Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

5. Diwanu-I Barid
Mu’awiya was the first Muslim ruler to establish the postal system. It was originally designed to serve the purposes of the State; and later, it was used by the subjects also. The main highways were divided into the stages, and each stage had horses ready to carry the post. In Arabia and Syria camels were used. Thus by a system of relay, the State messages and, later, all posts were carried from one part of the empire to another. The system was known as al-Barid. In Mujamu’I-Buldan, Yaqut writes that the word came from the Persian word buridan (to cut off) as the tails of the postal horses used to be cut off to distinguish them from the other horses and to recognize a rider on such a horse as the messenger of the State. The distance between one stage and another was twelve miles.
Under Abdul Malik the postal system was considerably improved. Not only was that post carried though a relay of horses, but also State officials used the postal system for swift journey. In times of emergency the postal carriages were used for swift transport of troops. They were able to carry 50 to 100 men at a time. Under Yusuf bin Umar, the viceroy of al-Iraq, the postal department for that province alone cost 4,00,000 dirhams a year. The postmasters, in additional to their postal duties, had to keep the Caliph informed of all important happenings in the territories under their jurisdictions. The Currency
Before Islam the Arabs were using the Persian and Roman coins. Neither had they a central Government nor a common
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470 Political and Cultural History of Islam

currency. Of course, in the south, where a high standard of civilization and a stable government had prevailed, some coins bearing Himyaritic inscriptions and the Attic owl also had been under circulation. The Makkahans accepted all coins of pure gold and silver and determined their value by weight. Under the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr (Rad.A), only the Roman and Persian currencies were used. Under Umar I (Rad.A) the Muslim Empire expanded and all kinds of coins poured in, some of which were defective. On an examination it was found that the dirhams were of three different weights. Some weighed 20 carats, some 12 and some only 10. Umar (Rad.A) struck the average and minted dirhams each weighing 14 carats. The model adopted was that of the Persian dirham. This was done in the year 18 A.H. Some had all praise is to Allah inscribed on them, some bore ”Muhammad (PBUH) is the Messenger of God,”’ and others, ”There is no god but Allah.” He fixed the ratio of the dinar and the dirham as I : 10 Usman (Rad.A) issued some dirhams with the inscription ”Allah is great.”
According to Noldeke’s Syrian,Mu’awiya struck gold and silver money, but it was not accepted (by the Christians) because there was no cross upon it. But Maqrizi says that they were rejected because they were defective. Mus’ab bin Zubyr struck coins in the name of his brother Abdullah. Silver pieces bearing Abdullah’s name in Pahlavi characters have been acquired. Abdullah bin Zubayr was the first to mint the dirham in the round shape. The shape of the previous dirhams was not a perfect circle and the surface was rough and defective. These defects were removed and the coin was made a piece of art and esthetics. On one side his dirham bore the inscription ”Muhammad is the Messenger of God,” and on the other, ”God commands fidelity and justice.’” The coins minted by Mus’ab seem to be different from those minted by his brother, Abdullah, the formidable rival of Abdul Malik for the office of Caliphate.
When Abdul Malik became the undisputed master of the Muslim Empire, he took up the problem of coinage. According to alBaladhuri, the Romans got paper from Egypt and the Muslims got dinars from the Romans. Up to the days of Abdul Malik the Egyptian paper before Christian inscriptions and the sign of the scorn as water mark. Under Abdul Malik the verse: ”Say, He alone is God’ was substituted. The Romans threatened to retaliate’by inscribing some blasphemy against the Prophet on the dinars. Abdul Malik was not the monarch to be cowed down like that. He had his own dinars and
Administrative Structure Under the Umayyads 471
dirhams minted in 76 A.H. The attempt succeeded marvelously well; uniformity in weight and,size and artistic beauty were attained beyond all expectations. The ratio between the dinar and the dirhams in value was 10:1 and in weight 10:7. To make the Muslim dinar attractive to the Romans, Abdul Malik put 2% of more gold in his dinar than the Roman coin contained.
At the command of Abdul Malik, al-Hajjaj also minted and issued dirhams. His dirham was round in shape. On the one side was inscribed: Say, ”He alone is God”, and on the other. ”There is no god but Allah.” Both the sides had beautiful borders. On one of them (within the border) was inscribed. ”This dirham was minted in such and such a city, and, on the other, Muhammad (PBUH) is the Messenger of God.” He sent him with guidance and the true religion to supersede all other religions.