الخطط الست بالأندلس
الخطط الست بالأندلس
Ibn Sa'id's celebrated register of the six offices of Andalusi government: the collegial wazirate with its inherited hajib, the chancery (katib al-rasa'il and the katib al-zamam who must be a man of standing, 'never Christian or Jew'), the kharaj director greater than the wazir, the qadiate — highest office of all under qadi al-jama'a — the shurta (sahib al-madina) and the hisba inspector who rode the markets with the bread-scale in an aide's hand 1.
At a glance
- Region
- al-Andalus & Europe
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Overview
Ibn Sa'id described the organisation of government in al-Andalus in six offices (khutat), as al-Maqqari transmits them. 1
The offices
The vizierate: shared among a group, from whom the prince chose a chamberlain (hajib). The offices were inherited within certain houses. The secretaryship: at its head the secretary of letters and the keeper of the register (zimam); he notes that the latter could not be a Christian or a Jew, because he needed the notables of the people. 1
The officer in charge of land-tax affairs: he describes him as greater than the vizier, though if he was deceived by his earnings he would be confiscated. The judiciary: he counts it the greatest of the offices among the elite and the common people alike, and its holder is the chief judge of the community. 1
The police: its head is the governor of the city and the night-watch. The office of market supervision (ihtisab): it is entrusted to people of learning and shrewdness, and the market supervisor rode out himself to the markets, while his assistants held the bread scales. 1
This is Ibn Sa'id's description as al-Maqqari transmits it, from a single source. It needs a further source.
Sources
- Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari, p. 252-255
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “الخطط الست بالأندلس”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/khutat-al-andalus/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.