Iranian Bureaucracy under the Abbasid Caliphate: A Study of the Political Influence of Persian Elites in Baghdad

Authors

    Zahra Yousefi Department of History, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
    Seyyed Amirhossein Sadeghi * Department of History, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran S.a.sadeghi12@gmail.com

Keywords:

Abbasid Caliphate, Iranian Bureaucracy, Barmakids, Persian Elites, Political Legitimacy, Justice, Farr-e Izadi, Baghdad, Islamic State

Abstract

This article examines the role of Iranian elites in the bureaucratic structure of the Abbasid Caliphate, highlighting how these elites contributed to the formation of an Islamic state in Baghdad through the transmission of pre-Islamic Iranian administrative traditions, governance concepts, and political thought. Employing a historical-analytical method and drawing on classical sources such as al-Tabari, al-Mas‘udi, and al-Jahshiyari, as well as modern scholarship by Patricia Crone, Hugh Kennedy, and Clifford Bosworth, the study explores the historical background of the Abbasid rise with Iranian support, the evolution of Baghdad’s administrative institutions, and the rise and fall of influential families like the Barmakids, the Nobakhtids, and the Sahlids. Findings reveal that Iranians played a foundational role not only in fiscal and executive functions, but also in transmitting key political concepts such as "justice" (‘adl) and "divine glory" (farr-e izadi), redefining the office of vizier, and shaping the discourse of political legitimacy. The article also investigates the complex cultural and political interactions between Arabs and Persians at the Abbasid court, demonstrating how a civilizational cohabitation emerged, resulting in a hybrid model of Islamic governance infused with Persian influence. The conclusion asserts that the Abbasid state, particularly from the second to fourth centuries AH, would not have achieved institutional stability or long-term survival without the contributions of Iranian elites. The Abbasid bureaucracy stands as a clear example of the synthesis between Iranian imperial traditions and the Islamic caliphal structure.

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References

Bosworth, C. E. (1975). The Later Abbasid Caliphate: From al-Mutawakkil to al-Mustasim. Edinburgh University Press.

Crone, P. (1980). Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge University Press.

Crone, P., & Hinds, M. (1986). God’s Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam. Cambridge University Press.

Daniel, E. L. (1979). The Political and Social History of Khurasan under Abbasid Rule 747–820. Bibliotheca Islamica.

Kennedy, H. (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century. Pearson Education.

Lassner, J. (1970). The Shaping of Abbasid Rule. Princeton University Press.

Mottahedeh, R. P. (2001). Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society. I.B. Tauris.

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Published

2024-12-21

Submitted

2024-10-27

Revised

2024-12-04

Accepted

2024-12-12

Issue

Section

مقالات

How to Cite

Yousefi, Z., & Sadeghi, S. A. (2024). Iranian Bureaucracy under the Abbasid Caliphate: A Study of the Political Influence of Persian Elites in Baghdad. Iranian Political History Research Journal, 2(4), 29-43. https://iphrj.com/index.php/iphrj/article/view/18

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