The ''barīd'' ( ar, بريد, often translated as "the postal service") was the state-run courier service of the
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
and later
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
s. A major institution in the early
Islamic state
An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
s, the ''barid'' was not only responsible for the overland delivery of official correspondence throughout the empire, but it additionally functioned as a domestic intelligence agency, which informed the
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
s on events in the provinces and the activities of government officials.
Etymology
The etymology of the Arabic word ''barid'' has been described by historian
Richard N. Frye
Richard Nelson Frye (January 10, 1920 – March 27, 2014) was an American scholar of Iranian and Central Asian studies, and Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Harvard University. His professional areas of interest were Irania ...
as "unclear". A
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
n origin has been suggested by late-19th-century scholars who offered the following disputed explanation: ''berīd'' = Babyl. ''buridu'' (for the older *''(p)burādu'') = 'courier' and 'fast horse'. It has also been proposed that, since the ''barid'' institution appears to have been adopted from the courier systems previously maintained by both the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
s and Persian
Sassanid
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
s, the word ''barid'' could be derived from the
Late Latin
Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...
''veredus'' ("post horse") or the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
''buridah dum'' ("having a
docked tail," in reference to the postal
mounts).
History
Background
The Muslim ''barid'' was apparently based upon the courier organizations of their predecessors, the Byzantines and Sassanids. Postal systems had been present in the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
throughout
Antiquity, with several pre-Islamic states having operated their own services. A local tradition of obliging the population living next to roads to carry the luggage of passing soldiers and officials, or of having the entire population contribute
pack animal
A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft anim ...
s to the state as in
Ptolemaic Egypt, has been documented since at least the time of the
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
and had been enforced by
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
legislation in the 4th century.
Umayyads
The ''barid'' operated from Umayyad times, with credit for its development being given to the first Umayyad caliph
Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
(r. 661–680). Mu'awiyah's successor
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, عبد الملك ابن مروان ابن الحكم, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 ...
(r. 685–705) strengthened the organization, making additional improvements to it after the end of the
Second Fitna
The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate., meaning trial or temptation) occurs in the Qur'an in the sense of test of faith of the believer ...
. The Umayyads created a
''diwan'' or government department to manage the system and a separate budget was allocated for its costs.
Abbasids
Following the
Abbasid Revolution
The Abbasid Revolution, also called the Movement of the Men of the Black Raiment, was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in early History of Islam, Islamic history, by the third, the A ...
in 750, the ''barid'' was further strengthened by the new dynasty and became one of the most important institutions in the government. The second Abbasid caliph
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
(r. 754–775) placed particular importance on the service and utilized it as an intelligence tool with which he could monitor affairs throughout the empire. Under his successors, oversight of the ''barid'' was often entrusted to a prominent official or close associate of the caliph, such as the
Barmakid
The Barmakids ( fa, برمکیان ''Barmakiyân''; ar, البرامكة ''al-Barāmikah''Harold Bailey, 1943. "Iranica" BSOAS 11: p. 2. India - Department of Archaeology, and V. S. Mirashi (ed.), ''Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era'' vol ...
Ja'far ibn Yahya
Jafar ibn Yahya Barmaki, Jafar al-Barmaki ( fa, جعفر بن یحیی برمکی, ar, جعفر بن يحيى, Jafar bin yaḥyā) (767–803) also called Aba-Fadl, was a Persian vizier of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, succeeding his father ...
or
Itakh al-Turki.
9th–11th centuries
After the political fragmentation of the Abbasid Caliphate in the ninth and tenth centuries, the central ''diwan al-barid'' was overseen by the
Buyid
The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupl ...
s (945–1055), but the organization seems to have declined during this period. The service was eventually abolished by the
Seljuq Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to:
* Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia
* Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities
* Seljuk (warlord) (d ...
sultan
Alp Arslan
Alp Arslan was the second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire and great-grandson of Seljuk, the eponymous founder of the dynasty. He greatly expanded the Seljuk territory and consolidated his power, defeating rivals to the south and northwest, and his v ...
(r. 1063–1072), who considered its capacity for intelligence-gathering to have been diminished. Some other Muslim states, such as the
Samanids People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownershi ...
of
Transoxiana
Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
(9th and 10th centuries), maintained their own ''barid'' systems at various times.
Mamluks
In the thirteenth century a new ''barid'' was created in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
by the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
sultan
Baybars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...
(r. 1260–1277).
Functions
Correspondence and travel
![Barid Stations Yemen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Barid_Stations_Yemen.svg)
The ''barid'' provided the caliphs with the ability to communicate with their officials in the various regions under their authority. Its messengers were capable of delivering missives throughout the empire with great efficiency, with reported travel speeds as fast as almost a hundred miles per day. The ''barid'' was not a mail service, and did not normally carry private letters sent by individuals; rather it usually only carried correspondence, such as official reports and decrees, between government agents.
To facilitate the swift delivery of its messages, the ''barid'' maintained an extensive network of relay stations, which housed fresh mounts, lodging and other resources for its couriers. The average distance between each ''barid'' station was, at least in theory, two to four
''farsakh''s (six to twelve miles); according to the 9th-century geographer
Ibn Khurradadhbih
Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( ar, ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking Persian bureaucrat and ...
, there were a total of 930 stations throughout the empire. This relay network was flexible and temporary postal stations could be set up as needed; during military campaigns, for example, new ''barid'' stations would be established so that a line of communication could be maintained with the advancing army.
Besides carrying correspondence, the ''barid'' was sometimes used to transport certain agents of the state, providing a form of fast travel for governors and other officials posted to the provinces. The Abbasid caliph
al-Hadi
Abū Muḥammad Mūsā ibn al-Mahdī al-Hādī ( ar, أبو محمد موسى بن المهدي الهادي; 26 April 764 CE 14 September 786 CE) better known by his laqab Al-Hādī (الهادي) was the fourth Arab Abbasid caliph who succee ...
(r. 785–786), for example, used the ''barid'' service to make the journey from
Jurjan
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...
to the capital
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
after he had received news of his father's death. Use of ''barid'' resources was tightly controlled, however, and special authorization was required for other government agents to use their mounts or provisions.
Surveillance
In addition to its role in as a courier service, the ''barid'' operated as an intelligence network within the Islamic state. The postmasters (''
ashab al-barid'') of each district effectively doubled as informants for the central government, and regularly submitted reports to the capital of the state of their respective localities. Any events of significance, such as local trial proceedings, fluctuations in prices of essential commodities, or even unusual weather activity, would be written about and sent to the director of the central ''diwan'', who would summarize the information and present it to the caliph.
Besides the affairs of the provinces in general, ''barid'' agents also monitored the conduct of other government officials. Postmasters were to look out for any instances of misconduct or incompetence and inform the caliph of any such behavior. They also reported on the acts and decrees of the local governor and
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
, as well as the balance of the
treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
. This information enabled the caliph to stay apprised of the performance of his agents, and to dismiss any who had become corrupt or rebellious.
See also
*
Yam (route)
Yam ( mn, Өртөө, ''Örtöö'', ''checkpoint'') was a postal system or supply point route messenger system extensively used and expanded by Ögedei Khan and also used by subsequent Great Khans and Khans.
Relay stations provided food, shelte ...
– courier service of the
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...
*
Ulaq (Ottoman Empire) – courier service of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
*
Furaniq – couriers in general in the medieval Islamic world
*
Cursus publicus
The ''cursus publicus'' (Latin: "the public way"; grc, δημόσιος δρόμος, ''dēmósios drómos'') was the state mandated and supervised courier and transportation service of the Roman Empire, later inherited by the Eastern Roma ...
– courier service of the Roman and Byzantine Empires
*
Frumentarii
The ''Frumentarii'' were an ancient Roman military organization used as an intelligence agency. They began their history as a courier service and developed into an imperial spying agency. Their organization would also carry out assassinations. ...
– Roman officials, originally collectors of wheat, later increasingly secret agents (as they travelled considerably)
Notes
References
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{{Authority control
Medieval Islamic world
Postal history
Government of the Abbasid Caliphate
Government of the Umayyad Caliphate
Defunct intelligence agencies
Caliphal correspondence
7th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate