12. Diwanu-t-Tawqi An order passed on a petition or request or grievance was called at-tawqi. Such order used to be brief, comprehensive, elegant and clear and used to be recorded on the petitions themselves. Such orders, passed by Ja’far, who presided over Diwanu’I-Mazalim were sold to collectors of literary pieces, who paid one dinar a piece for them. Later a Diwan was established which drew up formal documents based on these short notes, entered them into a register, and sent them on the concerned persons. This Diwan seems to have taken up the work of Diwanu’l-Khatam as well. But Diwanu’IKhatam is mentioned under the early Abbasids including the reign of al-Amin. Therefore, Diwanu’t-Tawqi’ must have substituted Diwanu’l-Khatam later than al-Amin’s accession. A vivid account of the working of this Diwan under al-Mu’tadid (289-279 A.M.) is given by al-Maqrizi and al-Qalqashandi.
A petition to postpone the date of payment of the kharaj was presented to the Caliph He heard the case and gave his decision to the scribe who wrote it down in a concise and elegant language on the petition itself. Then the petition, was passed on to the officers of the Diwan who drew up the formal document. Several copies of the document were made (one of them was made in a register) and, after affixing the seal and the motto of the Caliph, the copies were sent
Administrative Structure Under the Abbasids 587
out as circular letters to all provincial Governors and other officials concerned.
