Muslim Conquest of Syria - Administration Under Rashidun Caliphate

Administration Under Rashidun Caliphate

The new rulers divided Syria into four districts (junds): Jund Dimashq (Damascus), Jund Hims, Jund al-Urdunn (Jordan), and Jund Filastin (Palestine) (to which a fifth, Jund Qinnasrin, was later added) and the Arab garrisons were kept apart in camps, and life went on much as before for the local population. The Muslim adopted a policy of tolerance towards other religions, resulting in a positive effect on the newly subjected people, especially the Nestorian and Jacobite Christians and Jews (People of the Book), who had been previously persecuted under Byzantine rule. The loyalty of his new subjects was paramount to the success of Muslim rule in the region, therefore excessive taxation or oppression was avoided. The taxes instituted were the kharaj – a tax that landowners and peasants paid according to the productivity of their fields – as well as the jizya – paid by non-Muslims in return for protection under the Muslim state and exemption from military service. The Byzantine civil service was retained until a new system could be instituted; therefore, Greek remained the administrative language in the new Muslim territories for over 50 years after the conquests.