The Administration of the Sultanate of Dehli c10.63

c10.63

The *dīwān-i-risālat* and the *dīwān-i-‘arḍ* will be described more fully in subsequent chapters. The *dabīr-i-khāṣ* was assisted by a number of *dabīrs*, men who had already established their reputation as masters of style, for letter-writing was a highly cultivated art at this time, and the courts vied with one another in the excellence of their communications.³ All the correspondence, formal or confidential, between the sovereign and the rulers of other states or his own tributaries and officials passed through this department. Mu‘āwiyah first organized a correspondence office on a regular basis and called it *dīwān-i-khātam*, or the department of the royal seal.⁴ It gradually came to be known as *dīwān-i-rasā’il*, or the department of correspondence.⁵ The Ghaznavids also had a similar department which they called *dīwān-i-risālat*.⁶ There can be no doubt that this office dealt with royal correspondence and was under the *dabīr-i-khāṣ*.⁷ How was it that another department, already mentioned, came to be known by this name under the sultans of Dehlī? Nothing definite is on record; but the following appear to be the most probable reasons. The department of the pious foundations