The Diwan of Water
ديوان الماء
The Abbasid Diwan of Water — the office charged with irrigation water: cutting canals, maintaining dams, and organising irrigation across Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, north-eastern Persia and Transoxiana, as al-Khwarizmi lists it in Mafatih al-Ulum.
At a glance
- Era
- Abbasid Fragmentation · The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
- Region
- Levant & Iraq · Egypt & Nile · Persia & Central Asia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Overview
The diwan al-ma' (the office of water) was an Abbasid office devoted to the water of al-Ray. Hasan Ibrahim Hasan mentions it, citing al-Khwarizmi in Mafatih al-ulum. 1
Its work
It supervised the digging of canals, the maintenance of dams, and the regulation of irrigation. The author notes that it existed in Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, north-east Persia, and Transoxiana. 1
Sources
- Tarikh al-Islam — Hasan Ibrahim Hasan, p.372
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Diwan of Water”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/diwan-al-ma/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.