Iltizam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In Mameluke Egypt an Iltizam was a form of tax farm that appeared in the 17th century. Iltiazams were sold off by the government to wealthy notables who would then reap up to five times the amount paid by taxing the peasants and extracting agricultural production. It was a system that was very profitable and was of great benefit to the Egyptian aristocracy under the Mameluks and helped create a large and powerful elite. It was abolished by Muhammad Ali as part of his centralization efforts in the early nineteenth century.
