Editing Divan (section)

===Establishment and Umayyad period===
{{see also|Rashidun Caliphate|Umayyad Caliphate}}
The first ''dīwān'' was created under Caliph [[Umar]] ({{reign|634|644}} CE) in 15 [[Anno Hegirae|A.H.]] (636/7 CE) or, more likely, 20 A.H. (641 CE). It comprised the names of the warriors of [[Medina]] who participated in the [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] 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]]. This first army register (''dīwān [[jund|al-jund]]'') was soon emulated in other provincial capitals like [[Basra]], [[Kufa]] and [[Fustat]].{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=323}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1995|pp=432–433}} [[Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba]], a statesman from the [[Banu Thaqif|Thaqif]] tribe who was versed in [[Middle Persian|Persian]], 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.{{sfn|Wellhausen|1927|pp=115–116}}

With the advent of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], the number of ''dīwāns'' increased. To the ''dīwān al-jund'', the first [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad]] caliph, [[Mu'awiya]] (r. 661–680), added the bureau of the land tax (''dīwān [[kharaj|al-kharāj]]'') in [[Damascus]], 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.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=323}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1995|p=433}} A number of more specialist departments were also established, probably by Mu'awiya: the ''dīwān al-barīd'' in charge of the [[Barid (caliphate)|postal service]]; the bureau of expenditure (''dīwān al-nafaqāt''), which most likely indicates the survival of a [[Byzantine]] institution; the ''dīwān al-ṣadaqa'' was a new foundation with the task of estimating the ''[[zakat|zakāt]]'' and ''[[ushr (tax)|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.{{sfn|Bosworth|1995|p=433}}{{sfn|Duri|1991|pp=323–324}} 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.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}}

Under Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] ({{reign|685|705}}), the practices of the various departments began to be standardized and Arabized: instead of the local languages ([[Greek language|Greek]] in [[Bilad al-Sham|Syria]], [[Coptic language|Coptic]] and Greek in [[Medieval Egypt|Egypt]], Persian in the former [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] lands) and the traditional practices of book-keeping, seals and time-keeping, only Arabic and the [[Islamic calendar]] were to be used henceforth. The process of Arabization was gradual: in Iraq, the transition was carried out by [[Salih ibn Abd al-Rahman]] under the auspices of the governor [[al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]] in 697, in Syria by [[Sulayman ibn Sa'd al-Khushani]] in 700, in Egypt under Caliph [[al-Walid I]]'s governor [[Abdallah ibn Abd al-Malik]] in 706, and in [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]] by [[Ishaq ibn Tulayq al-Nahshali]] on the orders of [[Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi]], governor of Iraq, in 741/42.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}}{{sfn|Sprengling|1939|pp=211–214}}