Insecurity drove small landowners to commend themselves to great ones

Evidence

Frequently the holders of qatfia¯’i became tax-farmers not only for their own but also for neighboring lands and, by blurring the distinction between muqta and tax-farmer, were able in practice greatly to extend their holdings. This tendency toward the formation of larger estates was also helped by a process not unlike the west European recommendation, whereby in times of insecurity and fiscal oppression small landowners took refuge (talji’a) with great ones. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 358

Categorization

• XREF: The talji’a parallel to European commendation/vassalage gives a concrete cross-civilizational mechanism connecting this chapter to broader work on state formation under fiscal stress.