 The Bedouin iqtaʿat were small compared to those of the mamluk ( manumitted slave soldier ) emirs , though a number of sultans granted particularly generous iqtaʿat to the amir al @-@ ʿarab . The distribution of iqtaʿat to the tribes was done , at least in part , to persuade them not plunder the unfortified towns and villages of the countryside as they were normally wont to do , and to induce them to cooperate with the state . The frequent rebellion of the tribes also motivated the Mamluks to incorporate them into the iqtaʿ system . The iqtaʿ of the amir al @-@ ʿarab would often be confiscated in cases of rebellion against the sultan . In general , Salamiyah and Palmyra consistently served as iqtaʿat of the amir al @-@ ʿarab , continuing into the early Ottoman era , when the iqtaʿ was supplanted by the timar . Besides Salamiyah and Palmyra , the Ottomans granted the amir al @-@ ʿarab timar grants in the <unk> plain south of Damascus . 
