Editing Divan (section)

===Abbasid period===
{{see also|Abbasid Caliphate}}
Under the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] the administration, partly under the increasing influence of [[Sassanid Persia|Iranian]] culture, became more elaborate and complex.{{sfn|Bosworth|1995|p=433}} As part of this process, the ''dīwāns'' increased in number and sophistication, reaching their apogee in the 9th–10th centuries.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} At the same time, the office of [[vizier]] (''wazīr'') was also created to coordinate government.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} 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.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}}

Caliph [[al-Saffah]] (r. 749–754) established a department for the confiscated properties of the Umayyads after his victory in the [[Abbasid Revolution]]. This was probably the antecedent of the later ''dīwān al-ḍiyāʿ'', administering the caliph's personal domains.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} Similarly, under [[al-Mansur]] (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'').{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} Caliph [[al-Mahdi]] (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]]s as well as coordinators between the various bureaus, or between individual ''dīwāns'' and the vizier.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} In addition, a ''dīwān [[al-maẓālim]]'' was created, staffed by judges, to hear complaints against government officials.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} The remit of the ''dīwān al-kharāj'' now included all land taxes (''kharāj'', ''zakāt'', and ''[[jizya]]'', 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''.{{sfn|Duri|1991|pp=324, 325}} 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.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}}

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.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}} 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.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}} In addition, a department of confiscated property (''dīwān al-musādarīn'') and confiscated estates (''dīwān al-ḍiyāʿ al-maqbūḍa'') existed.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}}

Caliph [[al-Mu'tadid]] (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.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} 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]], was the "guardian of the rights of ''bayt al-māl'' [the treasury] and the people".{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}} The ''dīwān al-nafaḳāt'' played a similar role with regards to expenses by the individual ''dīwāns'', but by the end of the 9th&nbsp;century its role was mostly restricted to the finances of the caliphal palace.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}} Under [[al-Muktafi]] (r. 902–908) the ''dīwān al-dār'' was broken up into three departments, the bureaux of the eastern provinces (''dīwān [[Mashriq|al-mashriq]]''), of the western provinces (''dīwān [[Maghrib|al-maghrib]]''), and of the Iraq (''dīwān [[Sawad|al-sawād]]''), although under [[al-Muqtadir]] (r. 908–932) the ''dīwān al-dār'' still existed, with the three territorial departments considered sections of the latter.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} In 913/4, the vizier [[Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah|Ali ibn Isa]] established a new department for charitable endowments (''dīwān al-birr''), whose revenue went to the upkeep of holy places, the [[Haram (site)|two holy cities]] of [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]], and on volunteers fighting in the holy war against the [[Byzantine Empire]].{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}}

Under Caliph [[al-Mutawakkil]] (r. 847–861), a bureau of servants and pages (''dīwān [[mawali|al-mawālī]] wa [[ghilman|’l-ghilmān]]''), possibly an evolution of the ''dīwān al-aḥshām'', existed for the huge number of slaves and other attendants of the palace.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} In addition, the ''dīwān al-khātam'', now also known as the ''dīwān al-sirr'' (bureau of confidential affairs) grew in importance.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=324}} [[Miskawayh]] also mentions the existence of a '' dīwān al-ḥaram'', which supervised the women's quarters of the palace.{{sfn|Duri|1991|p=325}}