The Transfer of Syria's Diwan from Greek

نقل ديوان الشام عن الرومية

c. 700 CE · 81 AH

In al-Baladhuri: the diwan of Syria remained in Greek until Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ruled; in year 81 he ordered it transferred, and that because a man of the Roman scribes, needing to write something and finding no water, urinated in the inkwell — word reached Abd al-Malik, who was incensed and ordered Sulayman ibn Sa'd to transfer the diwan; Sulayman asked to be helped by a year's kharaj of al-Urdunn, which was done, and was made its governor — before the year ended he had finished the transfer and brought it to Abd al-Malik, who called his scribe Sarjun and displayed it to him, which grieved him, and he went out dejected; a group of the Roman scribes met him and he said 'seek your livelihood in a craft other than this — God has cut it off from you'; the levy of al-Urdunn granted as aid was a hundred and eighty thousand dinars, that of Filastin three hundred and fifty thousand dinars, of Damascus four hundred thousand dinars, and of Hims with Qinnasrin and the districts called today the Awasim eight hundred thousand dinars — or, it is said, seven hundred thousand.

Overview

al-Baladhuri relates that the diwan of Syria remained in Greek until Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan became caliph, and that he ordered it transferred in 81 AH. ¹

The account

al-Baladhuri says that one of the Byzantine secretaries could not find water to write with, so he urinated into the inkwell. When this reached Abd al-Malik, he ordered Sulayman ibn Sa'd to transfer the diwan. Sulayman asked for the kharaj of Jordan for a year of relief (ma'una). He was given it and became governor of Jordan, and he finished the transfer before the year was out. ¹

Abd al-Malik put the matter to his secretary Sarjun, who went out downcast and told the Byzantine secretaries to seek their livelihood in some trade other than this one. ¹

The revenues

al-Baladhuri mentions that the assessed revenue of Jordan was a hundred and eighty thousand dinars, Palestine three hundred and fifty thousand, Damascus four hundred thousand, and Homs, Qinnasrin and the 'Awasim eight hundred thousand, though some say seven hundred thousand. ¹

The people of the cut-off craft are the Byzantine secretaries.

Note

The Gregorian date is derived. It needs an additional source.

Abd al-Malik's Coinage Reform

Heraclius's dinars and the Persian Baghliyya dirhams reached Jahiliya Mecca and traded only as bullion: their mithqal twenty-two qirats less a fraction, ten dirhams seven mithqals, the ratl twelve uqiyyas of forty dirhams — weights the Prophet confirmed, and Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and Mu'awiya after him. Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr struck a few dirhams under Ibn al-Zubayr, later broken; then Abd al-Malik asked and tested, wrote al-Hajjaj to strike dirhams at fifteen qirats of the dinar-qirats, and struck the Damascene dinars — which came to Medina with Companions and Followers there and none objected. Al-Hasan ibn Salih: the Ajam dirhams ran great and small — twenty, twelve, ten qirats — and when Islam needed the mean for zakah they summed forty-two and struck the third, fourteen qirats, so ten Arab dirhams weigh seven mithqals. Quraysh's weights: the dirham for silver, the dinar for gold, ten dirham-weights to seven dinar-weights, the sha'ira a sixtieth of a dirham, the uqiyya forty dirhams, the nashsh twenty, the nawa five — all confirmed when the Prophet entered Mecca. And Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, asked who first struck engraved dinars, said 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan — dinars came Byzantine, dirhams Kisrawi and few Himyari'.

The Transfer of Syria's Diwan from Greek

At a glance

In time

Overview

The account

The revenues

Note

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Abd al-Malik's Coinage Reform