Fragment of the Month: February 2016. Reuniting a Tax-farmer’s Archive (original) (raw)

The paper discusses the significance of tax receipts from the medieval Islamic period, specifically those found in the Geniza. It highlights the challenges faced by researchers in deciphering these documents due to their illegibility and the writing styles of the scribes. The author recounts the process of editing and understanding a collection of tax receipts dated from the early 11th century, focusing on the contributions of Geoffrey Khan and the recent discovery of additional receipts. This work uncovers the bureaucratic processes involved in the issuance of tax receipts and emphasizes the importance of these documents in understanding the socio-economic structures of medieval Islamic societies.