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The Origin of Banking in Mediaeval Islam: A contribution to the economic history of the Jews of Baghdad in the tenth century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Walter Fischel
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Extract

The last few decades have seen the publication of several hitherto unedited Arab sources relative to the history of the 'Abbāsid empire in the tenth century—such as Kitāb ta'rīkh al-wuzarā' by Hilāl aṣ-Ṣābi, the volumes of Miskawaihi's Kitāb tajārib al-umam, and at-Tanūkhī's Nishwār al-muḥāḍarā—that are a veritable storehouse of information on the social, economic, and political situation of that period. These works have revealed a completely new world to us: they show us, so to speak, the back stage of tenth century 'Abbāsid administration and we see the governmental machinery with all its ramifications in action.

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Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , April 1933 , pp. 339 - 352
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Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1933

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References

page 339 note 1 Ed. with notes and glossary by H. F. Amedroz, Leyden, 1904; abbreviated Wuz.

page 339 note 2 Ed. and translated by Amedroz, H. F. and Margoliouth, D. S. in the collection The Eclipse of the Abbasid Caliphate, Original Chronicles of the Fourth Islamic Century, Oxford, 1920, i–viiGoogle Scholar; abbreviated Misk. A facsimile edition of Miskawaihi had already been published by L. Caetani in the Gibb Memorial Series, 1913.

page 339 note 3 Ed. by D. S. Margoliouth, London, 1922, Oriental Translation Fund, vol. xxvii; translated under the title The Table-talk of a Mesopotamian Judge, London, 1923, Oriental Translation Fund, vol. xxviiiGoogle Scholar; abbreviated Tan. I. A second volume of this work has been found recently by F. Krenkow in the British Museum, and has been published by Margoliouth, D. S. in La revue de l'Acadé'mie Arabe à Damas, 1930Google Scholar; abbreviated, Tan. II. Here I wish to thank Professor D. S. Margoliouth for kindly having called my attention, at the 18th Orientalists' Congress of Leyden, to his edition of at- Tanūkhīs second part, of the existence of which I had been unaware up to then. Vide also the translation of the said second volume in Islamic Culture, 1931, which, however, has not been accessible to me here.

page 339 note 4 I would also refer here to 'Arīb b. Sa'd, Ṭabari continuatus, ed. de Goeje, , Leyden, 1897Google Scholar, further to Kitāb al-wuzarā' by al-Jahshiyārī, Ibn Abdūs, ed. Mzik, v. in facsimile, Leipzig, 1926Google Scholar; to at-Tanūkhī Kitāb al Faraj ba'd al-Shiddah, Cairo, 1903–1904Google Scholar; to Yāqūt: Irshād al-arīb, ed. Margoliouth, ańd to the works of the Arab geographers (Bibl. Geogr. Arab, ed. de Goeje) and historians (b. al-Aṯīr, al-Mas'udi, aṯ-Ṭabari, b. Taghribardi, etc.).

page 340 note 1 Regarding the place occupied by these writers in Arab historiography, cf. the various editors' prefaces; further, Margoliouth, D. S., Arabic Historians, Calcutta, 1930, pp. 128–137Google Scholar; the corresponding articles in the Encyclopædia of Islam, Amedroz, in Der Islam, ii (1911), pp. 105–114Google Scholar; ibid., v (1914), pp. 335–357; Hartmann, M., “Aus der Gesellschaft des verfallenden Abbasidenreiches,” Le Monde Oriental, iii, 1909, pp. 247–266Google Scholar.

page 340 note 2 Vide my Beiträge zur Geschichte der islamischen Finanzverwaltung im 10. Jahrhundert, to be published presently.

page 341 note 1 Taāj-al-'Arūs, ii, p. 555. Dozy, , Supplément, i, p. 225Google Scholar, s.v., reads also jihbadh (), pl. . Cf. Vullers, , Lexicon Persicum, i, p. 544Google Scholar, s.v. , exactor vectigalium. The word jahbadhis supposed to be of Persian origin.

page 341 note 2 Tāj-al-'Arūs, p. 558.

page 341 note 3 Dozy, ibid.

page 341 note 4 Mitteilungen aus der Sammlung der Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer, Vienna, 1887, vol. ii, p. 169Google Scholar.

page 341 note 5 Ueber das Einnahmebudget des Abbasidenreiches, Vienna, 1887, p. 8Google Scholar.

page 341 note 6 Handwōrterbuch der arabischen und deutschen Sprache, Giessen, 1887, i, p. 464Google Scholar.

page 341 note 7 Glossary to his edition of Kitāb al-wuzarā', p. 59. Cf., however, JRAS., 1908, p. 432, “receiving-clerk.”

page 342 note 1 Misk. and Tan., passim.

page 342 note 2 Die Renaissance des Islam, Heidelberg, 1922, p. 48, 450Google Scholar.

page 342 note 3 La Passion d' Al-Hallāāj, Paris, 1922, i, p. 266Google Scholar. See now Massignon, L., “L'influence de l'lslam au moyen âge sur la fondation et l'essor des banques juives” (Bulletin d'Études Orientales de l'Institut Français de Damas), 1932, which I received when the present study was already concludedGoogle Scholar.

page 342 note 4 b. al-Jahshiyārī, Abdūs, Kitāb al-wuzarā', Leipzig, 1926, p. 53a, 1. 9, 11Google Scholar; p. 63a, 1.5.

page 342 note 5 Op. cit., p. 6 ff.

page 342 note 6 These tax-rolls, upon which Kremer, A. v. based his study of the financial administration in his still valuable Kulturgeschichte des Orients, Wien, 1875, i, pp. 256–379Google Scholar, and in Verhandlungen des VII. Internat. Oriental. Kongresses, Wien, 1886, pp. 1–18Google Scholar, are to be found (in chronological order): (a) b. Khaldūn, , “Muqaddima,” ed. , Quatremère, Notices et extraits Paris, 1859, vol. xvi, pp. 321–4Google Scholar. (b) b. 'Abdūs al Jahshiyārī, Kitāb al-wuzarā', ed. Mzik, v., pp. 179b–182bGoogle Scholar. (c) Qudāma b. Ja'far, ed. de Goeje, , vi, pp. 236–252Google Scholar. (d) b. Khordādhbeh, ed. de Goeje, , vi, p. 8 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 342 note 7 The Arab geographers and other Arab sources contain many references to the variety of coins and their respective values. Cf. e.g. Istakhri 203, 12; 208, 7; 213, 8. b. Hauqal,267, 1; 270, 6. Muqaddasi, 298, 3. Cf. especially Wuz., 208 and 314.

page 343 note 1 Kremer, , Einnahmebudget, pp. 28, 32, 34, 38Google Scholar.

page 343 note 2 Cf. also Amedroz, H. F., “Abbasid Administration in its Decay,” JRAS., 1913, p. 835Google Scholar.

page 343 note 3 Further evidence for māl al-jahbadha v. Wuz., 291 (māl-aḍḍiyā, waljahbadha), Ecl. iii, 71. Quatremère, Maml., i, 199, cit. by , DozyGoogle Scholar, ibid. Cf. also Harkavy, Studien und Mitteilungen, Berlin, 1887, pp. 2742, 340, 364.

page 343 note 4 Wuz., 255. This item brought the state in no less than 10,000 dinars.

page 344 note 1 Wuz., 291, 4; v. also Wuz., 224.

page 344 note 2 'Arib., 135, 8.

page 344 note 3 MS. Paris, No. 5907, fol. 234. An edition of a part of this manuscript is in preparation by me. Mez, ibid., p. 72, calls this Dīwān “Reichsbank”, which, however, is much too modern.

page 344 note 4 Wuz., 224.

page 344 note 5 Wuz., 226; Misk., 95, 99.

page 344 note 6 Wuz., 158.

page 344 note 7 Misk., 349, 379.

page 344 note 8 Misk., 349, ii, 52.

page 344 note 9 In a papyrus of the tenth century, ed. by Margoliouth, D. S., in “Select Arabic Papyri of the Rylands Collection” in Florilegium M. de Vogué, Paris, 1909, pp. 416–17Google Scholar. Here the jahbadh receives the Kharāj.

page 344 note 10 In an eleventh century papyrus, ed. by Karabacek, l.c.

page 344 note 11 Cf. b. Roste, ed. de Goeje, , p. 207Google Scholar. Vide also Gottheil-Worrell, , Geniza Fragments, New York, 1927, pp. 70–1 and pp. 164–5Google Scholar.

page 345 note 1 Wuz., 79, 80, 158, 178; 'Arīb, 74; Tan., ii, 81 ff. , sometimes .

page 345 note 2 Wuz., 33, 79–80, 124, 158, 306–7; Misk., 79–80, 112, 128; Arib., 74, 91; Tan., ii, 81 ff. Cf. also Misk., 44, 66. .

page 345 note 3 The newest publication on this subject, Tritton, A. S., The Caliphs and their non-Moslim Subjects, London, 1930Google Scholar; and a further article by the same author in JRAS., April, 1931, pp. 311–338. Reference may also be made to Gottheil, R., “An Answer to the Dhimmis,” in JAOS., vol. 41, 1921, pp. 383–457, esp. p. 387Google Scholar; and to Belin, M., “Fetoua relatif à la condition des Dhimmis . . . en pays musulmans,” Journ. Asiatique, 1851, pp. 455–6Google Scholar. A. Mez, l.c., pp. 28–55, is instructive.

page 345 note 4 Cf. Goldziher, I., “Usages Juifs d'après la littérature religieuse des Musulmans,” REJ., vol. xxviii (1894), pp. 75–94Google Scholar; the “Appendice”, pp. 91 ff., is especially instructive, though concerned with later times.

page 346 note 1 During the reign of the Caliph al-Mu'taḍid, numerous Jews and Christians again became government officials. The Vizier 'Ubaidallah b. Sulaimān in a reply to the Caliph, justifies this measure as follows: “Not because of any sympathy on my part for Judaism or Christianity did I take the Unbelievers into civil service, but because I found them to be more faithfully attached to thy dynasty than Muslims.” Cited by Graetz, vol. v, p. 277, and Dubnow, vol. ii, p. 438, from a passage in Assemani's, J. J.Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana, Rome, 1719–1728, vol. iii, pars 2Google Scholar.

page 346 note 2 Strangely enough, neither Ṭabari nor b. Aṯīr mentions this edict, the only evidence is Abu'l Maḥāsin b. Taghribardi's work, An-Nujūm az-Zāhira, ed. Juynboll, T. G., Leyden, 1852–1861, vol. ii, p. 174Google Scholar. The text reads as follows:—

According to this edict, Jews and Christians were also again subjected to limitations of attire; but it is improbable that the latter were strictly enforced. 'Arib, 30, mentions a particular prohibition directed against Christians in the civil service.

page 346 note 3 For the translation of this expression by “banker” v. p. 3; of. also de Saoy, , Chrestomathie Arabe, Paris, 1806, ii, p. 330Google Scholar, apud Fleischer, l.c. It is justified by the actual functions of the jahbadh which we really know only now from the new sources. The banking function of the jahbadh only evolved in the tenth century from sorting and trading in coins. The evolution from money-changer to money-lender and banker is a phenomenon that has also been observed in other civilizations. Vide Weber, M., Wirtschaftsgeschichte, München, 1923, p. 226Google Scholar. Handw. d. Staataw. s.v. Banken; Kulischer, , Warenhändler und Geldausleiher im Mittelalter Zeitschrift für Volkswirtsehaft Sozial politik und Verwaltung, vol. 17 (1908), p. 218Google Scholar.

page 347 note 1 Ed. de Goeje, vii, Leyden, 1906, p. 183 1. 6.

page 347 note 2 The new sources show us that this distribution of occupations existed not only in Syria and Egypt, but also in Babylonia at the same time. For the earlier period cf. Yūsuf, Abū, Kitāb al-kharāj, ed. , Būlāq, pp. 70–1Google Scholar.

page 347 note 3 This statement, however, applies only to the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth century. We learn from the recently published treatise of the famous Arab writer al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 868), Cairo, 1926, ed. F. Finkel, that at the time of the Caliph Mutawakkil (847–861) the Babylonian Jews were dyers, tanners, barbers, butchers, etc., while the Christians held the socially higher positions, being money-changers, secretaries, court attendants, medical men, druggists, etc. Cf. Margoliouth, D. S., “Ali b. Rabban al-Ṭabari's Book of Religion” (Proceedings of the British Academy, xvi, 1930, p. 173)Google Scholar. Vide, however, al-Jāḥiẓ, , Kitāb al ḥayawān, Cairo, 1906, vol. v, p. 52Google Scholar, where Jews are praised because of their sincerity—perhaps as bankers, as Professor Margoliouth suggests. In the course of the tenth century a considerable change must have taken place in the professional structure of the Jewish population. Probably the appearance of Jewish bankers or government treasury officials in Baghdad must have been connected with the financial crisis of that time and the extraordinary financial needs of the State, which had to make use of the Jews in order to meet them.

As to the treatise of al-Jāhiẓ v. now also Fritsch, E., “Islam und Christentum im Mittelalter” (Beiträge zur Geschichte der moslemischen Polemik gegen das Christentum in arabischer Sprache), Breslau, 1930Google Scholar; he assigns the treatise of al-Jāḥiẓ to the reign of the Caliph al-Ma'mun (813—833). Vide Hirschfeld, H., “Mohammedan Criticism of the Bible,” JQR., xiii (1901), pp. 230–2, 239–40Google Scholar. Finkel, characterizes this treatise as “unique in the whole range of Mohammedan polemical literature” (Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. xlvii (1927), pp. 312–328)Google Scholar.

page 347 note 4 Among the medical men named in our sources there are, judging by names and designations, apparently no Jews. Vide b. al-Qifṭi, p. 104, 409 Wuz., 244. Cf. Obermeyer, J., Die Landschaft Babylonien, Frankfurt a.M., 1929, pp. 270–2Google Scholar; Bowen, H., Ali b. Isa, the Good Vizier, Cambridge, 1928, pp. 184, 191, 327, 331–2Google Scholar; Levy, R., A Baghdad Chronicle, Cambridge, 1929, pp. 140–2.Google Scholar

page 347 note 5 The influence of Christian secretaries and clerks must, in spite of the restrictive edict of al-Muqtadir, have been very powerful in 'Abbāsid administration. The sources note this fact with regret more than once. Christians were members of the most important Dīwāns. Cf. Misk., 23, 143, 218; 'Arib, 30, 5; 184, 13 (Faraj, ii, 149). There was even a Christian war mīnister, and chairman of the Dīwān al-jaish.

page 348 note 1 The passage from Qutb ed-Din Hanafi's el-i'lām bi-a'lām bait allāh, ed. , Būlāq, 1303, p. 74Google Scholar, quoted by E. Fagnan in the above-mentioned work (p. 306), was not accessible to me. Al-Muqtadir is praised there for having prohibited the admission of Jews and Christians to fiscal offices and the administration of crown land.

page 348 note 2 Therefore these notices are the only ones quoted by Jewish historians like Graetz, Dubnow, Dinaburg, etc. Noteworthy is, in spite of all, the book of the Arab writer Ghanīma, Yūsuf K., Ta'rīkh yahūd al-'Irāq, Baghdad, 1924, pp. 98–140Google Scholar.

page 348 note 3 Arib., 7416; Wuz., 79–81; Tan., ii, 81–5.

page 348 note 4 Wuz., 812; Misk., 44, 66, 129; Tan., ii, 85, 4–8.

page 348 note 5 Wuz., 81; Tan., ii, 84; Wuz., 178.

page 349 note 1 Wuz., 158–9. Besides these two Jews there was also a certain Zakariyyā b. Yuḥanna upon whom the honour of this title was conferred, but we do not hear anything about him or his activity elsewhere. Massignon, L. (La Passion d'al-Hallāj, Paris, 1922, i, p. 266)Google Scholar thought that this Zakariyyā was also a Jew, but this is impossible. Vide now his L'influence de l'lslam au moyen âge . . ., p. 5, n. 5, where he admits “peut-être un chrétien”.

page 349 note 2 See Wuz., 8021–818; Tan., ii, 8410–853.

page 349 note 3 The Gaonic Responsa furnish abundant evidence of commercial partnership and associated enterprises etc., of this period. Vide Mann, J., JQR., x, 324Google Scholar. During the Middle Ages formation of companies was frequent among European Jews also. Vide Hoffmann, M., Der Geldkandel der deutschen Juden im Mittelalter, Leipzig, 1910, p. 90Google Scholar.

page 350 note 1 Misk., 128.

page 350 note 2 There will be much to say about the internal management of this banking house later on, when its functions will be dealt with.

page 350 note 3 In Baghdad there was a particular quarter where the money-changers and bankers were to be found. This “Wall Street” of Baghdad was called “'Aun-Street”. . Cf. Tan., i, p. 204; Misk., 247–8; Irshād, i, 399; cf. Islamic Culture, 1931, p. 571. May not our Court Jews have had their offices in this street? This street is not mentioned either in Le Strange, , Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, Oxford, 1900Google Scholar, or in Streck, M., Die alte Landschaft Babylon, Leyden, 1900Google Scholar.

page 351 note 1 This statement is only to be found in a single place, namely, in part viii of at-Tanūkhi's Nishwār al-Muḥāḍara, published only two years ago by Margoliouth, D. S. (Revue de l'Académie Arabe à Damas, 1930, p. 84)Google Scholar.

page 351 note 2 Vide Zambaur, ibid., pp. 6, 7, 12; Encyclopœdia of Islam, ii, s.v.

page 351 note 3 Wuz., 80; Tan., ii, 80. Kegarding him, vide Encyclopœdia of Islam, ii, s.v., and de Zambaur, E., Manuel de Généalogie et de Chronologie pour l'histoire de l'Islam, Hannover, 1927Google Scholar. A monograph on this Vizier would be a valuable counterpart to the meritorious work of Bowen, H., The Life and Times of 'Ali b. 'Isa, the Good Vizier, Cambridge, 1928Google Scholar, and to that of Gottsohalk, H., Die Māḏarā'ijjūn, Hamburg, 1931Google Scholar. Vide also the short but excellent characterization of this Vizier by Mez, A., Die Renaissance des Islam, pp. 87–9Google Scholar.

page 352 note 1 Tan., ii, 85; Wuz., 81.

page 352 note 2 'Arib,74.

page 352 note 3 Misk., 79. The privileged position at court of Aaron b. Amram can also be seen from the fact that he appears in the inner palace, as related in Misk., 79 (reproduced in 'Arib, 91), in connection with the trial of al-Ḥallāj as one of the usual visitors, as a matter of course. Cf. the story of b. Zanji, apud Massignon, L., Quatre textes inédits relatifs à la biographie d'al-Hallāj, Paris, 1914, p. 9 (Arab text)Google Scholar; Massignon, L., La Passion d'al-Hallāj, Paris, 1922, p. 266Google Scholar. It follows, indeed, from this passage that Aaron b. Amram was in charge of the state-prisoner al-Hallāj. Cf. Massignon, L., L'influence, etc., p. 3Google Scholar. Cf. Misk., 128, where Aaron b. Amram and his son () are to be found in the residence of the Vizier al-Khaqānī.

page 352 note 4 Misk., 112.

page 352 note 5 Misk., 128, where Aaron b. Amram appears together with his son.

page 352 note 6 Vide Tan., ii, 85.

page 352 note 7 We will see further on that after the death of the two principals their sons and grandsons took over the affairs. They are called in the sources “successors” and “heirs” (Wuz., 80f.; Tan., ii, 84ff.).