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| Morocco that was |
Morocco that was
ciate. Not only was the Sultan accompanied by his numerous ladies and all his viziers and their families and suites, but he had with him as well some ten thousand soldiers and a rabble of camp- followers. A large number of native merchants also joined the throng, for trade flowed to the region in which the Court was residing.
Some idea of the results upon the country passed through can be imagined from the fact that the very name of these expeditions in Arabic is " Harka," " the burning." No matter whether the tribes were in incipient rebellion, in open revolt, or in peace, they had to provide the food and fodder of this great horde, whose ravages more nearly resembled those of a flight of locusts than the passing by of human beings. Not only such " legal " taxation as could be extorted was collected, but the viziers and the Sultan's entour- age had to be bribed and paid as well, while every soldier and every camp-follower pillaged on his own account. On receiving the news of the coming of one of these Imperial expeditions, as many of the population as could, or as dared, fled to other regions ; and the Sultan often passed through a deserted country, except that the Governor and tribal representatives had to be there to pour the little wealth of the countryside into the royal coffers
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