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A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from
Sumerian ''dub'',
clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age.
Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylu ...
) was a high government ministry in various
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, or its chief official (see ''
dewan
''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...
'').
Etymology
![Asif musicians 1812](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Asif_musicians_1812.jpg)
The word, recorded in English since 1586, meaning "Oriental council of a state", comes from
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
''divan'', from
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
''diwan''.
It is first attested in
Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
spelled as ''dpywʾn'' and ''dywʾn'', itself hearkening back, via
Old Persian
Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...
,
Elamite
Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was used in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite works disappear from the archeological record ...
and
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
, ultimately to
Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet. The word was borrowed into
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
as well as ''divan''; on linguistic grounds this is placed after the 3rd century, which helps establish the original Middle Persian (and eventually
New Persian
New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thre ...
) form was ''dīvān'', not ''dēvān'', despite later legends that traced the origin of the word to the latter form. The variant pronunciation ''dēvān'' however did exist, and is the form surviving to this day in
Tajiki Persian
Tajik (Tajik: , , ), also called Tajiki Persian (Tajik: , , ) or Tajiki, is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by Tajiks. It is closely related to neighbouring Dari with which it forms a continuum of mutually intelligibl ...
.
In Arabic, the term was first used for the army registers, then generalized to any register, and by
metonymy
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Etymology
The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
applied to specific government departments. The sense of the word evolved to "custom house" and "council chamber", then to "long, cushioned seat", such as are found along the walls in Middle-Eastern council chambers. The latter is the sense that entered European languages as
divan (furniture)
A divan ( Turkish ''divan'', Hindi deevaan originally from Persian ''devan'') is a piece of couch-like sitting furniture or, in some regions, a box-spring-based bed.
Primarily, in the Middle East (especially the Ottoman Empire), a divan was a ...
.
The modern French, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian words ''douane'', ''aduana'', and ''dogana,'' respectively (meaning "
customs house
A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting c ...
"), also come from ''diwan''.
Creation and development under the early Caliphates
Establishment and Umayyad period
The first ''dīwān'' was created under Caliph
Umar
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
( CE) in 15
A.H. (636/7 CE) or, more likely, 20 A.H. (641 CE). It comprised the names of the warriors of
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
who participated in the
Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
and their families, and was intended to facilitate the payment of salary (''ʿaṭāʾ'', in coin or in rations) to them, according to their service and their relationship to
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. This first army register (''dīwān
al-jund'') was soon emulated in other provincial capitals like
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
,
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
and
Fustat
Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by ...
.
Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba
Abu Abd Allah al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba ibn Abi Amir ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi ( ar, المغيرة بن شعبة بن أبي عامر بن مسعود الثقفي, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Mughīra ibn Shuʿba ibn Abī ʿĀmir ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī); –6 ...
, a statesman from the
Thaqif
The Banu Thaqif ( ar, بنو ثقيف, Banū Thaqīf) is an Arab tribe which inhabited, and still inhabits, the city of Ta'if and its environs, in modern Saudi Arabia, and played a prominent role in early Islamic history.
During the pre-Islami ...
tribe who was versed in
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 ...
, is credited with establishing Basra's ''dīwān'' during his governorship (636–638), and the ''dīwān'' of the Caliphate's other garrison centers followed its organization.
With the advent of the
Umayyad Caliphate
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 th ...
, the number of ''dīwāns'' increased. To the ''dīwān al-jund'', the first
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 ...
caliph,
Mu'awiya
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), added the bureau of the land tax (''dīwān
al-kharāj'') in
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
, which became the main ''dīwān'', as well as the bureau of correspondence (''dīwān al-rasāʾil''), which drafted the caliph's letters and official documents, and the bureau of the seal (''dīwān al-khātam''), which checked and kept copies of all correspondence before sealing and dispatching it. A number of more specialist departments were also established, probably by Mu'awiya: the ''dīwān al-barīd'' in charge of the
postal service
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...
; the bureau of expenditure (''dīwān al-nafaqāt''), which most likely indicates the survival of a
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 ...
institution; the ''dīwān al-ṣadaqa'' was a new foundation with the task of estimating the ''
zakāt
Zakat ( ar, زكاة; , "that which purifies", also Zakat al-mal , "zakat on wealth", or Zakah) is a form of almsgiving, often collected by the Muslim Ummah. It is considered in Islam as a religious obligation, and by Quranic ranking, is ne ...
'' and ''
ʿushr'' levies; the ''dīwān al-mustaghallāt'' administered state property in cities; the ''dīwān al-ṭirāz'' controlled the government workshops that made official banners, costumes and some furniture. Aside from the central government, there was a local branch of the ''dīwān al-kharāj'', the ''dīwān al-jund'' and the ''dīwān al-rasāʾil'' in every province.
Under Caliph
Abd al-Malik (), the practices of the various departments began to be standardized and Arabized: instead of the local languages (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
and Greek 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 ...
, Persian in the former
Sasanian
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 ...
lands) and the traditional practices of book-keeping, seals and time-keeping, only Arabic and the
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar ( ar, ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ, translit=al-taqwīm al-hijrī), also known in English as the Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or ...
were to be used henceforth. The process of Arabization was gradual: in Iraq, the transition was carried out by
Salih ibn Abd al-Rahman Abū al-Walīd Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān al-Sijistānī () (died 721–724) was a leading bureaucrat in the central '' dīwān'' (tax bureau) of Iraq under the Umayyad governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (694–714) and then fiscal governor of the ...
under the auspices of the governor
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi ( ar, أبو محمد الحجاج بن يوسف بن الحكم بن أبي عقيل الثقفي, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī ʿAqīl al-T ...
in 697, in Syria by
Sulayman ibn Sa'd al-Khushani
Abū Thābit Sulaymān ibn Saʿd al-Khūshani () () was an Arab administrator of the Umayyad Caliphate who proposed and implemented the conversion of Syria's '' dīwān'' (tax administration) from Greek to Arabic in 700 under Caliph Abd al-Malik ( ...
in 700, in Egypt under Caliph
al-Walid I
Al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ( ar, الوليد بن عبد الملك بن مروان, al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān; ), commonly known as al-Walid I ( ar, الوليد الأول), was the sixth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad ca ...
's governor
Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik
ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān (; in Greek sources , ''Abdelas'') was an Umayyad prince, the son of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (), a general and the governor of Egypt in 705–709.
Life
Abdallah was born or and grew up in the ...
in 706, and in
Khurasan
Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...
by
Ishaq ibn Tulayq al-Nahshali on the orders of
Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi () was a senior provincial governor for the Umayyad Caliphate. His policies during his tenure as governor of Iraq in 738–744 deepened the Qays–Yaman rivalry and were one of the main factors in the outbreak of the civil ...
, governor of Iraq, in 741/42.
Abbasid period
Under the
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 ...
the administration, partly under the increasing influence of
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
culture, became more elaborate and complex. As part of this process, the ''dīwāns'' increased in number and sophistication, reaching their apogee in the 9th–10th centuries. At the same time, the office of
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
(''wazīr'') was also created to coordinate government. The administrative history of the Abbasid ''dīwāns'' is complex, since many were short-lived, temporary establishments for specific needs, while at times the sections of larger ''dīwān'' might also be termed ''dīwāns'', and often a single individual was placed in charge of more than one department.
Caliph
al-Saffah
Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Saffāḥ ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن محمد السفّاح; 721/722 – 8 June 754, al-Anbar) usually known as Abūʾl-ʿAbbās as-Saffāḥ or simply by his laqab As-S ...
(r. 749–754) established a department for the confiscated properties of the Umayyads after his victory in 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 ...
. This was probably the antecedent of the later ''dīwān al-ḍiyāʿ'', administering the caliph's personal domains. Similarly, under
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) there was a bureau of confiscations (''dīwān al-muṣādara''), as well as a ''dīwān al-aḥshām'', probably in charge of palace service personnel, and a bureau of petitions to the Caliph (''dīwān al-riḳāʿ''). Caliph
al-Mahdi
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abba ...
(r. 775–785) created a parallel ''dīwān al-zimām'' (control bureau) for every one of the existing ''dīwāns'', as well as a central control bureau (''zimām al-azimma''). These acted as
comptroller
A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...
s as well as coordinators between the various bureaus, or between individual ''dīwāns'' and the vizier. In addition, a ''dīwān
al-maẓālim
''Al-maẓālim'' (injustices, grievances) were an ancient pre-Islamic institution that was adopted by the Abbasids in the eighth century CE. The main purpose of the ''mazalim'' courts was to give ordinary people redress. ''Mazalim'', or the sul ...
'' was created, staffed by judges, to hear complaints against government officials. The remit of the ''dīwān al-kharāj'' now included all land taxes (''kharāj'', ''zakāt'', and ''
jizya
Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent Kafir, non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The jizya tax has been unde ...
'', both in money and in kind), while another department, the ''dīwān al-ṣadaqa'', dealt with assessing the ''zakāt'' of cattle. The correspondence of the ''dīwān al-kharāj'' was checked by another department, the ''dīwān al-khātam''. As in Umayyad times, miniature copies of the ''dīwān al-kharāj'', the ''dīwān al-jund'' and the ''dīwān al-rasāʾil'' existed in every province, but by the mid-9th century each province also maintained a branch of its ''dīwān al-kharāj'' in the capital.
The treasury department (''bayt al-māl'' or ''dīwān al-sāmī'') kept the records of revenue and expenditure, both in money and in kind, with specialized ''dīwāns'' for each category of the latter (e.g. cereals, cloth, etc.). Its secretary had to mark all orders of payment to make them valid, and it drew up monthly and yearly balance sheets. The ''dīwān al-jahbad̲ha'', responsible for the treasury's balance sheets, was eventually branched off from it, while the treasury domains were placed under the ''dīwān al-ḍiyāʿ'', of which there appear at times to have been several. In addition, a department of confiscated property (''dīwān al-musādarīn'') and confiscated estates (''dīwān al-ḍiyāʿ al-maqbūḍa'') existed.
Caliph
al-Mu'tadid
Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa al-Muwaffaq ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن طلحة الموفق), 853/4 or 860/1 – 5 April 902, better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh ( ar, المعتضد بالله, link=no, ...
(r. 892–902) grouped the branches of the provincial ''dīwāns'' present in the capital into a new department, the ''dīwān al-dār'' (bureau of the palace) or ''dīwān al-dār al-kabīr'' (great bureau of the palace), where "''al-dār''" probably meant the vizier's palace. At the same time, the various ''zimām'' bureaux were combined into a single ''dīwān al-zimām'' which re-checked all assessments, payments and receipts against its own records and, according to the 11th-century scholar
al-Mawardi
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī Ibn Muḥammad al-Māwardī (), known in Latin as Alboacen (972–1058 CE), was an Islamic jurist of the Shafi'i school most remembered for his works on religion, government, the caliphate, and public and constitutional law ...
, was the "guardian of the rights of ''bayt al-māl''
he treasuryand the people". The ''dīwān al-nafaḳāt'' played a similar role with regards to expenses by the individual ''dīwāns'', but by the end of the 9th century its role was mostly restricted to the finances of the caliphal palace. Under
al-Muktafi
Abū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ( ar, أبو محمد علي بن أحمد; 877/78 – 13 August 908), better known by his regnal name al-Muktafī bi-llāh ( ar, المكتفي بالله, , Content with God Alone), was the Caliph of the Ab ...
(r. 902–908) the ''dīwān al-dār'' was broken up into three departments, the bureaux of the eastern provinces (''dīwān
al-mashriq''), of the western provinces (''dīwān
al-maghrib''), and of the Iraq (''dīwān
al-sawād''), although under
al-Muqtadir
Abu’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Ahmad al-Muʿtaḍid ( ar, أبو الفضل جعفر بن أحمد المعتضد) (895 – 31 October 932 AD), better known by his regnal name Al-Muqtadir bi-llāh ( ar, المقتدر بالله, "Mighty in God"), wa ...
(r. 908–932) the ''dīwān al-dār'' still existed, with the three territorial departments considered sections of the latter. In 913/4, the vizier
Ali ibn Isa established a new department for charitable endowments (''dīwān al-birr''), whose revenue went to the upkeep of holy places, the
two holy cities of
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
and
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
, and on volunteers fighting in the holy war against the
Byzantine Empire
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 ...
.
Under Caliph
al-Mutawakkil
Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was t ...
(r. 847–861), a bureau of servants and pages (''dīwān
al-mawālī wa
’l-ghilmān''), possibly an evolution of the ''dīwān al-aḥshām'', existed for the huge number of slaves and other attendants of the palace. In addition, the ''dīwān al-khātam'', now also known as the ''dīwān al-sirr'' (bureau of confidential affairs) grew in importance.
Miskawayh
Ibn Miskawayh ( fa, مُسْکُـوْيَه Muskūyah, 932–1030), full name Abū ʿAlī Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb ibn Miskawayh was a Persian chancery official of the Buyid era, and philosopher and historian from Parandak, Iran. As ...
also mentions the existence of a '' dīwān al-ḥaram'', which supervised the women's quarters of the palace.
Later Islamic dynasties
As the Abbasid Caliphate began to fragment in the mid 9th century, its administrative machinery was copied by the emergent successor dynasties, with the already extant local ''dīwān'' branches likely providing the base on which the new administrations were formed.
Saffarids, Ziyarid, Sajids, Buyids and Samanids
The administrative machinery of the
Tahirid
The Tahirid dynasty ( fa, طاهریان, Tâheriyân, ) was a culturally Arabized Sunni Muslim dynasty of Persian dehqan origin, that ruled as governors of Khorasan from 821 to 873 as well as serving as military and security commanders in Ab ...
governors of
Khurasan
Greater Khorāsān,Dabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 or Khorāsān ( pal, Xwarāsān; fa, خراسان ), is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plate ...
is almost unknown, except that their treasury was located in their capital of
Nishapur
Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...
.
Ya'qub al-Saffar
, title = Amir of the Saffarid dynasty
, image = مجسمه یعقوب لیث در زابل.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Statue of Ya'qub in Zabol, Iran
, reign = 861–879
, coronation =
, predecesso ...
(r. 867–879), the founder of the
Saffarid dynasty
The Saffarid dynasty ( fa, صفاریان, safaryan) was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1003. One of the first indigenous Persians, ...
who supplanted the Tahirids, is known to have had a bureau of the army (''dīwān al-ʿarḍ'') for keeping the lists and supervising the payment of the troops, at his capital
Zarang
Zaranj or Zarang (Persian/Pashto/ bal, زرنج) is a city in southwestern Afghanistan, near the border with Iran, which has a population of 160,902 people as of 2015. It is the capital of Nimruz Province and is linked by highways with Lashkargah ...
. Under his successor
Amr ibn al-Layth
Amr ibn al-Layth or Amr-i Laith Saffari ( fa, عمرو لیث صفاری) was the second ruler of the Saffarid dynasty of Iran from 879 to 901. He was the son of a whitesmith and the younger brother of the dynasty's founder, Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al- ...
(r. 879–901) there were two further treasuries, the ''māl-e khāṣṣa'', and an unnamed bureau under the chief secretary corresponding to a chancery (''dīwān al-rasāʾil'' or ''dīwān al-inshāʾ'').
The
Buyids
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 ...
, who took over Baghdad and the remains of the Abbasid Caliphate in 946, drew partly on the established Abbasid practice, but was adapted to suit the nature of the rather decentralized Buyid "confederation" of autonomous emirates. The Buyid bureaucracy was headed by three great departments: the ''dīwān al-wazīr'', charged with finances, the ''dīwān al-rasāʾil'' as the state chancery, and the ''dīwān al-jaysh'' for the army. The Buyid regime was a military regime, its ruling caste composed of
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
and
Daylamite
The Daylamites or Dailamites (Middle Persian: ''Daylamīgān''; fa, دیلمیان ''Deylamiyān'') were an Iranian people inhabiting the Daylam—the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea, now comprisin ...
troops. As a result, the army department was of particular importance, and its head, the ''ʿariḍ al-jaysh'', is frequently mentioned in the sources of the period. Indeed, at the turn of the 11th century, there were two ''ʿariḍs'', one for the Turks and one for the Daylamites, hence the department was often called "department of the two armies" (''dīwān al-jayshayn''). A number of junior departments, like the ''dīwān al-zimām'', the ''dīwān al-ḍiyāʿ'', or the ''dīwān al-barīd'' were directly inherited from the Abbasid government. Under
Adud al-Dawla
Fannā (Panāh) Khusraw ( fa, پناه خسرو), better known by his laqab of ʿAḍud al-Dawla ( ar, عضد الدولة, "Pillar of the bbasidDynasty") (September 24, 936 – March 26, 983) was an emir of the Buyid dynasty, ruling from 9 ...
(r. 978–983), however, the ''dīwān al-sawād'', which oversaw the rich lands of lower Iraq, was moved from Baghdad to
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As o ...
. In addition, a ''dīwān al-khilāfa'' was established to oversee the affairs of the Abbasid caliphs, who continued to reside in Baghdad as puppets of the Buyid emirs.
Seljuks
The
Great Seljuks
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turko-Persian, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total area of from Anatolia and the Levant in the west to th ...
tended to cherish their nomadic origins, with their
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
s leading a
peripatetic
Peripatetic may refer to:
*Peripatetic school, a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece
*Peripatetic axiom
* Peripatetic minority, a mobile population moving among settled populations offering a craft or trade.
*Peripatetic Jats
There are several ...
court to their various capitals. Coupled with their frequent absence on campaign, the vizier assumed an even greater prominence, concentrating the direction of civil, military and religious affairs in his own bureau, the "supreme dīwān" (''dīwān al-aʿlā''). The ''dīwān al-aʿlā'' was further subdivided into a chancery (''dīwān al-inshāʾ wa’l-ṭughrā'', also called ''dīwān al-rasāʾil'') under the ''ṭughrāʾī'' or ''munshī al-mamālik'', an accounting department (''dīwān al-zimām wa’l-istīfāʾ'') under the ''mustawfī al-mamālik'', a fiscal oversight office (''dīwān al-ishrāf'' or ''dīwān al-muʿāmalāt'') under the ''mushrif al-mamālik'', and the army department (''dīwān al-ʿarḍ'' or ''dīwān al-jaysh'') under the ''ʿariḍ'' (further divided into the recruitment and supply bureau, ''dīwān al-rawātib'', and the salary and land grants bureau, ''dīwān al-iqṭāʾ''). A number of lesser departments is also attested, although they may not have existed at the same time: the office charged with the redress of grievances (''dīwān al-maẓālim''), the state treasury (''bayt al-māl'') and the sultan's private treasury (''bayt al-māl al-khaṣṣ''), confiscations (''dīwān al-muṣādara''), the land tax office (''dīwān al-kharāj'') and the department of religious endowments or ''
waqf
A waqf ( ar, وَقْف; ), also known as hubous () or '' mortmain'' property is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitabl ...
s'' (''dīwān al-awqāf''). A postal department (''dīwān al-barīd'') also existed but fell into disuse. The system was apparently partly copied in provincial centres as well.
Ottoman Tripolitania
Following the Ottoman conquest of North Africa, the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
was divided into three provinces,
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
,
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
, and
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
. After 1565, administrative authority in Tripoli was vested in a
Pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, gener ...
directly appointed by the Sultan in Constantinople. The sultan provided the pasha with a corps of
Janissaries
A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ( ...
, which was in turn divided into a number of companies under the command of a junior officer or ''
Bey
Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
''. The Janissaries quickly became the dominant force in Ottoman Libya. As a self-governing military guild answerable only to their own laws and protected by a ''Divan'' (in this context, a council of senior officers who advised the Pasha), the Janissaries soon reduced the Pasha to a largely ceremonial role.
Government councils
The ''
Divan-ı Hümayun
The Imperial Council or Imperial Divan ( ota, ديوان همايون, Dîvân-ı Hümâyûn), was the ''de facto'' Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Ottoman Empire for most of its history. Initially an informal gathering of the senior minister ...
'' or
Sublime Porte
The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( ota, باب عالی, Bāb-ı Ālī or ''Babıali'', from ar, باب, bāb, gate and , , ), was a synecdoche for the central government of the Ottoman Empire.
History
The nam ...
was for many years the council of ministers 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) ...
. It consisted of the
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...
, who presided, and the other
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
s, the ''
kadi'asker
A kazasker or kadıasker ( ota, قاضی عسكر, ''ḳāḍī'asker'', "military judge") was a chief judge in the Ottoman Empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who were later tried only by their ...
s'', the ''
nisanci'', and the ''
defterdar This is a list of the top officials in charge of the finances of the Ottoman Empire, called ( Turkish for bookkeepers; from the Persian , + ) between the 14th and 19th centuries and ''Maliye Naziri'' (Minister of Finance) between 19th and 20th ...
s''.
The Assemblies of the
Danubian Principalities
The Danubian Principalities ( ro, Principatele Dunărene, sr, Дунавске кнежевине, translit=Dunavske kneževine) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th ce ...
under Ottoman rule were also called "divan" ("Divanuri" in Romanian) (see
Akkerman Convention
The Akkerman Convention was a treaty signed on October 7, 1826, between the Russian and the Ottoman Empires in the Budjak citadel of ''Akkerman'' (present-day Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Ukraine). It imposed that the ''hospodars'' of Moldavia and Wall ...
,
ad hoc Divan
The two Ad hoc Divans were legislative{{cn, date=February 2017 and consultative assemblies of the Danubian Principalities (Moldavia and Wallachia), vassals of the Ottoman Empire. They were established by the Great Powers under the Treaty of Par ...
).
In
Javanese and related languages, the cognate
Dewan
''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...
is the standard word for chamber, as in the
Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat
The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...
or Chamber of People's Representatives..
Ministerial departments
In the
sultanate
This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...
of
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
, several portfolio Ministries had a title based on Diwan:
*''Diwan al-Alaf'': Ministry of War.
*''Diwan al-Bahr'': 'Ministry of the Sea', i.e. (overseas=) Foreign Ministry.
*''Diwan al-Shikayat'' (or ''- Chikayat''): Ministry of Complaints (
Ombudsman
An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
).
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*{{The Arab Kingdom and its Fall
Government of the Umayyad Caliphate
Government of the Abbasid Caliphate
Government of the Ottoman Empire
Persian words and phrases
Royal and noble courts