Chapter 6 examines the imperial practice of tax collection among the desert societies. Bedouin taxes could be collected with the consent and cooperation of their sheikhs. The chapter starts with an analysis of how coercive methods of tax collection failed to exact the nomadic duties and how the sheikhs played a crucial role in the process. Sheikhs persuaded their followers of the necessity of paying a moderate tax to the government, which demonstrates the role of the sheikh as agent of the empire. Although the tax was moderate, the great number of tribal animals made the amount a remarkable contribution to the provincial treasuries. The sheikly collaboration was in return for a quearter share of the collected taxes.