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Hilal ibn al-Muhassin Sabi: Rusum dar al-Khilafah(the regulations at the Palace of the Caliph) (d1056)

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Taken from: Rusum dar al-khilafah by Hilal ibn al-Muhassin Sabi

 

Left: a painting from the Mongol siege of Baghdad in 1258.


……the Dar al-Khilafa (Palace of the Caliph in Baghdad)…..during the reign of al-Muktafi bi-Allah (902-908AD) may the blessings of Allah be upon him, it had 20,000 dariyyah ghilman (domestic servants) and 10,000 servants – Blacks and Slavs. It is generally believed that in the days of al-Muqtadir bi-Allah (908-932AD), the blessings of Allah be upon him, the residence contained 11,000 eunuchs (hadim)—7,000 blacks (sawdan) and 4,000 white Slavs (baydan) —4,000 free and slave girls and  thousands of chamber servants (hujri ghilman)…..