The composition of the rural labor force in Ifrīqīya in the Roman and early Islamic periods : change or continuity ?

Abstract EN

This article begins with a brief survey of what is known about the rural workforce in Roman Africa, based on inscriptions, documents, and an overview of important recent scholarship on the topic.

in light of the latter, it proceeds with an investigation of the types of agricultural laborers present in early Islamic Africa (down to the Hilali migration of the mid 5th century A.

H.

/ 11th century A.

D.) based on legal sources.

it is proposed that during this period there was a mixed labor force of slaves, short and long-term hired workers, tenants, and peasants who were bound to the land like serfs, and furthermore, that no particular type of laborer was dominant during this period.