Courier List
A viewset for viewing and editing Couriers.
GET /api/sc/couriers/?format=api&page=7
{ "count": 410, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/couriers/?format=api&page=8", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/couriers/?format=api&page=6", "results": [ { "id": 302, "polity": { "id": 541, "name": "ye_qasimid_dyn", "long_name": "Yemen - Qasimid Dynasty", "start_year": 1637, "end_year": 1805 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 303, "polity": { "id": 368, "name": "ye_rasulid_dyn", "long_name": "Rasulid Dynasty", "start_year": 1229, "end_year": 1453 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " An embassy from Yemen to China is recorded from this period.§REF§(Bosworth 2014) Clifford Edmund Bosworth. 2014. The New Islamic Dynasties. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh.§REF§" }, { "id": 304, "polity": { "id": 372, "name": "ye_tahirid_dyn", "long_name": "Yemen - Tahirid Dynasty", "start_year": 1454, "end_year": 1517 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " An embassy from Yemen to China is recorded from this period.§REF§(Bosworth 2014) Clifford Edmund Bosworth. 2014. The New Islamic Dynasties. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh.§REF§" }, { "id": 305, "polity": { "id": 365, "name": "ye_warlords", "long_name": "Yemen - Era of Warlords", "start_year": 1038, "end_year": 1174 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Sulayhids: Al-Mukarram remained in \"close correspondence\" with Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir.§REF§(Stookey 1978, 67) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.§REF§ Sulayhids: Ambassadors.§REF§(Stookey 1978, 74) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.§REF§" }, { "id": 306, "polity": { "id": 636, "name": "et_jimma_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Jimma", "start_year": 1790, "end_year": 1932 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Couriers (abba laga)- “In order to reach the people in the communities there were a number of heralds or couriers who assisted the district heads.” §REF§ (Lewis 2001, 90) Lewis, Herbert S. 2001. Jimma Abba Jifar, an Oromo Monarchy: Ethiopia, 1830-1932. Lawrenceville, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/NRZVWSCD/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 307, "polity": { "id": 652, "name": "et_harar_emirate", "long_name": "Emirate of Harar", "start_year": 1650, "end_year": 1875 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Whenever a merchant wanted to dispatch his goods, he made his arrangements through the abban. Once the goods were loaded and passed to him, it was the abban who was responsible for their delivery at the place of destination.” §REF§ (Yusuf 1961, 37) Yusuf, Ahmed. 1961. ‘An Inquiry into Some Aspects of the Economy of Harar and the Records of the Household Economy of the Amirs of Harar (1825-1875)’. University College of Addis Ababa Ethnographic Bulletin. No. 5. Pp7-41. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/Q9W4JMAB/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 308, "polity": { "id": 666, "name": "ni_sokoto_cal", "long_name": "Sokoto Caliphate", "start_year": 1804, "end_year": 1904 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “In the city of Sokoto there was a small bureaucracy headed by the vizier who in his own house had some scribes to receive and write short (one-page) letters in classical Arabic to those emirs he was in charge of overseeing (Last 1967:190–97). Imported paper and local ink were used, and letters from the Amir al-mu'minin had his personal stamp on them (the vizier and the emirs had no stamp of their own). The letters were never dated, but they were folded in a precise way and carried in a pouch by a messenger; it could take a week or more for a letter to reach the addressee, since fifteen miles a day was a good speed and distances were huge.” §REF§Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection§REF§ “A reason for the decentralization was the sheer scale of the caliphate which, in nineteenth-century terms, required a journey of two months from north to south (say, from Agades to beyond llorín) and four months from west to east (from Dori in what is now Burkina Faso to eastern Adamawa, beyond Tibati and Rei Buba in Cameroon today).” §REF§Last, Murray. “Contradictions in Creating a Jihadi Capital: Sokoto in the Nineteenth Century and Its Legacy.” African Studies Review, vol. 56, no. 2, 2013, pp. 1–20: 6. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/5RUPN5VI/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 309, "polity": { "id": 683, "name": "ug_buganda_k_2", "long_name": "Buganda II", "start_year": 1717, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Throughout the engagement, the kabaka would have been kept informed, by means of runners of athletic renown, of developments concerning the course of the war and the spoil being accumulated. These runners or messengers were identified in 1880 as bakayungirizi by the missionary Livinhac. They were trained from an early age in prolonged, rapid marches, moving night and day with only short breaks; Mutesa had a number in his service.\"§REF§(Reid 2010: 199) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/2H64W34U/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 310, "polity": { "id": 695, "name": "ug_nkore_k_2", "long_name": "Nkore", "start_year": 1750, "end_year": 1901 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " \"Except for the sovereign's close relations (such as uncles at the start of a reign or eldest sons at the end), the most listened-to advisers were people of humbler origins. They belonged to appointed families that regularly furnished their young for service at the court. These youths literally made their careers by distinguishing themselves before the king for their bravery, wisdom, and loyalty; when they grew to maturity, they became notables, whom the sovereign consulted regularly and who constituted the monarchy's real government. The king gathered their advice before making major decisions, or he sent them to the provinces for special assignments. [...] In Bunyoro and Nkore , some were the king's messengers.\" §REF§(Chrétien 2006: 173-174) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FXCVWDRI/collection.§REF§" }, { "id": 311, "polity": { "id": 644, "name": "et_harla_k", "long_name": "Harla Kingdom", "start_year": 500, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " The word ‘Carriers’ in the following quote might refer to couriers. “Harlaa was a cosmopolitan hub with merchants, carriers, consumers, craftspeople from different regions, ethnicities and traditions. These individuals serviced varied tastes and exchanged not only goods and commodities, but also knowledge and beliefs.” §REF§ (Insoll et al. 2021, 498) Insoll, Timothy et al. 2021. ‘Material Cosmopolitanism: the entrepot of Harlaa as an Islamic gateway to eastern Ethiopia’. Antiquity. Vol 95: 380. Pp 487-507. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/GGUW3WRZ/collection §REF§" }, { "id": 312, "polity": { "id": 671, "name": "ni_dahomey_k", "long_name": "Foys", "start_year": 1715, "end_year": 1894 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Reflecting the entire Dahomean body politic, the Great Council was composed, not only of men, but also of women who were active participants in all levels of the civil and military structures of government in Dahomey. In order to maintain surveillance over the country, the king appointed a royal wife as a counterpart to every male official from the Minister of Defence down to the royal Ilari messengers.” §REF§Yoder, J. C. (1974). Fly and Elephant Parties: Political Polarization in Dahomey, 1840-1870. The Journal of African History, 15(3), 417–432: 419. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/KNUC3TGF/collection§REF§" }, { "id": 313, "polity": { "id": 570, "name": "es_spanish_emp_2", "long_name": "Spanish Empire II", "start_year": 1716, "end_year": 1814 }, "year_from": 1716, "year_to": 1814, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "“ In time Ursins heard stories of the princess’ willfulness, but her courier was unable to halt the marriage by proxy of Felipe V and Elizabeth Farnese in the Cathedral of Parma on September 16, 1714. Henceforth she would be known as Isabel Farnese.”<ref>(Bergamini 1974: 50) Bergamini, John D. 1974. The Spanish Bourbons: The History of a Tenacious Dynasty. New York: G. P Putnam’s Sons. https://archive.org/details/spanishbourbons00john. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5A2HNKTF</ref>" }, { "id": 314, "polity": { "id": 569, "name": "mx_mexico_1", "long_name": "Early United Mexican States", "start_year": 1810, "end_year": 1920 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 315, "polity": { "id": 579, "name": "gb_england_plantagenet", "long_name": "Plantagenet England", "start_year": 1154, "end_year": 1485 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Royal messengers were employed for courtiers and the state departments. §REF§(Prestwich 2005: 56, 181, 477) Prestwich, Michael. 2005. Plantagenet England 1225-1360. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XTBKFDCI§REF§" }, { "id": 316, "polity": { "id": 575, "name": "us_united_states_of_america_reconstruction", "long_name": "Us Reconstruction-Progressive", "start_year": 1866, "end_year": 1933 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 317, "polity": { "id": 563, "name": "us_antebellum", "long_name": "Antebellum US", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1865 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 318, "polity": { "id": 302, "name": "gb_tudor_stuart", "long_name": "England Tudor-Stuart", "start_year": 1486, "end_year": 1689 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " “Before the 17th cent., royal ministers had their own king’s messengers, but private persons sent letters through servants or friends. Henry VIII, had a master of the posts in 1512 but he served only the government. The first attempt at a public system was in 1635 when a service was established to important towns, carrying letters at 2 pence per sheet per 80 miles. Under the Commonwealth, *Thurloe was appointed postmaster-general in 1657 and thearrangement was continued at the Restoration.”§REF§(Cannon and Crowcroft 2015: 2642-2643) Cannon, John and Crowcroft, Robert. 2015. The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/2PEE2ZJ5§REF§ Monarchs used couriers to govern their kingdoms: “That is, the king governed each country from his court in London through their respective administrations and according to their respective constitutional arrangements and law. Obviously, his Celtic kingdoms were therefore governed at a distance (via courier to the administrations in Edinburgh and Dublin) – and a disadvantage.”§REF§(Bucholz et al 2013: 242) Bucholz, Robert, Newton Key, and R.O. Bucholz. 2013. Early Modern England 1485-1714: A Narrative History. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uvic/detail.action?docID=1166775. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XQGJH96U§REF§ " }, { "id": 319, "polity": { "id": 297, "name": "kz_oirat", "long_name": "Oirats", "start_year": 1368, "end_year": 1630 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Messengers; envoys. “Although the Ming attempted to put restrictions on the number of Mongol envoys, and to reduce the amounts of gifts and the volume of the trade, from 1436 onward the number of Mongol messengers had, despite this, actually increased from several tens of persons to several thousand… Restrictions were also applied to the number of Mongol messengers allowed to come to Beijing, which was to be between three and five, the rest were kept in Datong.”§REF§(Jamsran 2010: 506) Jamsran, L. 2010. “The Crisis of the Forty and the Four,” in The History of Mongolia: Volume II, Yuan and Late Medieval Period, ed. David Sneath, vol. 2, 3 vols. Kent: Global Oriental. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/D8IE2XAD§REF§" }, { "id": 320, "polity": { "id": 573, "name": "ru_golden_horde", "long_name": "Golden Horde", "start_year": 1240, "end_year": 1440 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Messengers and official envoys were used to deliver orders and communication across Golden Horde territory using the post stations. §REF§Halperin 1987: 26. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/VCPWVNM.§REF§§REF§Khakimov and Favereau 2017: 65. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/QL8H3FN8§REF§" }, { "id": 321, "polity": { "id": 360, "name": "ir_saffarid_emp", "long_name": "Saffarid Caliphate", "start_year": 861, "end_year": 1003 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": " Couriers were used for official business by elites such as the amir or caliph.§REF§Bosworth 1994: 13. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/7W46D62E§REF§" }, { "id": 322, "polity": { "id": 587, "name": "gb_british_emp_1", "long_name": "British Empire I", "start_year": 1690, "end_year": 1849 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 323, "polity": { "id": 797, "name": "de_empire_1", "long_name": "Holy Roman Empire - Ottonian-Salian Dynasty", "start_year": 919, "end_year": 1125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Messengers may have been hired by a monarch, imperial court, and official administrative offices. §REF§Wilson 2016: 526. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/N5M9R9XA§REF§" }, { "id": 324, "polity": { "id": 566, "name": "fr_france_napoleonic", "long_name": "Napoleonic France", "start_year": 1816, "end_year": 1870 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 325, "polity": { "id": 305, "name": "it_lombard_k", "long_name": "Lombard Kingdom", "start_year": 568, "end_year": 774 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " Couriers have not been mentioned in the sources consulted." }, { "id": 326, "polity": { "id": 606, "name": "gb_anglo_saxon_2", "long_name": "Anglo-Saxon England II", "start_year": 927, "end_year": 1065 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " There has been no information on a postal system in the sources consulted." }, { "id": 327, "polity": { "id": 295, "name": "tm_khwarezmid_emp", "long_name": "Khwarezmid Empire", "start_year": 1157, "end_year": 1231 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": " This has not been mentioned in the sources consulted." }, { "id": 328, "polity": { "id": 561, "name": "us_hohokam_culture", "long_name": "Hohokam Culture", "start_year": 300, "end_year": 1500 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 329, "polity": { "id": 786, "name": "gb_british_emp_2", "long_name": "British Empire II", "start_year": 1850, "end_year": 1968 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": null }, { "id": 330, "polity": { "id": 601, "name": "ru_soviet_union", "long_name": "Soviet Union", "start_year": 1918, "end_year": 1991 }, "year_from": 1923, "year_to": 1991, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The history of the State Courier Service of the Russian Federation (SFS Russia) dates back to December 17, 1796, when Emperor Paul I signed a Decree on the creation of a separate courier corps. The personnel of the Courier Corps (courier) ensured the delivery of the emperor's decrees, orders, reports, securities, parcels, as well as the escort of high-ranking officials.\r\n\r\nDuring the Soviet period, on the basis of the Courier Corps, the External Communications Service was formed under the Command Personnel Directorate of the All-Russian General Staff, then it was transformed several times and became subordinate to various departments (VChK - GPU - OGPU - NKVD, Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR, Ministry of Communications of the USSR).§REF§“ABOUT THE STATE FISCAL SERVICE OF RUSSIA,” https://gfs.gov.ru/informaciya/o-gfs-rossii/.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8WMJSDED\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 8WMJSDED</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 331, "polity": { "id": 571, "name": "ru_romanov_dyn_2", "long_name": "Russian Empire, Romanov Dynasty II", "start_year": 1776, "end_year": 1917 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "The Yamskoy Prikaz (17th-18th centuries): The Yamskoy Prikaz was established in the 17th century as part of the Tsarist government. It organized the courier service and maintained the network of relay stations across Russia. §REF§“Story of Russian Coachmen,” The Fascinating Story of Russian Coach Drivers.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/W3R29737\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: W3R29737</b></a>§REF§\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe history of the State Courier Service of the Russian Federation (SFS Russia) dates back to December 17, 1796, when Emperor Paul I signed a Decree on the creation of a separate courier corps. The personnel of the Courier Corps (courier) ensured the delivery of the emperor's decrees, orders, reports, securities, parcels, as well as the escort of high-ranking officials.§REF§“ABOUT THE STATE FISCAL SERVICE OF RUSSIA,” https://gfs.gov.ru/informaciya/o-gfs-rossii/.<a href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8WMJSDED\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"fw-bolder\"> <b> Zotero link: 8WMJSDED</b></a>§REF§" }, { "id": 332, "polity": { "id": 539, "name": "ye_qatabanian_commonwealth", "long_name": "Qatabanian Commonwealth", "start_year": -450, "end_year": -111 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"The Near East is no stranger to land-based empires, and empires have never been able to survive without the ability of rulers to com- municate regularly and speedily with the remotest provinces of their lands. The usual method of communication employed by imperial rulers is often referred to as a ‘postal system’. By the time the caliphs created their own postal-system, called al-Barìd, they were able to draw on the centuries, if not millennia, of postal experience imprinted on the lands they ruled. [...] Noth’s general conclusion is that any literary sources that refer to the Barìd must be no earlier than c. 700. Although I agree with Noth’s cautious approach to the literary sources and respect his uncompromising reliance on documentary evidence, in this case he is over a century and a half off the mark: a South Arabian inscription from c. 542 makes reference to two couriers bearing news of the breaching of the Ma’rib Dam, the term for these couriers being represented by the consonants BRDN\"§REF§(Silverstein, 153, 156) Silverstein, A. Documentary Evidence for the Early History of the Barìd. In SIJPESTEIJN, P. M. and L. Sundelin (eds) PAPYROLOGY AND THE HISTORY OF EARLY ISLAMIC EGYPT pp. 153-162. Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8BIFF7D2/library§REF§" }, { "id": 333, "polity": { "id": 359, "name": "ye_ziyad_dyn", "long_name": "Yemen Ziyadid Dynasty", "start_year": 822, "end_year": 1037 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "Inferred from the fact that the Abbasids (that is, the Ziyadids' predecessors) likely established a postal system across their empire:\r\n\r\n\r\n\"Second, and perhaps more importantly, is al-'Umarì’s statement that from the fall of the Umayyads until the reign of Hàrùn al- Rashìd there was no regular Barìd service at the disposal of the Abbasid caliphs. There are no fewer than eight documents that disprove his assumption. Before discussing them, it is worth mentioning that there are literary references to the Barìd being used under the early Abbasid caliphs, and the thought that—despite the rich heritage of imperial communications systems in the Near East—the Abbasids spent the first four decades of their reign without a Barìd is plainly counter-intuitive. But, in essence, what we have here is a tension between a number of literary sources, and it is only from the existing documentary evidence that these tensions can be alleviated. Of the eight Barìd-related fragments, six are from Egypt and two are from Central Asia.\"§REF§(Silverstein, 157) Silverstein, A. Documentary Evidence for the Early History of the Barìd. In SIJPESTEIJN, P. M. and L. Sundelin (eds) PAPYROLOGY AND THE HISTORY OF EARLY ISLAMIC EGYPT pp. 153-162. Brill. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/8BIFF7D2/library§REF§" }, { "id": 334, "polity": { "id": 545, "name": "it_venetian_rep_4", "long_name": "Republic of Venice IV", "start_year": 1564, "end_year": 1797 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "“During the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries, Venice’s postal couriers provided the only regular, reliable mail service between the Ottoman Empire and Europe, and as a result they carried a majority of all commercial, diplomatic and personal correspondence to and from Constantinople.” §REF§(Preto 2010, 602) Preto. P. 2010. I servizi segreti di Venezia. Spionaggio e controspionaggio ai tempi della Serenissima. Il Saggiatore. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/X2J9U6U9/library§REF§\r\n\r\n“Dal 1200 al 1740 il servizio postale da Costantinopoli a Cattaro, con corrieri a cavallo e di qui a Venzia con barche armate, è largamente usato in tempo di pace anche da mercanti e diplomatici occidentali accreditati alla Porta e dopo l’intervallo 1740-1787, quando la stessa Repubblica preferisce appoggiarsi al più veloce servizio austriaco via Vienna, viene ripreso con l’unica variante dell’itinerario, che ora tocca Zara e Ancona” §REF§(Dursteler 2009, 295) Dursteler, E. R. 2009. POWER AND INFORMATION: THE VENETIAN POSTAL SYSTEM IN THE EARLY MODERN EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN. IN Ramada Curto, Dursteler, Kirschner and Trivellato (eds) From Florence to the Mediterranean: Studies in Honor of Anthony Molho pp. 601-623. Olshki. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/dursteler/titleCreatorYear/items/S4N55M4Z/item-list§REF§ Translation: “From 1200 to 1740 the postal service from Constantinople to Cattaro, with couriers on horseback and from there to Venice with armed boats, was widely used in peacetime also by Western merchants and diplomats accredited to the Porte. After a pause in 1740-1787, when the Republic itself preferred to rely on the faster Austrian service via Vienna, it resumed with a slight alteration to the itinerary, which now touched Zara and Ancona\"." }, { "id": 335, "polity": { "id": 88, "name": "in_post_mauryan_k", "long_name": "Post-Mauryan Kingdoms", "start_year": -205, "end_year": -101 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "The following quote refers to the Mauryan period, but the literature consulted does not confirm whether or not such a system remained in place after that empire's fragmentation: \"a communication system linking the empire with tree-lined roads, public wells, rest houses, and a mail service.\"§REF§(McClellan III and Dorn 2015, 164) McClellan III, James E. Dorn, Harold. 2015. Science and Technology in World History: An Introduction. JHU Press.§REF§" }, { "id": 336, "polity": { "id": 385, "name": "in_sunga_emp", "long_name": "Magadha - Sunga Empire", "start_year": -187, "end_year": -65 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones." }, { "id": 337, "polity": { "id": 416, "name": "in_ayodhya_k", "long_name": "Kingdom of Ayodhya", "start_year": -64, "end_year": 34 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones." }, { "id": 338, "polity": { "id": 388, "name": "in_gupta_emp", "long_name": "Gupta Empire", "start_year": 320, "end_year": 550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones." }, { "id": 339, "polity": { "id": 390, "name": "in_magadha_k", "long_name": "Magadha", "start_year": 450, "end_year": 605 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones." }, { "id": 340, "polity": { "id": 417, "name": "in_kannauj_varman_dyn", "long_name": "Kannauj - Varman Dynasty", "start_year": 650, "end_year": 780 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones." }, { "id": 341, "polity": { "id": 418, "name": "in_gurjara_pratihara_dyn", "long_name": "Gurjar-Pratihara Dynasty", "start_year": 730, "end_year": 1030 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones." }, { "id": 342, "polity": { "id": 405, "name": "in_gahadavala_dyn", "long_name": "Gahadavala Dynasty", "start_year": 1085, "end_year": 1193 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "No persuasive evidence could be found, in the literature consulted, for the existence of a postal service of any kind in India, between the end of the Mauryan period and the fourteenth century, when Ibn Battuta visited the Delhi Sultanate and described its communication services. However, it is entirely possible that such systems existed in at least some polities, especially the larger ones." }, { "id": 343, "polity": { "id": 136, "name": "pk_samma_dyn", "long_name": "Sind - Samma Dynasty", "start_year": 1335, "end_year": 1521 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "Ibn Battuta described a kind of postal service for the Delhi Sultanate, but the literature consulted does not indicate whether any such system was retained in independent Sind. Moreover, it seems the Delhi Sultanate system may have solely served the rulers.\r\n\r\n\"Description of the Barid [Postal Service]. The postal service in India is of two kinds. The horse-post, which they call wlag, consists of horses belonging to the Sultan [with relays] every four miles. The service of couriers on foot has within the space of each mile three relays, which they call dawa,' the dawa being a third of a mile, and a mile itself is called by them kuruh. The manner of its organization is as follows. At every third of a mile there is an inhabited village, outside which there are three pavilions. In these sit men girded up ready to move off, each of whom has a rod two cubits long with copper bells at the top. When a courier leaves the town he takes the letter in the fingers of one hand and the rod with the bells in the other, and runs with all his might. The men in the pavilions, on hearing the sound of the bells, get ready to meet him and when he reaches them one of them takes the letter in his hand and passes on, running with all his might and shaking his rod until he reaches the next däwa, and so they continue until the letter reaches its destination. This post is quicker than the mounted post, and they often use it to transport fruits from Khuräsän which are regarded as\r\ngreat luxuries in India; the couriers put them on [woven baskets like] plates and carry them with great speed to the Sultan. In the same way they transport the principal crimi- nals; they place each man on a stretcher and run carrying the stretcher on their heads. Likewise they bring the Sultan's drinking water when he resides at Dawlat Abad, carrying it from the river Kank [Ganges], to which the Hindus go on pilgrimage and which is at a distance of | forty days' journey from there.\" §REF§(Ibn Battuta, tr. H.A.R. Gibb 1971, pp. 594-595) The Travels of Ibn Battuta, translated by H. A. R. Gibb. 1971. Cambridge University Press. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/GD7E8RNS/item-list§REF§" }, { "id": 344, "polity": { "id": 507, "name": "ir_elymais_2", "long_name": "Elymais II", "start_year": 25, "end_year": 215 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"The advent of the Parthians did not mark a break in the cultural history of the Greek cities, which retained their constitutions and magistrates, their schools, language, and law, long after the decline of Seleucid power.\"§REF§(Neusner 2008, 10) Neusner, Jacob. 2008. A History of the Jews in Babylonia. 1. The Parthian Period. Wipf & Stock. Eugene.§REF§\r\n\r\nSeleucids took over the Persian postal system. \"... originally post stations on the main roads, the Seleucids having taken over the Persian postal system - each stathmos being the centre of a subdivision comprising so many villages.\" §REF§(Tam 2010, 2) Tam, W W. 2010. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press.§REF§" }, { "id": 345, "polity": { "id": 250, "name": "cn_qin_emp", "long_name": "Qin Empire", "start_year": -338, "end_year": -207 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 346, "polity": { "id": 426, "name": "cn_southern_song_dyn", "long_name": "Southern Song", "start_year": 1127, "end_year": 1279 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 347, "polity": { "id": 423, "name": "cn_eastern_zhou_warring_states", "long_name": "Eastern Zhou", "start_year": -475, "end_year": -256 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": "specialist messengers likely used by the government", "description": null }, { "id": 348, "polity": { "id": 708, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_1", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Renaissance Period", "start_year": 1495, "end_year": 1579 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": "\"[P]odem-se encontrar testemunhos da existência de mensageiros profissionais tanto no Portugal de 1520 quanto no Brasil de 1725.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WACR37J5\">[Valle_Salvino 2018]</a> Translation: \"[T]here are texts testifying to the existence of the existence of professional couriers in Portugal in 1520 as in Brazil in 1725.\"", "description": null }, { "id": 349, "polity": { "id": 709, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_2", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Early Modern", "start_year": 1640, "end_year": 1806 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": "\"[P]odem-se encontrar testemunhos da existência de mensageiros profissionais tanto no Portugal de 1520 quanto no Brasil de 1725.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WACR37J5\">[Valle_Salvino 2018]</a> Translation: \"[T]here are texts testifying to the existence of the existence of professional couriers in Portugal in 1520 as in Brazil in 1725.\"", "description": null }, { "id": 350, "polity": { "id": 337, "name": "ru_moskva_rurik_dyn", "long_name": "Grand Principality of Moscow, Rurikid Dynasty", "start_year": 1480, "end_year": 1613 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 314, "name": "ua_kievan_rus", "long_name": "Kievan Rus", "start_year": 880, "end_year": 1242 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Courier", "courier": "present", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null } ] }