ABSTRACT
The economic structure of Ghazan’s realm probably had patterns that still exist today. Even now, nomads survive mainly on their flocks, the surplus of which supplies meat, wool and other such products to agrarian populations, which both feed urban centres. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, conquered agriculturists and conquering nomads had similar life-styles exhibiting different consumption practices. The Mongol elite had their own household livestock but also received other products from taxation-in-kind. Further, the upper-class Mongols in particular had an economic and social system based on presenting and receiving gifts. The most prized objects, such as jewel-studded swords and gold-embroidered robes, were not the most practical things; yet gift exchange was the means by which the court arranged much of its affairs. Another term might be graft, but the negative connotations of the word could hinder a proper understanding and, more than likely, lead to simplistic presumptions about the process.
