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Diwan al-Barid (the postal diwan)

ديوان البريد

The postal diwan as Abu al-Faraj Qudama ibn Ja'far prescribes it in Kitab al-Kharaj wa-Sina'at al-Kitaba: a diwan unto itself receiving dispatches from every province and forwarding each to its destination, presenting the barid masters' reports from all regions to the caliph or composing their digests, overseeing the station-masters, timekeepers and clerks of the relay routes, disbursing their rations and commissioning the keepers of itineraries in every misr — its chief required to be a man of trust 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
Abbasid Fragmentation
Region
Levant & Iraq
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Overview

Qudama ibn Ja'far describes the diwan al-barid (the postal office) as an independent office to which letters from all regions were brought, and from which they were then dispatched to their destinations. 2

Its responsibilities according to Qudama

  • Presenting to the caliph the letters of the postal and news agents in the regions, or preparing summaries of them.
  • Overseeing the couriers (ghuwaraniqiyun), the timekeepers (muwaqqitun), and the stagemen (mu'thibun) on the post roads, and disbursing their pay.
  • Appointing the mapmakers in the cities.

2

The head of this office must be a trustworthy person. 2

Sources

  1. Kitab al-Masalik wa-l-Mamalik of Ibn Khurdadhbih , p. 192
  2. Kitab al-Masalik wa-l-Mamalik of Ibn Khurdadhbih , p.192
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Diwan al-Barid (the postal diwan)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/diwan-al-barid/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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