Waqfs, or religious endowments, have long been at the very
center of daily Islamic life, establishing religious, cultural, and
welfare institutions and serving as a legal means to keep family
property intact through several generations. In this book R. D.
McChesney focuses on the major Muslim shrine at Balkh--once a
flourishing city on an ancient trade route in what is now northern
Afghanistan--and provides a detailed study of the political,
economic, and social conditions that influenced, and were
influenced by, the development of a single religious endowment.
From its founding in 1480 until 1889, when the Afghan government
took control of it, the waqf at Balkh was a formidable economic
force in a financially dynamic region, particularly during those
times when the endowment's sacred character and the tax privileges
it acquired gave its managers considerable financial security. This
study sheds new light on the legal institution of waqf within
Muslim society and on how political conditions affected the
development of socio-religious institutions throughout Central Asia
over a period of four hundred years.
Originally published in 1991.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand
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