax collected in an Islamic state. In the Delhi sul tanate, it was often called kharaj i jiziya, denoting that the land tax was treated as the equivalent to the jiziya prescribed for non Muslim subjects. Ala al Din Khalji (1296 1316)… …   Historical dictionary of Medieval India

  • kharaj — Gravamen impuesto a los nuevos convertidos al Islam en los s. VII–VIII. En los territorios musulmanes, a los judíos, cristianos y zoroástricos que no se convertían al Islam se les exigía pagar un impuesto llamado jizya. Muchos se convirtieron… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • KHARĀJ AND JIZYA — KHARĀJ AND JIZYA, Arabic Turkish for tribute or remuneration in general which later came to mean land tax and poll tax, respectively. According to the constitution of the Muslim state, as conceived by the legislators, the payment of the poll tax… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • kharaj — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Kitab al-Kharaj — (arabe الخراج , Le Livre de l impôt foncier) est le nom d un ouvrage économique rédigé par Abou Yûsûf. Sommaire 1 Circonstances 2 Contenu de l ouvrage 3 Références 4 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kharadj — Kharâj Religion religions abrahamiques : judaïsme · christianisme · islam C …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kharâdj — Kharâj Religion religions abrahamiques : judaïsme · christianisme · islam C …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”