76
TheIslamicateContext
Throughout premodern
times,
these hinterlands supported
only
simple
formsofsocialandculturallife,fortheycontained
fewcitiesorlarge
concentrationsof
population;
theirinhabit-
antsusually
livedfar
apart
fromeachother
ordidnotsettleat
all.
They
moreoftenhadcontact
withanimalsthanwithfellow
humansoutsidethefamily.
The
economy
was
simple
andnearly
self-sufficient,though
articlesfromthecities
were
highlyprized
andformed thebasis ofanimportant
trade. Social lifewas
rudimentary,
with few
divisions ordistinctionsbetween
indi-
viduals.Culture
remainedata
popular
level,formarginal
areas
couldnot
supportspecialists;
theminstrelorfolk
artisthadto
devotehis
days
to
providing
for
himself.Intellectuallife
beyond
traditionalwisdomhardly
existed.Political
organization
in
mar-
ginal
areasfollowedpredominantly
triballines,though
notal-
ways
(the
Balkan
population
livedinmountains
without
being
tribal,
whileeven
city-dwellers
insub-Saharan
Africaremained
tribal).
Onthewhole,institutionsstayedsimple,rarelyinvolving
more
persons
thankneweachother.
IbnKhaldtSncallsthese
peoples
savage(wah.sh)
andenumerates
them: "TheArabians
andtheZantaaresuchpeoples,
asaresimilar
groups,
t0r
in-
stancetheKurds,Turkomans,
andtheVeiled
S.anhja.
’’48
The
"government
areas"includedwhatwasnot
marginal,
the
permanently
settledlandswhere
city-dwellers
and
farmerslived
more
closelytogether.
Unlikemarginalareas,
which
permitted
onlysimple
economies and
cultures,
government
areas
sup-
ported
morecomplex
formsofhuman
activity;
inaword,they
housedcivilization.
With
regard
to
politicalorganization,
they
developedlarge-scalestructures--governments--in
contrastto
thetribesin
marginal
areas.
49
Thedistinctionbetweenoutsiders
andinsiders
parallels
that
of
government
andmarginal
areas."Insiders"arethe
ethnically
dominant,economically
stable,
sociallyaccepted,
religiously
con-
formingpopulation
ofasettled
region. Theypopulate
both
citiesandcountrysideand
haveastakein
preserving
theestab-
48.Muq,1:295(my
translationfromtheArabic,1:263).
49.Thebladas-sibaandbldal-makhzaninMoroccoreflectthisdistinction
most
precisely.