ABSTRACT
The second/eighth century saw major political upheavals in the Islamic world, notably the 'Abbasid Revolution of 132/750, which saw a change of dynasty and the partial replacement of one elite by another. In other ways, however, the century was a period of considerable stability and there are many areas in which people can see continuity across the divide of the Revolution. Urban property development, whether on qati'a lands or not, was an important source of income for the Umayyad and early 'Abbasid élite. Investment in urban improvement schemes was not uncommon. In the early days at al-Basra, the bathhouse owned by Muslim ibn Abi Bakra was one of only three in the city, and its owner is said to have made 1,000 dirhams per day from it until more were built, at which point the revenues declined sharply. The legal sources do not use the word qati'a for this sort of property, but they do discuss the iqta'.
