The six offices of al-Andalus

Ibn Sa'id described the organisation of government in al-Andalus in six offices (khutat), as al-Maqqari transmits them. ¹

The vizierate: shared among a group, from whom the prince chose a chamberlain (hajib). The offices were inherited within certain houses. The secretaryship: at its head the secretary of letters and the keeper of the register (zimam); he notes that the latter could not be a Christian or a Jew, because he needed the notables of the people. ¹

The officer in charge of land-tax affairs: he describes him as greater than the vizier, though if he was deceived by his earnings he would be confiscated. The judiciary: he counts it the greatest of the offices among the elite and the common people alike, and its holder is the chief judge of the community. ¹

The police: its head is the governor of the city and the night-watch. The office of market supervision (ihtisab): it is entrusted to people of learning and shrewdness, and the market supervisor rode out himself to the markets, while his assistants held the bread scales. ¹

This is Ibn Sa'id's description as al-Maqqari transmits it, from a single source. It needs a further source.