Page:Baladhuri-Hitti1916.djvu/358

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342
THE ORIGINS OF THE ISLAMIC STATE

mîm, al-Basharûdât[1] and the villages of upper Egypt, which he reduced on the same terms. ʿAmr also sent ʿUmair ibn-Wahb al-Jumaḥi to Tinnîs, Dimyâṭ, Tûnah, Damîrah, Shaṭa, Diḳahlah,[2] Bana and Bûṣir, which he reduced on the same terms. ʿAmr also sent ʿUḳbah ibn-ʿÂmir al-Juhani (others say ʿAmr's freedman, Wardân after whom Sûḳ [market] Wardân in Egypt is named) to the rest of the villages in the lower part of the country; and he did the same. Thus did ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂsi effect the conquest of all Egypt and make its land kharâj-land."

The Copts have no covenant. Al-Ḳâsim ibn-Sallâm from Aiyûb ibn-abi-l-ʿÂliyah's father:—The latter said, "I heard ʿAmr ibn-al-ʿÂṣi say from the pulpit, 'I have occupied this position and am bound to none of the Egyptian Copts by covenant or contract. If I want, I can kill; if I want, I can take one-fifth of the possessions; if I want, I can sell captives. The people of Anṭâbulus are excluded because they have a covenant which must be kept'."

Al-Maghrib and Egypt taken by force. Al-Ḳâsim ibn-Sallâm from Mûsa ibn-ʿAli ibn-Rabâḥ al-Lakhmi's father:—All al-Maghrib was taken by force.

Abu-ʿUbaid from aṣ-Ṣalt ibn-abi-ʿÂṣim, the secretary of Ḥaiyân ibn-Shuraiḥ:—The latter said that he read the letter of ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAziz to Ḥaiyân, his ʿâmil over Egypt, stating that Egypt was taken by force, with no covenant or contract.

Poll-tax of the Copts not to be increased. Abu-ʿUbaid from ʿUbaidallâh ibn-abi-Jaʿfar:—Muʿâwiyah wrote to Wardân, a freedman of ʿAmr, ordering him to increase the poll-tax of every Copt by one ḳîrâṭ, but Wardân wrote back, "How can I increase it while it is stated in their covenant that their tax should not be increased?"

  1. Cf. Bakri, vol. i, p. 166.
  2. Yâḳût, vol. ii, p. 581.