 By 1343, the practice was common and by 1347, the sale of "iqta'at" became taxed.The revenues emanating from the "iqtaʿ" also served as a more stable source of income than other methods the Mamluks sometimes employed, including tax hikes, the sale of administrative posts and extortion of the population.According to historian J. van Steenbergen, The "iqtaʿ" system was fundamental in assuring a legitimized, controlled and guaranteed access to the resources of the Syro-Egyptian realm to an upper level of Mamluk society that was primarily military in form and organization.