IN THE COURTS OF THE NATIONS - DataSpace - Princeton ...

initial letters. 102 The convention among Makhzan officials of summarizing the previous letter of
a given exchange is helpful in reconstructing the full picture. In many entries, the author of the
letter to the Minister of Complaints first recapitulated the letter he had received from the
minister, and then stated his response. One such example begins: “The governor of Oujda
concerning [the letter he received with the] command that he arrest Ibn al-Bashīr al-‘Atīqī and
Ramaḍān b. ‘Alī who refused to pay the debt [they owed] to the Jew Dāwīd.” 103 The entry went
on to describe the governor’s response to the letter in which he was commanded to arrest al-
‘Atīqī and Ramaḍān, saying he would do so when he finds the debtors.
Most entries began by identifying the author of the letter. Usually the author’s name was
given, though sometimes he was described by his function, such as “the governor of Oujda” or
“the Pasha of Meknes.” The entries went on to describe the complaint and the author’s response.
A typical entry of July 10, 1889, reads:
Laḥsan al-Būmīdmānī concerning the complaint of the dhimmī Isḥāq Bū Sitta about the
debt he [Isḥāq] is owed by the Ayt Būmīdmān [tribe]. He [al-Būmīdmānī] requests a
delay of [the payment] until he returns from the ḥaraka [military service]; at that time he
will bring them [the debtors from Ayt Būmīdmān] to face him [Isḥāq] in a sharī‘a
court. 104
In this case, the Jew Isḥāq Bū Sitta was owed debts by members of the Ayt Būmīdmān tribe.
Isḥāq must have submitted a petition about the non-payment of these debts, since al-Būmīdmānī
refers to his “complaint.” However, it is not entirely clear to whom Isḥāq appealed; he might
102
There are a number of examples of letters sent from the sultan to local Makhzan officials preserved in the DAR
which give an idea of what these initial letters looked like. They are, for the most part, quite similar to the
summaries provided in the Ministry of Complaints registers. See, for instance, DAR, Fez, 23074, Mawlāy ‘Abd al-
Raḥmān to his son Muḥammad, 2 Rabī‘ I, 1261; 35002, Mawlāy Muḥammad to Muḥammad b. al-Madanī Banīs, 24
Ramaḍān 1289; Mawlāy Ḥasan to ‘Abdallāh b. Aḥmad, 13 Shawwāl 1296; Mawlāy Ḥasan to Sa‘īd b. Farajī, 29
Rabī‘ I 1298.
103
BH, K 174, p. 124, 15 Shawwāl 1308.
104
Laḥsan al-Būmīdmānī ‘an shakwati al-dhimmī Isḥāq Bū Sitta bi-daynihi ‘alā Ayti Būmīdmān: bi-ṭalabi imhālihi
ilā al-rujū‘i min al-ḥarakati wa-ḥīna’idhin yuḥḍiruhum li-muqābalatihi ladā al-shar‘ (BH, K 157, p. 56, 12 Dhū al-
Qa‘da 1306).
177