The barīd ( Arabic : بريد , often translated as "the postal service") was the state-run courier service of the Umayyad and later Abbasid Caliphates . A major institution in the early Islamic states , 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 caliphs on events in the provinces and the activities of government officials.
32-453: The etymology of the Arabic word barid has been described by historian Richard N. Frye as "unclear". A Babylonian 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
64-505: A separate budget was allocated for its costs. Following the Abbasid Revolution 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 (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
96-420: Is found there. And again: Gold and ebony are exported from Waqwaq. Khordadbeh wrote other books. He wrote around 8–9 other books on many subjects such as "descriptive geography" (the book Kitāb al Masālik w’al Mamālik ), "etiquettes of listening to music", "Persian genealogy", cooking", "drinking", "astral patterns", "boon-companions", "world history", "music and musical instruments". The book on music had
128-491: Is loosely based on Frye's translation of Ibn Fadlan 's account of his travels up the Volga River . Frye was also directly responsible for inviting Iranian scholars as distinguished visiting fellows to Harvard University, under a fellowship program initiated by Henry Kissinger . Examples of such guests include Mehdi Haeri Yazdi (1923–1999), Sadegh Choubak , Jalal al Ahmad , and others. Frye felt that Persian civilization
160-739: Is mostly known for his works about Iran , the Iranian peoples and Iranian Central Asia, the scope of his studies was much wider and includes Byzantine , Caucasian , and Ottoman history, Eastern Turkistan , Assyria and the Assyrian people , ancient and medieval Iranian art , Islamic art , Sufism , Chinese and Japanese archeology, and a variety of Iranian and non-Iranian languages including Avestan , Old Persian , Middle Persian , Parthian , Sogdian , Khotanese , and Bactrian , New Persian , Arabic , Turkish, and even Chinese, beside research languages which include French, German, Italian, and Russian. Frye
192-658: The Arab conquest of Iran . Ibn Khordadbeh was born in 820 or 825 in the eastern province of Khurasan , but grew up in the city of Baghdad . There he received a cultivated education, and studied music with the prominent singer Ishaq al-Mawsili , a friend of his father. When Ibn Khordadbeh became of age, he was appointed as the caliphal postal and intelligence service in the central province of Jibal , and eventually in Samarra and Baghdad. Around 870 ibn Khordadbeh wrote Kitāb al Masālik w’al Mamālik ( The Book of Roads and Kingdoms ) (with
224-532: The Bavandid ispahbadh (ruler) Shahriyar I ( r. 817–825 ) from the highlands of Tabaristan. Ibn Khordadbeh's grandfather was Khordadbeh, a former Zoroastrian who was convinced by the Barmakids to convert to Islam . He may have been the same person as Khordadbeh al-Razi, who had provided Abu'l-Hasan al-Mada'ini (died 843) the details regarding the flight of the last Sasanian emperor Yazdegerd III during
256-618: The Middle East 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 animals to the state as in Ptolemaic Egypt , has been documented since at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire and had been enforced by Roman legislation in
288-759: The Persian language , and the history and culture of Iran . In his will, Frye expressed his wish to be buried next to the Zayandeh River in Isfahan . The request was approved by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in September 2007. Two other American scholars of Iranian Studies, Arthur Pope and Phyllis Ackerman , are already buried there. In 2010 the Iranian government gave a house in Isfahan to Professor Frye in recognition of his services to Iranian studies. On June 8, 2014,
320-671: The Seljuq sultan Alp Arslan (r. 1063–1072), who considered its capacity for intelligence-gathering to have been diminished. Some other Muslim states, such as the Samanids of Transoxiana (9th and 10th centuries), maintained their own barid systems at various times. In the thirteenth, century a new barid was created in Egypt and the Levant by the Mamluk sultan Baybars (r. 1260–1277). The barid provided
352-582: The barid was often entrusted to a prominent official or close associate of the caliph, such as the Barmakid Ja'far ibn Yahya or Itakh al-Turki . After the political fragmentation of the Abbasid Caliphate in the ninth and tenth centuries, the central diwan al-barid was overseen by the Buyids (945–1055), but the organization seems to have declined during this period. The service was eventually abolished by
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#1732884033911384-460: The 4th century. The barid operated from Umayyad times, with credit for its development being given to the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680). Mu'awiya's successor Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705) strengthened the organization, making additional improvements to it after the end of the Second Fitna . The Umayyads created a diwan or government department to manage the system and
416-875: The Tajiks: Iranians of the East to Frye's memory. Frye was a popular public speaker at numerous Iran-related gatherings. In 2005, he spoke at UCLA and encouraged the Iranians present to cherish their culture and identity. In 2004, he spoke at an architectural conference in Tehran and expressed his dismay at hasty modernization that ignores the beauties of traditional Iranian architectural styles (see Architecture of Tehran ). Ibn Khordadbeh Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( Arabic : ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه ; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih ; ابن خرددة ),
448-475: The balance of the treasury . This information enabled the caliph to stay apprised of the performance of his agents, and to dismiss any who had become corrupt or rebellious. 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 Iranian philology and
480-505: 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
512-586: The courier systems previously maintained by both the Byzantines and Persian Sassanids , the word barid could be derived from the Late Latin veredus ("post horse") or the Persian buridah dum ("having a docked tail," in reference to the postal mounts ). The Muslim barid was apparently based upon the courier organizations of their predecessors, the Byzantines and Sassanids. Postal systems had been present in
544-436: 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 , as well as
576-443: 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
608-597: The fall of Mosaddegh , the prominent Iranian linguist Ali Akbar Dehkhoda gave Frye the title "Irandoost" (meaning 'iranophile'). In addition, Frye was a long-standing supporter of Assyrian continuity , and valued the historical and ancestral connection between modern Assyrians and the Ancient Mesopotamians. A ceremony was held in Iran on June 27, 2004, to pay tribute to the six-decade endeavors of Frye on his lifetime contribution to Iranian Studies , research work on
640-510: The family of Frye decided to cremate his remains after waiting more than two months for official Iranian permission to bury him in Isfahan. His death coincided with growing resentment by Iranian hardliners over signs of reconciliation with the United States after decades of estrangement. It is not clear what the family intended to do with his ashes. Richard Foltz dedicated his book A History of
672-934: The first Iranian studies program in America. He also served as Director of the Asia Institute in Shiraz (1970–1975), was on the Board of Trustees of the Pahlavi University at Shiraz (1974–1978), and Chairman, Committee on Inner Asian Studies , at Harvard (1983–1989), and as Editor of the Bulletin of the Asia Institute (1970–1975 and 1987–1999). Among Frye's students were Annemarie Schimmel , Oleg Grabar , Frank Huddle (former US Ambassador to Tajikistan ), John Limbert , and Michael Crichton , whose Hollywood film The 13th Warrior
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#1732884033911704-539: The history of Iran and Central Asia before 1000 CE. Born in Birmingham, Alabama , to a family of immigrants from Sweden , "Freij" had four children, his second marriage being to a scholar, who teaches at Columbia University . He spoke fluent Russian , German , Arabic , Persian , Pashto , French , Uzbek , and Turkish , and had extensive knowledge of Avestan , Pahlavi , Sogdian , and other Iranian languages and dialects, both extinct and current. Although Frye
736-399: The pillars of the state and the state would not be safe without them...The first of these is a judge whom no reproach can deviate from what pleases Allah. The second is a chief of police who defends the rights of the weak from the strong. The third is a chief of taxation who investigates and does not oppress the peasants, because I can dispense with their oppression. The fourth...a head of
768-634: The post who writes reliable information about these [first three] men." 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
800-417: The provinces. The Abbasid caliph al-Hadi (r. 785–786), for example, used the barid service to make the journey from Jurjan to the capital Baghdad 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. "How much I need four people at my door...They are
832-570: The second edition of the book being published in 885). In this work, ibn Khordadbeh described the various peoples and provinces of the Abbasid Caliphate. Along with maps, the book also includes descriptions of the land, people and culture of the Southern Asiatic coast as far as Brahamputra, the Andaman Islands , peninsular Malaysia and Java . The lands of Tang China , Unified Silla (Korea) and Japan are referenced within his work. He
864-401: 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 , there were a total of 930 stations throughout
896-552: Was a high-ranking bureaucrat and geographer of Persian descent in the Abbasid Caliphate . He is the author of the earliest surviving Arabic book of administrative geography. Ibn Khordadbeh was the son of Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh , who had governed the northern Iranian region of Tabaristan under the Abbasid caliph al-Mamun ( r. 813–833 ), and in 816/17 conquered the neighbouring region of Daylam , as well as repelled
928-595: Was also one of the earliest Muslim writers to record Viking trade to the east: 'merchants called Rus traded in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea , transporting their merchandise by camel as far as Baghdad. Ibn Khordadbeh clearly mentions Waqwaq twice: East of China are the lands of Waqwaq, which are so rich in gold that the inhabitants make the chains for their dogs and the collars for their monkeys of this metal. They manufacture tunics woven with gold. Excellent ebony wood
960-683: Was born in Birmingham, Alabama . He first attended the University of Illinois , where he received a BA in history and philosophy in 1939. He received his MA from Harvard University in 1940 and his PhD from Harvard in 1946, in Asiatic history . Frye served with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II . He was stationed in Afghanistan and traveled extensively in the Middle East , Central Asia , and South Asia . In 1948, he visited Sar Masshad , and
992-634: Was the first European to find and report the existence of the Gur-e Dokhtar tomb (meaning "Tomb of the Maiden" in Persian ). He returned to Harvard to teach. He was a member of the Harvard faculty from 1948 to 1990. He then became a professor emeritus at Harvard. He also served as faculty, guest lecturer, or visiting scholar at the following: Professor Frye helped found the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard,
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1024-514: Was under-appreciated by other Muslims , particularly Arabs . Frye wrote: Arabs no longer understand the role of Iran and the Persian language in the formation of Islamic culture. Perhaps they wish to forget the past, but in so doing they remove the bases of their own spiritual, moral and cultural being... without the heritage of the past and a healthy respect for it... there is little chance for stability and proper growth. In August 1953, shortly before
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