Editing Abbasid Caliphate (section)

==Civil administration==
[[File:Abbasid Caliphate 850AD.png|thumb|The provinces of Abbasid Caliphate in c. 850 under [[al-Mutawakkil]]]]
As a result of such a vast Empire, the caliphate was decentralized and divided into 24 provinces.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 45">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=45}}</ref>

Harun's vizier enjoyed close to unchecked powers. Under Harun, a special "bureau of confiscation" was created. This governmental wing made it possible for the vizier to seize the property and riches of any corrupt governor or civil servant. In addition, it allowed governors to confiscate the estates of lower-ranking officials. Finally, the caliph could impose the same penalty on a vizier who fell from grace. As one later caliph put it: "The vizier is our representative throughout the land and amongst our subjects. Therefore, he who obeys him obeys us; and he who obeys us obeys God, and God shall cause him who obeys Him to enter paradise."<ref name="Bobrick 2012 45"/>

Every regional metropolis had a post office and hundreds of roads were paved in order to link the imperial capital with other cities and towns. The empire employed a system of relays to deliver mail. The central post office in Baghdad even had a map with directions that noted the distances between each town. The roads were provided with roadside inns, hospices, and wells and could reach eastward through Persia and [[Central Asia]], to as far as China.<ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=46}}</ref> The post office not only enhanced civil services but also served as intelligence for the caliph. Mailmen were employed as spies who kept an eye on local affairs.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 47">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=47}}</ref>

Early in the days of the caliphate, the Barmakids took the responsibility of shaping the [[civil service]]. The family had roots in a [[Buddhist]] monastery in northern [[Afghanistan]]. In the early 8th century, the family converted to Islam and began to take on a sizable part of the civil administration for the Abbasids.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 47"/>

Capital poured into the caliphate's treasury from a variety of taxes, including a real estate tax; a levy on cattle, gold and silver, and commercial wares; a special tax on non-Muslims; and customs dues.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 45"/>