Hamid the Eagle Eye (unfinished)
The sudden ear-splitting scream reached such a crescendo that the doves shot high into the air, dogs howled and ran in circles, the horses and asses whined, skittered and galloped furiously around their corral. The camels broke their hobbling bindings and loped off into the distance. The many inhabitants of the palace froze and ceased their activity. The deafening scream stopped as quickly as it started but the startled populace, birds and animals were waiting for the next onslaught and continued with their erratic behaviour. Gradually the noise levels receded and normality reigned, apart from the initial silence, only to be broken by a plaintive crying of a baby.
The harem was in a hubbub of joy and concern. A baby had been born, a boy to everybody’s delight, a big boy with a loud cry, whose only concern was to announce his arrival to the whole world. Numerous ladies gathered, cooing at the baby and enjoying its vociferous entrance to the world. A few concerned ladies were attending to the mother, attempting to staunch the dangerous flow of blood from her body. They shook their heads in agreement that the mother wouldn’t survive.
A few days later the baby boy was presented to the father, the Sultan of the Palace, Prince Rokbani who proclaimed that this hearty baby, who had interrupted his siesta, shall be named Mohamed. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the wet nurses who were escorted back to the harem section of the palace by a foursome of eunuchs.
Being a boy Mohamed was well looked after by the numerous ladies who all wanted to spoil him. His name was quickly shortened to Hamid which stayed with him for the rest of his life. He quickly grew to be a joyful boy, full of pranks and dotted on by all the ladies of the harem and there were plenty, some two hundred or more.
When he was about ten years of age he was spotted by Mustapha, the Sultan’s right-hand man. Mustapha was the Sultan’s chief advisor and diplomat who looked after his master’s well being and orchestrated treaties with adjoining Sultanates, to avoid conflict and advance enriching trade. He spotted Hamid and on the pretence of providing him with an education outside the harem, he persuaded the Sultan to allow Hamid to be under his wing.
The escape from the confine of the Harem to the outside world was a huge adventure for the bright lad and even the nocturnal duties he had to perform at the hands of Mustapha in his bed chamber seemed a normal course to his life. His daytime duties weren’t too onerous. He helped Mustapha with his office work, grinding ink powder, running errands, making mint tea, sealing diplomatic documents with wax and stamping them with Mustapha’s seal. When his master was away on diplomatic business then Hamid could do his own bidding which was usually visiting the palace kitchens to fill up with food that a growing lad needed and visiting the local village where he would play with boys and girls of his own age. Outside the confines of the harem, Hamid experienced the lowly life of the hard-working peasants who filled the store houses of the greedy Sultan.
In the early days, when Mustapha was in his office, the quick-witted Hamid would pick up on the letters and numbers which enabled him to be useful to his master at filing his notes and even recovering the ones he needed. He became Mustapha’s right-hand man to such an extent that Mustapha would take him on his diplomatic trips to various States on the southern shores of the big Middle Sea and even to the Iberian States. This enabled Hamid to experience different people and their own way of life which was so different from his own State. Hamid took on all of these experiences and learned from them.
Prior to Mustapha’s meetings with other Diplomats, he would rehearse his speeches and arguments. Hamid would listen and help to refine these speeches and argue the salient points that Mustapha made, until he developed a satisfactory reply. Hamid ensured that his questioning and criticism wasn’t too severe to avoid Mustapha’s displeasure.
In his free time Hamid would round up the boys and girls of the village and organise games in the orchards. They would climb the palms, jumping from one to another to traverse the orchard to the other side. On other occasions Hamid would commandeer a string of horses or asses from the Royal stables and they would explore the distant countryside away from the village. Prior to running off to the village he would fill a sack, full of bread, cakes and sweetmeats from the palace kitchens for the hungry children. The kitchen staff were happy to help him, to reduce the huge wastage in the palace and the local children were always hungry.
On his fifteenth birthday Mustapha tired of Hamid and replaced him with a much younger version. Hamid was glad of the release from the more sordid side of his employment and joined the Sultan’s border guard to be as far away as possible from the clutches of Mustapha. His duties, with a contingent of horse guards, were to patrol the Southern boundary of the State and protect the locals from the marauding Berbers of the desert. Occasionally they would send raiding parties to the Berber campsites to rustle sheep, goats, asses and even camels. These would be distributed to the local people, living a precarious existence on the borders.
Within a year he was given the command of dozen horse guards and allocated an area of border to patrol. With the help of information on Berber camps from the local shepherds he took the battle to the Enemy, attacking their camps, brutally butchering the men folk, carrying away the women and children as slaves and stealing all their animals, particularly the camels. These animals came into their own for travelling across sandy desert to attack the Berber’s strong holds further away. Soon the Berbers learned to stay clear of Hamid’s territory.
With this type of ruthlessness, success followed and he was allocated the command of all the border guards and a force of over a two hundred men, a small army, with camp followers in tow. These he divided into six more or less equal platoons to guard the whole of the Southern border. Apart from keeping the Berbers in check they hunted game for their own food and excess was exchanged with the local villagers for dates and couscous.
With relative peace to the southern region of the State and the oases in the mountain foothills, the villages grew and flourished without constantly being raided. Hamid’s army of border guards also grew, almost doubled in size, as he took on defence of the Eastern boundary which adjoined another prosperous Sultanate with lands stretching from the Southern Desert to the sea. Again, these adjoining Southern borders were constantly harassed by the warlike Berber tribes now that in Hamid’s area of responsibility was too dangerous for them. The local villages of the adjoining Sultanate, fearful of constant marauding attacks, appealed to Hamid to protect them since their own Sultan was too busy extending his area of influence to the East where there were richer pickings.
Gradually more and more villages and oases came under Hamid’s control and he collected the tithes and taxes which grew in size as the dangers of attack lessened. In each of the villages under his protection he positioned one of his senior commanders who not only policed the local area but also sent warning of possible attacks and Berber movements. Communications were simply made by pigeon post. In the evenings Hamid would hold classes to teach his men basic reading, writing and arithmetic so that they could pass on information and maintain a ledger of taxes paid.
Hamid enjoyed this freedom and was left to his own devices as long as there was peace in his areas. Prince Rokbani was more interested in the more Northern villages which provided him with the majority of his wealth. As the prosperity grew in his area of influence, the tithes increased and Hamid organised more safe storage buildings to be constructed to hold the excess tithes to be used during times of bad harvest.
These were constructed in each village in the form of a small fortress with no outside windows and strong doors. Inside comprised a series of cave like rooms, allocated to each family. The State had the largest of the rooms, all barred by locked doors. These complexes were controlled by a storekeeper who normally lived, with his family, within the compound and his duty was to record sacks going in and out. This was usually done with jars for each room and dates stones to mark sacks of dates and white stones for sacks of grain. Each family also had to provide a portion of their harvest to the gatekeeper to protect the store and maintain order. Some were honest but many found it easy to steal from their villagers. In effect the gatekeepers were the taxmen for the local community and served the Sultan. This gave them great power over the locals which often led to abuse.
In his area of influence Hamid kept tight control of the gatekeepers and regularly sent his men in to audit the store. Stealing from the Royal stores was a capital offence and with Hamid’s reputation no gatekeeper would cross the line. If the audit found a discrepancy, then the gatekeeper would be dismissed and Hamid would appoint one of his own men to the task. This also provided Hamid with local intelligence about the wellbeing of the community and the efficiency of the village leaders.
Information arrived by messenger that Prince Rokbani was seriously ill so Hamid with a strong contingent of his soldiers rode back to the palace to pay their respects. When they arrived, Hamid found that the Prince was bed ridden and indeed very ill. Mustapha, his old guardian, was now fully in charge of the Sultanate and had even taken over the sumptuous quarters of the palace and relegated the Prince to a wing normally reserved for lowly guests.
Hamid quickly suspected that Mustapha had engineered this, poisoned the Prince and was taking over the State. He had even imprisoned Mustapha’s sons on the pretext that they had conspired to poison the Prince, their father, so that they could take control. To Hamid, who knew Mustapha very well, this seemed unlikely since the sons were more interested in pleasure than control and Mustapha had bypassed the normal hereditary lineage and was going to appoint himself as Sultan as soon as the Prince had passed away.
Hamid made a quick decision to oust the pretender to the throne and arranged for Mustapha to be fatally wounded on one of his regular hunting trips. Since Hamid was equally in line for the throne and the only one of the sons free, he took over the reins, keeping the other sons imprisoned even though some of them had better rights. He later found out from the Sultan’s Guards that Mustapha had ordered Hamid to be arrested but since he arrived with a strong guard with blood thirsty reputation the fearful Sultan’s Guards delayed Mustapha’s orders to Hamid’s advantage.
Prince Rokbani died a painful death and Hamid proclaimed himself his natural successor and immediately introduced changes. The Royal Guards were immediately sent to patrol the Southern border and he appointed his own men as Royal Guards. The imprisoned sons were sent off to a distant prison away from the palace. He strengthened the administrative staff and selected a council of men he knew and respected to rule the Sultanate. The three army Generals were imprisoned and replaced by three of his own Captains with orders to take the General’s men on manoeuvres, away from the palace to avoid conflict and rebellion. No one now had the right or the power to confront him. The Sultans Treasurer was ordered to compile a detailed list of all the Sultans personal assets plus all the assets of the State. He proclaimed himself to be the new Sultan who would be officially crowned in a ceremony in two months time. The take over was peaceful and expertly orchestrated.
The ceremony was lavish but only a small select number of influential dignitaries from adjoining States were invited. The dancing, singing and music making was exquisite, performed by the members of his newly acquired harem which according to the Treasurer amounted to be over three hundred strong, including the maids and eunuchs. The guests were accommodated in the best suites the palace could offer and a hunting expedition was arranged for the following afternoon in the Palace estate. Vast array of large wild animals had been captured and set free for the occasion. Un-sportingly, most were drugged to cause little danger and would be shepherded at intervals before the guests to hunt and kill. A great day was had by all. The purpose apart from enjoyment on part of the dignitaries was to show Prince Hamid’s prowess in organising such an event, particularly for the elite from the neighbouring States.
The Treasurer Mansouri presented Hamid, after weeks of painstaking work, the wealth and assets of the Palace estate and the Sultanate. Every goat, sheep, camel, ass, horse were counted, date palms and olive trees listed and even the number of corn grinding stones accounted for. All the people accounted for in terms of farm hands, slaves, prisoners, fishermen, salt gatherers, masons, gatekeepers, village leaders and gentry. The last category included heads of households who owned more than ten plots of land.
Hamid commended the Treasurer and his staff for carrying out such an extensive and thorough survey but was astonished by the cost of running his palace and the paucity of his granaries which in a famine could hardly feed his people for over one month. With his administrative staff he ordered them to suggest ways of reducing costs and increasing the volume of food in the Royal granaries as a priority. From his guard duties Hamid had witnessed at first hand the poverty and starvation caused by bad harvests, bad management and attacks by the Berbers.
The administrators came up with fairly simple solutions based on common sense rather than any complicated formula. The previous Sultan had raided the granaries mercilessly to fund his lavish lifestyle and his Palace running costs were extortionately high. He immediately reduced the size of his harem by permitting any lady to go back to their family. Some fifty ladies took up the offer. Many wanted to stay because they knew that their families were too poor to take them in.
The only solution was for Hamid to marry them off. He arranged for a hundred of his soldiers to parade before the harem screened windows and the ladies could choose themselves a husband. Each pair or family was allocated a village and a plot of land was sequestered for them. Many of these ladies had children and these also joined the exodus. Hamid applied the same process with his palace staff. In all, he managed to reduce his palace household by half. Many male staff and eunuchs were drafted into the army. By only selling and using produce from the palace estates for his own use, the village tithes would build up the reserves in the Royal granaries.
By planting his own soldiers in many villages Hamid had developed an intelligence network that would inform him on the well being of his subjects and any insurrection brewing but that was not enough. Itinerant tinkers would roam the country from village to village living off scraps whilst repairing pots, pans, foot ware of the rich, pulling teeth and curing sick animals. They were all treated like dirt, the lowest of the low. Often cheated, beaten and scared away. Hamid understood their plight and since they travelled the whole land they could be a source of valuable intelligence. He invited them all to the palace and through Royal patronage, raised their status and provided them with Royal protection. From now on, they had to be treated as honoured guests or feel the wrath of the Sultan.
Through his planted soldiers and the tinkers, he could feel the pulse of his people. With his vast knowledge he was commonly named as ‘Hamid the eagle,’ because he kept a close eye on his subjects. Through this intelligence gathering he quickly came across bad management or sheer greed of his gentry. The one in question was Mebuzzaa, a village leader who abused his position and became a despot. He lent money freely and now all the villagers in the area were severely indebted to him. In payment he took their garden plots and they worked on their former land as sharecroppers, only getting a measly share. Poverty and starvation was rife in his village whilst he was busy building himself a palace out of stone no less. Adobe was no longer for him.
Hamid was aware and decided to put an end to this but without upsetting the general regime in the country where there were a number of minor despots amongst the village leaders but this was on a higher plane. On a dark night, where there was only a glimmer of moonlight, a band of robbers broke through the adobe wall of the granary, slaughtered the fat gatekeeper and his family and strung them up, upside down, on the back of the gates to the store. No one saw or heard this take place. They only noticed when one of Mebuzzaa’s slaves went to fetch a sack of dates for the household and couldn’t raise the gatekeeper to open the gates. The alarm was raised and the robbery was discovered.
The news spread quickly throughout the kingdom and Hamid sent a squad of soldiers to investigate and catch the culprits. Their prime mission was to check the Royal store. This hadn’t been broken into and the seal was intact. Prince Hamid decided to visit this village and see the problem for himself and provide comfort for the villagers. On arrival Mebuzzaa had arranged a meeting of all the villagers at Hamid’s command when he would address his poor subjects that had been robbed.
The general meeting was held after Mebuzzaa had provided a lavish banquet for Hamid and his followers. In the village square, under a canopy, Prince Hamid received his petitioners. He listened carefully and promised to take action to help his flock. After the last petitioner Hamid made his pronouncement. He pointed to Mebuzzaa and admonished him for not providing a proper guard for the granary. Mebuzzaa looked on crestfallen but became angry when Hamid he insisted that Mebuzzaa, as a priority, since he had much stone, to build a strong masonry wall around the granary to avoid further such incidents.
Further measures were laid down. Hamid would provide two of his own soldiers with families to live in the village and provide protection. Furthermore, Mebuzzaa was instructed to provide these families with plots and gardens out of his own allocation to maintain themselves. A new gatekeeper would be provided. Pointing again at Mebuzzaa who was feeling very uncomfortable, he ordered him to reinstate the land he had confiscated from the villagers. Another bombshell was dropped when he ordered that Mebuzzaa give up his three elder sons who would be drafted into the army to serve on the Southern border and that three of his elder daughters would join Hamid’s harem.
Mebuzzaa was distraught but couldn’t show his hatred of the situation since he believed his life was on the line. Everyone had heard of Hamid’s brutality on the borders. A further blow came when Hamid compensated the families with gifts of sacks of dates and grain from his own Royal store which Mebuzzaa recognised as his. The families cheered Prince Hamid and the women insisted on kissing his hand in gratitude as Mebuzzaa looked on in dismay but trying to smile. This story of Prince Hamid’s generosity and the downfall of an evil despot would spread throughout the land and make others think again.
On his travels to Marroc with Mustapha Hamid came across and ingenious method of pollinating the date palms and increasing the yield fourfold. The usual practise was to plant the male palms at the edge of the orchards or oasis so that the prevailing winds pollinated the female palms. This was a hit and miss affair. On his own palace orchards, he got the slaves to climb up the female palms and bind fronds from the males to the female fronds thus ensuring even pollination. Sure enough, his first crop produced a five-fold yield. He got the tinkers to spread the word about this miraculous harvest and the method of pollination. Gradually the method was adopted to the benefit of the farmers and the Royal coffers.
Droughts were the scourge of the region. They were frequent and long lasting leaving the people desolate and starving. Many died. On his trip to Carthage with Mustapha he had seen the problem solved with a long aqueduct from the mountains to Carthage by the sea, the water flowing into huge, covered deposits to reduce evaporation. He sent his best men to Carthage and other states to discover more about these aqueducts and bring back engineers that could build such a thing in his State.
Five groups of water engineers came from far afield and pondered over the problem. Hamid offered a substantial prize for the best design with a fully costed project. As he studied the preparatory work of the engineers, Hamid realised that his greatest problem was manpower. The project that attracted him most was by an Egyptian engineer who suggested that he build an aqueduct all the way to the sea as in Carthage. This would allow a development of a major port and town which his state lacked. This included a series of large, covered water deposits along the way to provide water to lands adjoining the length of the aqueduct. This was also the most expensive proposal, although the engineer intimated that with a quick build Hamid would quickly recoup his outlay. It would be necessary to build sections at intervals along the route all at the same time.
The decision on this plan depended on Hamid finding sufficient labourers and providing them with food and shelter. His administrative staff were tasked in solving the problem. They came up with several interesting proposals. One was to develop the salt mines on the salt flats to increase the revenues. Salt was an expensive commodity. Each village was to provide a number of labourers, particularly along the course of the aqueduct. His army would have to release at least two hundred soldiers to act as supervisors and all the male slaves would be commandeered for the project. This amounted to just over two thousand men. Any further reliance on the villagers would diminish the crop yield which was essential to provision this large labour force.
This was still insufficient to finish the work in a timely manner, so Hamid decided to buy more slaves from the coastal port of Erita in the adjoining state to the West. His administrators informed him that this could be a costly task, so Hamid decided to take a more drastic action.
Hamid and his entourage rode to Erita to the regular slave market and Hamid bought the first two hundred slaves at a substantial price which made the other buyers angry and the auctioneer more than pleased. Having departed with his slaves, a little later in the afternoon a band of fifty horsemen rode into the square, scattering the crowd and buyers, disrupting the proceedings. An arrow speared the auctioneer’s throat and another speared the heart of the treasurer. Pandemonium broke out as one of the intruders grabbed the money chest whilst the others grabbed a slave each, slung them over their saddles and rode off.
It took a while for the local administration to act. They sent a posse of militia, sixty strong to apprehend the robbers. The bandits rode westwards and could easily be tracked. The Captain of the militia was confident of catching up with the bandits since their horses were weighed down with two people.
Mokani, the leader of the bandits, was a senior officer from Hamid’s border guard and he was leading the Militia westwards to mislead the Militia into thinking they were from a different State to that of Hamid’s, which was further to the east. Mokani led the Militia into a defile, a narrow valley enclosed at the end. The spirit of the militia increased since they believed that they had trapped the bandits but the reverse took place. They were the target of an ambush when they found themselves trapped and surrounded by Mokani’s warriors. After five of them were killed by arrows the rest surrendered given their fateful state. The militia were disarmed, trust up, thrown over the back of a horse and led away. This time Mokani took an eastward route back to Hamid’s palace with hundred additional slaves.
As the work on the aqueduct and water deposits progressed Hamid was left with a financial dilemma. His chief treasurer was advising him to expand his salt operation by allocating more men which was going to deplete his aqueduct labour force. The salt operation was highly profitable and he needed the revenues to fund the aqueduct. A compromise was reached. More slaves were bought for the salt extraction and as the treasurer predicted they quickly paid for themselves and generated a surplus to be spent on the aqueduct.
In the mountains to the south, new qanats were dug. These were deep underground tunnels excavated into the mountainside to reach the ground water. The new tunnels were interlinked with former qanats to provide a large volume of fresh water that would be fed into the main aqueduct. The aqueduct was engineered to maintain an almost level slope to allow the water to flow gently down to the sea. A steep slope and the water flow would damage the aqueduct. To achieve this, the engineers designed stone arches in the lowlands and tunnels through hilly areas. Hamid insisted that the first sections were totally completed so that water could be diverted to the parched land early, to increase the farm yields. This helped in feeding his growing work force.
Having seen the huge value in providing reliable water to the farmers and villagers, Hamid planned similar ventures but not as long or extensive as his main aqueduct. With the growing prosperity of his own state Hamid now had a further problem with his greedy neighbouring states who wanted to take over some of his land. His army was already depleted with the men working on the construction, his borders were becoming fragile. He tried diplomacy with his neighbours and even large bribes but that didn’t stop the increasing incursions on his border lands. Even the Berbers were becoming active again on his Southern border.
The only answer to the problem was to strengthen the border patrols to a level where they were the aggressors. This again depleted the workforce on the aqueduct. This time the patrols were ordered to capture as many prisoners as possible to work as slaves on the main project. These ruthless actions brought the project back on track.
The travelling tinkers, now with Royal patronage, kept Prince Hamid informed on the state of his subjects. Poverty, starvation, subjugation and threat of bandits and robbers were the main concerns of the people. The local tithes and Royal taxes were the main culprits. The power of unscrupulous local Lords was too great and the only way for Hamid to reduce or even to control their power was to position one of his trusted soldiers in each of the villages to act as policemen to curb the greed of the ruling classes.
His harem was again growing. People, rich and poor were offering their daughters to the harem, some because of poverty, one less mouth to feed, or status. This prompted Hamid to action two things. One was to marry off as many as he could to his soldiers and plant them off in chosen villages. The second was to make the women of the harem more productive. He instigated that they should engage in weaving to pass their time on a commercial scale and also to convert the stores of Royal millet to couscous which kept better in storage than the raw grain which often was ruined by mildew or starting to sprout. The weaving proved most popular with elegant cloth and silk carpets being the main output. These could be used by Hamid as gifts to visiting dignitaries or to furnish his palace.
A few years on Amid’s wealth and prosperity of his State had grown considerably, to the envy of his neighbours. With his many spies and good communication systems he was able to send his forces to defend his boundaries. He really wanted to emulate the lavish States he had visited with Mustapha; their palaces, libraries, schools and workshops. Rather than importing all of his finery and basics he wanted his people to change from cottage industry and start up major workshops that could produce the metal ware of other States. To this end he sent an emissary to Beirut to find and invite wise men to come, that could best advise him.
Over fifty men arrived over the course of six months and were sent out throughout his land to survey the current status and propose opportunities to develop the economy beyond the agricultural limitations. They immediately proposed that Hamid start more irrigation projects which he already had in mind but was looking to expand his economy into other areas. The wise men were sent out with more specific instructions and provided Hamid with more productive results.
The mountains were apparently rich in various metal ores including gold and silver, which could be exploited and start smelting foundries to feed scaled up metal working. The extraction of gold and silver would fund the other fledgling industries. He brought in experienced miners and metal workers from abroad who employed his army of slaves to do their bidding and hopefully be trained.
A maritime advisor suggested that he develop a secondary harbour along his coastline so that he had an alternative means of trading if his main port was besieged by pirates. He didn’t let on that he bribed the fleet of pirates heavily to provide safe passage for his ships. This got him thinking that he should solve the matter of the pirates who were getting greedy and demanding more bribes.
An army of slaves were sent to the small fishing port of Scarala to dredge the bay, build wharves and start on an enclosing quay to protect the harbour from the storms. He let it be known that the pirates were welcome to replenish their stores and water there. A number of years later when the pirates were fully established in Scarala, during a major storm when all their ships were seeking shelter he led an attack and totally eliminated the pirates, capturing their slaves for his own use. This provided him enough time to build up his own fleet, reusing the pirate’s ships, to patrol the coast and protect his trade ships and the fishing fleet. At a later date he would build a second Aqueduct from the mountains to Scarala to provide adequate water for the towns’ folk and for local irrigation to grow food crops.
A number of wise men suggested that Hamid increased his salt production but he rejected that idea since it was easy picking and the sale price of salt would fall if there was excessive production. Another group suggested that he should set up workshops for production of leather goods on a larger scale which he adopted. These tanneries would process the leather to a consistent standard enabling the production of fine leather goods for home and his export trade. He got the itinerant travellers to buy the leather from the farmers providing them with a cash income. The travellers would then send a regular supply to the tanneries. There was a cottage industry already in existence converting the local course grass into floor rugs, door curtains to keep the flies out, hats, bags and containers. Hamid sent out trained artisans to teach the villagers to make finer items and attractively decorated which again the travellers would buy on behalf of the State and sell to other villagers or send them to Royal stores for export.
The wise men identified that there was a lack of a formal judiciary system which Hamid recognised as a minor fault since most disputes and misdemeanours were handled by his leading army men which he had planted in each of the larger villages. Major issues could be raised at monthly Palace meetings. He agreed that there was some inconsistency in applying his laws amongst his men so he decided to hold more regular meetings of his henchmen and the rules and penalties would be standardised. His travellers were always a good source of information and he paid them well for their service. There was always a possibility of his people being accused on false pretences but this was rare since the culprit would face a death sentence. This was harsh but save a lot of pettiness.
Hamid’s main ambition was to develop a Statewide education system and the wise men came up with various proposals. The one he liked best was to set up Royal schools in the main towns and larger villages. Each small village could send one pupil, boy or girl, who would board at the school and be educated. The local lords and chieftains could also send their children to these schools but would have to pay a substantial fee. Hamid made it known that total patronage from the richer folks would be looked on kindly and also a privilege. This way the schools got full support and allowed to prosper. Exceptional pupils could graduate to his proposed University which was being built near his palace. The purpose of this was to provide scholars for his administration and teachers for his schools.
Communication in his vast land was always a problem. Messenger pigeons worked well for his army, so Hamid instigated a wider use of them. The travellers, who under Royal patronage, had vastly increased their wealth and well being; they now travelled with at least two donkeys or more, carting leather and goods about the land. He got them to deliver pigeons to all the villages so that his henchmen could send him regular news including issues. Hamid had his finger on the pulse and rarely needed to intervene. Important information was gathered by regular horsemen doing their rounds. This was mainly information about state of the Royal Stores, tax revenues, farm yields, workshop production, mining product and export trade. This was pored over and digested by a team of his accountants who distilled the information and informed Hamid. Appropriate action could be taken. Hamid was always concerned with the regular problem of famine caused by poor harvest as a result of the harsh environment. He ensured that his stores were well stocked and a fair system of distribution was adhered to for the needy. He was happy to report that his people never suffered unduly.
After two years many of the wise men returned to Damascus though some were enticed to stay on as advisors mainly in the fields of education, engineering and manufacturing. He sent off for experienced shipbuilders so that he could improve his marine defences, mainly against the pirates who were becoming troublesome again. His trading ships were always a valuable source of information about threats from the outside world, now that prosperity of his State was getting known about along the shores of the great sea. He fortified all of his frontier towns and increased his military forces which were fully equipped with the latest weaponry. Military manoeuvres were regularly held to train his troops the best ways to defend his and their land and prosperity. Each of the villagers had to supply a number of men to train with the military for at least two years to build up a reserve of fighting men when needed. All this required that his State produced an annual surplus in the form of taxes and tithes.
A grand meeting was held in Hamid’s palace of the village leaders, many of them being his own henchmen, soldiers married off to his harem girls and made leaders of villages. All reported improvements in well being and prosperity which led to healthy increases in tax revenues. The main gripe was that the travellers were abusing their privilege of Royal Patronage bestowed upon them by Hamid early in his rule.
A message was sent to all the travellers that their annual meeting was to be held in two weeks time and all had to attend to receive important instructions and information. Any traveller not attending would be disbarred from the Fraternity. This threat meant that all would attend which was the case. An encampment was organised for them in the Palace olive orchard and a corral set up for their donkeys and mules at a distance to avoid the smells pervading into the Palace. Many arrived a week before the appointed day, eager to find out what was afoot. To their dismay no information came forth from the Palace Administrators even though they were bribed heavily.
The meeting was held in the main square of the Palace with a huge dais constructed for Hamid with generous elegant canopy providing essential shade. The Travellers would sit out in the full glare of the sun. As they entered the square they were searched to their discomfort and any knives or daggers, customarily worn, were removed for security purposes. They were allowed only to take their carpets to sit on. No wives, family or slaves were allowed to accompany them which was unusual. As they sat slave brought in and set before each traveller a basket or platter of sweet-meats and a jug of lemon juice which was a new event for the meeting but much appreciated, setting them in a good mood.
Hamid entered in all his finery followed by a dozen of his harem ladies, Dignitaries from his administration. They arranged themselves on benches and carpets on the dais. Trumpets sounded and Hamid’s guards plus his military men marched in bearing lances decked with colourful flags. They were all dressed in matching uniforms and marched around the perimeter of the square arranging themselves at regular intervals, standing at attention. They were impressive and colourful addition to the proceedings.
A trumpet sounded to mark the start of the annual conference.
than
Mansouri Mebuzzaa Mahjoub Khemini Kefacha
Rokbani Carthage Mokani Soussi
