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DOCUMENT 44 Document 44 is an originating charter issued by the northern provincial governor I:Iammad b. 'Ali, nicknamed "al-SimayQ.,,,l to Faqih KhOjali. The text has been taken by the editors from the original.2 The grant conveyed rights to two riverbank properties, probably near the Nile confluence, and it also released the community of MaQ.as settlers on Tuti Island from obligations to the government. Document 44 is not dated, but may be the earliest extant charter from Sinniir. It may be placed with certainty within the lifetime of Shaykh KhOjali, who died in 1155/1742-1743.3 It probably antedates the earliest extant charter issued by the central government, Doc. 2 of 1729, for by that date Shaykh I:Iammad had already been succeeded by 'Ajib b. MuQ.ammad al-'Ajayl,4 and he in tum by his son Badi and his grandson I;>iyab, the incumbant Shaykh of Qarri who witnessed Doc. 2.5 The arenga of Doc. 44 asks that spiritual rewards go to "Sultan Badi," presumably the reigning monarch at the time of the issue of the charter. Sultan Badi IV became king on 8 July 1724;6 if one were to assume that he was the ruler mentioned, it would follow that not only I:Iammad, but also 'Ajib, Badi, and I;>iyab all must have governed between 1724 and 1729. The editors regard this as unlikely, and prefer to believe that the "Sultan Badi" referred to was Badi III; Doc. 44 must therefore have been issued before his death in 1128/1715-1716.7 The only fixed date in the career of I:Iammad b. 'Ali is that of his memorable attack upon Shandi in 1118/1706-1707,8 probably during his retreat from Qarri after the failure of the revolt of 1705-1706.9 If this assumption is correct, the present document was probably issued before 1118/1706-1707. Consistent with this interpretation is the almost complete turnover in courtiers between the witness roster of Doc. 44 and that ofits nearest dated successor, Doc. 47. 242 ...

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