the dynastic caliphates: the umayyads and the reforms 131Sahib-al-Barìd, seemed to have occupied an important role in the gov-
ernment as not only the postmaster-general, but also the chief of the
intelligence service, Sahib-al-Barid wal-akhbar. He was accountable to
the Caliph, while accountable to him were the local postmasters who
were to report to him on the state of the service in their provinces
and the conduct of provincial governors. Government expenditures
had increased accordingly to cover the cost of the service and spe-
cial allowances had to be made in the state budget under the head-
ing of the postal bureau, dìwàn al-Barìd.
The Establishment of the State Bureau
The establishment of the state bureau could be said to have been
initiated by the second Caliph Umar. After conquering Iraq and
Greater Syria Caliph Umar established a registry office to organise
the allocation of state revenue from the land tax, al-Kharàj, to
Muslims (Al- ̨abarì). At the top of the registration list came the
Prophet’s kinsfolk, followed by Muslims who embraced Islam first
and ended by Muslims who converted to Islam at a later stage. The
payments varied in a similar fashion, “I do not equate those who
fought with the Prophet with those who fought against him”, were
Umar’s famous words as mentioned in the previous chapter. With
the complexity of the state administration during the Umayyads and
the Abbàsids as a result of the expansion of the state there was a
need to establish a new system of administration. Besides the postal
bureau, as mentioned above, new administrative offices were estab-
lished: the bureau of correspondence, dìwàn-al-rasa"il, and the bureau
of seal, dìwàn-al-khàtim (Al- ̨abarì). The main functions of the bureau
of correspondence were: (a) to supervise the correspondence between
the Caliph and his province governors, (b) to keep copies of the
caliph’s outward-mail in special files for control and future reference,
(c) to supervise the state archive, and (d) to organise public announce-
ments and declarations issued by the Caliph to his subjects (ibid.).
The head of the bureau occupied an important role in the state
administration and was accountable to the Caliph directly. Given
the importance and sensitivity of information coming from the
provinces that might be reflecting the conditions of law and order
in the state and the pre-warning of any potential discontent among
the subjects, the postal service could be viewed as analogous to the