Hakura system

The hakura system was a method of land allocation in the Sultanate of Darfur. The system was based on charters or hawakir (singular hakura) issued by the sultan entitling one to ownership of a certain estate, usually as a freehold, sometimes as fiefs in exchange for tribute or rent. The possessors of hawakir were usually wealthy aristocrats, while most the estates granted were worked by slaves or bondservants. A distinction can be made between the demesne lands of the estate-holder, whose slaves he personally owned, and the rest of the hakura, from whose inhabitants he exacted tribute and who owned their own slaves.