Post by Kamenwati on Nov 22, 2011 14:52:00 GMT -6
Government Structure of the Tamazgha
ibn Tumart - the Amir of the Tamazgha
al-Jama'a al-'Ashara ('Council of Ten') - headed by a Grand Vizier and nine lower viziers
Army / Navy Commanders
Chief Treasurer
Treasurers – four working under the Chief Treasurer
Tax Collectors
Governors
The government structure of the Tamazgha involved several officials, including “ibn Tumart" the Amir of the Tamazgha, the al-Jama'a al-'Ashara ('Council of Ten') headed by a Grand Vizier and nine lower viziers, seven major Army Commanders and their subordinates, and the Chief Treasurer, four lower treasurers, and their tax collectors, all of whom answered directly to the Amir. There were also governors of major cities and their respective land areas who answered to the Viziers.
Taxation existed under the government of the Tamazgha, though mostly in the way of goods and labor. Citizens were drafted into the military when necessary, or into forced labor to pay labor tax, depending on what needed to be done at the time. The Amir controlled all the resources and only gave them to those able to pay taxes and remain loyal to their leaders, despite being authoritarian.
When it came to laws, many of them involved punishments to fit crimes. Right and wrong were most likely clearly defined, and doing 'wrong' was not just a general bad idea, but it brought disgrace on one's entire family. Punishments for wrong doing were as lax as caning or as severe as dismemberment or various executions.
During earlier periods where the unity of Upper and Lower Tamazgha dissolved and chaos ensued, the centralized governments broke down. Now, the ruling class of one area would manage to take over the rest of the Tamazgha and once again reinstated unity in the country. But Carnia, though a small island compared to the vast Tamazgha, would emerge a ruling class all its own.
A tax may be defined as a "pecuniary burden laid upon individuals or property owners to support the government […] a payment exacted by legislative authority." A tax "is not a voluntary payment or donation, but an enforced contribution, exacted pursuant to legislative authority" and is "any contribution imposed by government […] whether under the name of toll, tribute, tallage, gabel, impost, duty, custom, excise, subsidy, aid, supply, or other name."
The “ibn Tumart" … "The Son of the Earth" … "The Son of Happiness” Abdullah al Ahmad al-Araj… the Amir of the Tamazgha, Abdullah ibn Tumart… summoned the al-Jama'a al-'Ashara ('Council of Ten') and held a large meeting, with all his viziers, Treasurers, and Governors... and in very deep consultation with his council, about this land; how it was occupied, and by what sort of men. Then sent he his men over all the Tamazgha into each quarter; commissioning them to find out “What land the Amir himself had, and what stock upon the land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the quarter.” Also he commissioned them to record in writing… 'What, or how much, each man had, who was an occupier of land in the Tamazgha, either in land or in stock, and how much it were worth.' So very narrowly, indeed, did he commission them to trace it out, that there was not one single hide, nor a yard of land, nay, moreover, not even an ox, nor a cow, swine, camel, nor a horse was there left, that was not set down in his writ. And all the recorded particulars were afterwards brought to him.
