Postal Station List
A viewset for viewing and editing Postal Stations.
GET /api/sc/postal-stations/?format=api&page=7
{ "count": 388, "next": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/postal-stations/?format=api&page=8", "previous": "https://seshat-db.com/api/sc/postal-stations/?format=api&page=6", "results": [ { "id": 302, "polity": { "id": 350, "name": "af_greco_bactrian_k", "long_name": "Greco-Bactrian Kingdom", "start_year": -256, "end_year": -125 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": "Present under the Seleucids where \"each stathmos being the centre of a subdivision comprising so many villages.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/SQY9X379\">[Tarn 2010, p. 2]</a> Was this inherited? When was it lost?", "description": "The following two quotes from Tarn suggest that the Greeks retained at least part of the postal system set up by the Persians.\r\n\r\n“There remains one country yet to notice, Ferghana (Ta-yuan), which had formed part of the kingdom of Euthydemus (p. 83 and App. 10). It was the first ‘western country’ which Chang-k’ien reached after escaping from the Hiung-nu; he found a settled agricultural land like Bactria with ‘walled towns’ and ‘postal roads’”§REF§Tarn, William Woodthorpe. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press, 2010. p. 307. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/tarn/titleCreatorYear/items/SQY9X379/item-list§REF§\r\n\r\n“the hyparchy[…] was again subdivided into fortified posts called stathmoi—originally post stations on the main roads, the Seleucids having taken over the Persian postal system” §REF§Tarn, William Woodthorpe. The Greeks in Bactria and India. Cambridge University Press, 2010. p. 2. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/tarn/titleCreatorYear/items/SQY9X379/item-list§REF§" }, { "id": 303, "polity": { "id": 171, "name": "tr_rum_sultanate", "long_name": "Rum Sultanate", "start_year": 1077, "end_year": 1307 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": "unknown", "description": "NB caravenserais were not specialised postal stations, but fulfilled that function among others.\r\n\r\n“Most of the dated caravanserais are from the period before the disturbances of the year 659/1261. One group clusters around the Phrygian hills near the source of the Sangarios, between modern Afyonkarahisar and Seyitgazi, and two more survive in the Maeander region, near the town of Denizli. Unfortunately, the inscriptions from the northern set of caravanserais have not survived, although that at Deve Han near Seyitgazi was apparently constructed in 1207–1208, and Egret Han perhaps in 1260. Slightly further from the frontier lies an earlier caravanserai, the Çardak Han, built in 627/1230. As we shall see, there is also literary evidence of other caravanserais in the area that have not survived. The caravanserais, traditionally thought to have been used as rest places for itinerant caravans, suggest cross-border trade, linking the western peripheries of the Seljuk state and the Nicaean Empire to the major economic centres in central Anatolia, Konya and Kayseri, and to Seljuk emporia on the Mediterranean. However, there are few such buildings on the Nicaean side of the border, and it has been suggested that commerce was just one function of caravanserais. They also projected and symbolised the power of the Seljuk state and its officials who built them, and served a variety of purposes to facilitate state administration, among them accommodation for itinerant officials or even sultans, as part of the postal and intelligence system, and supporting tax collection and military manoeuvres.”§REF§(Peacock 2014, 278) A.C.S. Peacock (2014) The Seljuk Sultanate of Rūm and the Turkmen of the Byzantine frontier, 1206–1279*, Al-Masāq, 26:3, 267-287, DOI: 10.1080/09503110.2014.956476. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/DE43VD2V/library§REF§" }, { "id": 304, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 305, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 306, "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": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 307, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 308, "polity": { "id": 89, "name": "in_satavahana_emp", "long_name": "Satavahana Empire", "start_year": -100, "end_year": 200 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown postal stations would have been useful given the territorial coverage of the Satavahana Empire.", "description": "The following quote refers to the Mauryan period, but the literature consulted does not confirm whether or not any such system existed 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": 309, "polity": { "id": 90, "name": "in_vakataka_k", "long_name": "Vakataka Kingdom", "start_year": 255, "end_year": 550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 310, "polity": { "id": 91, "name": "in_kadamba_emp", "long_name": "Kadamba Empire", "start_year": 345, "end_year": 550 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown", "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": 311, "polity": { "id": 92, "name": "in_badami_chalukya_emp", "long_name": "Chalukyas of Badami", "start_year": 543, "end_year": 753 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown", "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": 312, "polity": { "id": 93, "name": "in_rashtrakuta_emp", "long_name": "Rashtrakuta Empire", "start_year": 753, "end_year": 973 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown", "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": 313, "polity": { "id": 94, "name": "in_kalyani_chalukya_emp", "long_name": "Chalukyas of Kalyani", "start_year": 973, "end_year": 1189 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown", "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": 314, "polity": { "id": 95, "name": "in_hoysala_k", "long_name": "Hoysala Kingdom", "start_year": 1108, "end_year": 1346 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown", "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": 315, "polity": { "id": 96, "name": "in_kampili_k", "long_name": "Kampili Kingdom", "start_year": 1280, "end_year": 1327 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown", "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": 316, "polity": { "id": 97, "name": "in_vijayanagara_emp", "long_name": "Vijayanagara Empire", "start_year": 1336, "end_year": 1646 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "unknown", "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": 317, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 318, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 319, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 320, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 321, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 322, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 323, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 324, "polity": { "id": 134, "name": "af_ghur_principality", "long_name": "Ghur Principality", "start_year": 1025, "end_year": 1215 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "Unclear, based on the literature consulted. \r\n\r\nThomas seems to suggest that long-distance communication mainly took place via a system of watchtower, possibly augmented by carrier pigeons.\r\n\r\n\"[Fortresses] seem to have functioned as part of networks of watchtowers that provided an efficient signalling and communication system, although al-Juzjani also states that pigeons were used to carry messages between the fortresses.\"§REF§(Thomas 2018, no page number) Thomas, D. C. 2018. The Ebb and Flow of the Ghūrid Empire. Sydney University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WP4SXX74/library§REF§\r\n\r\nAt the same time, it is possible that, following the conquest of the Ghaznavid polity, the Ghurids adopted all or some of whatever communication system may have existed in those lands. Nizami does point to the existence of an official in charge of diplomatic correspondence, which implies the existence of some kind of messaging system, though possibly one restricted to government use.\r\n\r\n\"The d ̄ıwa ̄n of the chief secretary dealt with correspondence with provincial officials and with external rulers. We possess in sources such as Bayhaq ̄ı’s history and cAq ̄ıl ̄ı’s A ̄tha ̄r al-wuzara ̄’ [Famous Past Deeds of the Viziers or Past Traces of the Viziers] the texts, in florid Arabic and Persian, of several letters to the Karakhanids and the cAbbasid caliphs, including announcements of victories (fat’h-na ̄mas).\" §REF§(Bosworth 1998: 119) Bosworth, C. E. 1998. The Ghaznavids. In Asimov (ed) History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The historical, social and economic setting, Volume 1 pp. 103-124. UNESCO. https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/MVIGXRNM/library§REF§" }, { "id": 325, "polity": { "id": 133, "name": "pk_sind_abbasid_fatimid", "long_name": "Sind - Abbasid-Fatimid Period", "start_year": 854, "end_year": 1193 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "A postal service seems to have existed under the Abbasids, but, judging from the literature consulted, it remains unclear whether such a system was present in Sind as well at this time.\r\n\r\n \"As long-distance trade grew, so, too, did the institutions supporting it. Investment patterns, for example. shifted from mostly land based in the late eighth century to a variety of commercial applications, including ships, horses, and shops in the ninth century. A private express courier service augmented the official Abbasid courier system.\" (Gutelius 2015, 2) §REF§(Pomeranz, K., Northrup, C.C., Bentley, J.H., Topik, S., Eckes Jr, A.E. and Manning, P., 2015. Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present: From Ancient Times to the Present. Routledge.)§REF§" }, { "id": 326, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 327, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "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": 328, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": "From the Shang period roads considered important enough to be \"controlled by a special official\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/82UFSQ6E\">[Lindqvist 2009]</a> but references to post usually begin with the Qin's First Emperor who \"constructed post roads across his empire\". <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/R92Q5UK7\">[Mokyr 2003, p. 391]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 329, "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": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "\"The creation of a system of relay postal stations has been credited to Chinngis Khan, but was most effectively employed by Chinngis Khan's successor Ogodei.\" <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/V5QMVJGC\">[Avery 2003, p. 40]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 330, "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": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": null, "description": "From the Shang period roads considered important enough to be \"controlled by a special official\"§REF§(Lindqvist 2009) Lindqvist, Cecilia. 2009. China: Empire of Living Symbols. Da Capo Press.§REF§ but references to post usually begin with the Qin's First Emperor who \"constructed post roads across his empire\".§REF§( ? 2003, 391) ? in Mokyr, Joel ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, Volume 2. Oxford University Press§REF§ However, Confucius (551–479 BCE) said: \"News of good deeds travels faster than the mail\"§REF§(Postal Museum Chunghwa Post Co. 2010, <a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external autonumber\" href=\"http://museum.post.gov.tw/post/Postal_Museum/postal_museum_en/index.jsp?ID=82\">[1]</a>)§REF§ which strongly implies a postal system was present at his time. One may infer from the importance of roads a basic postal system existed earlier." }, { "id": 331, "polity": { "id": 708, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_1", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Renaissance Period", "start_year": 1495, "end_year": 1579 }, "year_from": 1495, "year_to": 1519, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 332, "polity": { "id": 708, "name": "pt_portuguese_emp_1", "long_name": "Portuguese Empire - Renaissance Period", "start_year": 1495, "end_year": 1579 }, "year_from": 1520, "year_to": 1579, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": "In the original 1520 royal letter that established the Portuguese postal service, \"foi explicitada a necessidade de ordem régia específica para se estabelecerem os locais das estações necessárias ao funcionamento do serviço\". Translation: the letter \"clarified that a specific royal order would be required for the establishment of each of the stations necessary for the service to function\". <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WACR37J5\">[Valle_Salvino 2018]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 333, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": "In the original 1520 royal letter that established the Portuguese postal service, \"foi explicitada a necessidade de ordem régia específica para se estabelecerem os locais das estações necessárias ao funcionamento do serviço\". Translation: the letter \"clarified that a specific royal order would be required for the establishment of each of the stations necessary for the service to function\". <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/WACR37J5\">[Valle_Salvino 2018]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 334, "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": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 335, "polity": { "id": 223, "name": "ma_almoravid_dyn", "long_name": "Almoravids", "start_year": 1035, "end_year": 1150 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"the Sahel areas were at that time very highly integrated with the northern economies. The setting up or strengthening of new staging-posts on the connecting routes between Senegal and Morocco shows that the tracks carried considerable traffic.\" §REF§(Hrbek and Devisse 1988, 361)§REF§" }, { "id": 336, "polity": { "id": 284, "name": "hu_avar_khaganate", "long_name": "Avar Khaganate", "start_year": 586, "end_year": 822 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "no data.", "description": null }, { "id": 337, "polity": { "id": 210, "name": "et_aksum_emp_2", "long_name": "Axum II", "start_year": 350, "end_year": 599 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 338, "polity": { "id": 213, "name": "et_aksum_emp_3", "long_name": "Axum III", "start_year": 600, "end_year": 800 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 339, "polity": { "id": 379, "name": "mm_bagan", "long_name": "Bagan", "start_year": 1044, "end_year": 1287 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 340, "polity": { "id": 226, "name": "ib_banu_ghaniya", "long_name": "Banu Ghaniya", "start_year": 1126, "end_year": 1227 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 341, "polity": { "id": 246, "name": "cn_chu_dyn_spring_autumn", "long_name": "Chu Kingdom - Spring and Autumn Period", "start_year": -740, "end_year": -489 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": null, "description": "From the Shang period roads considered important enough to be \"controlled by a special official\"§REF§(Lindqvist 2009) Lindqvist, Cecilia. 2009. China: Empire of Living Symbols. Da Capo Press.§REF§ but references to post usually begin with the Qin's First Emperor who \"constructed post roads across his empire\".§REF§( ? 2003, 391) ? in Mokyr, Joel ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, Volume 2. Oxford University Press§REF§ However, Confucius (551–479 BCE) said: \"News of good deeds travels faster than the mail\"§REF§(Postal Museum Chunghwa Post Co. 2010, <a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external autonumber\" href=\"http://museum.post.gov.tw/post/Postal_Museum/postal_museum_en/index.jsp?ID=82\">[2]</a>)§REF§ which strongly implies a postal system was present at his time. One may infer from the importance of roads a basic postal system existed earlier." }, { "id": 342, "polity": { "id": 249, "name": "cn_chu_k_warring_states", "long_name": "Chu Kingdom - Warring States Period", "start_year": -488, "end_year": -223 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": null, "description": "From the Shang period roads considered important enough to be \"controlled by a special official\"§REF§(Lindqvist 2009) Lindqvist, Cecilia. 2009. China: Empire of Living Symbols. Da Capo Press.§REF§ but references to post usually begin with the Qin's First Emperor who \"constructed post roads across his empire\".§REF§( ? 2003, 391) ? in Mokyr, Joel ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, Volume 2. Oxford University Press§REF§ However, Confucius (551–479 BCE) said: \"News of good deeds travels faster than the mail\"§REF§(Postal Museum Chunghwa Post Co. 2010, <a rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"external autonumber\" href=\"http://museum.post.gov.tw/post/Postal_Museum/postal_museum_en/index.jsp?ID=82\">[1]</a>)§REF§ which strongly implies a postal system was present at his time. One may infer from the importance of roads a basic postal system existed earlier." }, { "id": 343, "polity": { "id": 299, "name": "ru_crimean_khanate", "long_name": "Crimean Khanate", "start_year": 1440, "end_year": 1783 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": null, "description": "\"the khanate's governmental structures and institutions often followed the Ottoman model.§REF§(Klein 2012, 3) Denise Klein. Introduction. Denise Klein. ed. 2012. The Crimean Khanate between East and West. (15th-18th Century). Harrassowitz Verlag. Wiesbaden.§REF§ The Ottomans had the ulak system of postal stations." }, { "id": 344, "polity": { "id": 54, "name": "pa_cocle_1", "long_name": "Early Greater Coclé", "start_year": 200, "end_year": 700 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "The sources I have consulted do not mention a postal service, and Precolumbian Panamanian societies were non-literate. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IPHPU92K\">[Mendizábal_Archibold 2004, p. 14]</a>", "description": null }, { "id": 345, "polity": { "id": 218, "name": "ma_idrisid_dyn", "long_name": "Idrisids", "start_year": 789, "end_year": 917 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "present", "comment": null, "description": "\"All the texts documenting this time period were written by geographers of the Masalik wa-l-mamdlik school... The main subject matter of this school was the inventory of cities and the distances between stage-posts and was compiled initially for postal services and later for merchants and travelers.\"§REF§Said Ennahid. 2001. POLITICAL ECONOMY AND SETTLEMENT SYSTEMS OF MEDIEVAL NORTHERN MOROCCO: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL-HISTORICAL APPROACH. pg. 138§REF§" }, { "id": 346, "polity": { "id": 273, "name": "uz_kangju", "long_name": "Kangju", "start_year": -150, "end_year": 350 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "Administration not developed enough for postal stations.", "description": null }, { "id": 347, "polity": { "id": 298, "name": "ru_kazan_khanate", "long_name": "Kazan Khanate", "start_year": 1438, "end_year": 1552 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "SSP", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "unknown", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 348, "polity": { "id": 241, "name": "ao_kongo_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Congo", "start_year": 1491, "end_year": 1568 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 349, "polity": { "id": 290, "name": "ge_georgia_k_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Georgia II", "start_year": 975, "end_year": 1243 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 350, "polity": { "id": 326, "name": "it_sicily_k_2", "long_name": "Kingdom of Sicily - Hohenstaufen and Angevin dynasties", "start_year": 1194, "end_year": 1281 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "EMPTY_COMMENT", "description": null }, { "id": 351, "polity": { "id": 56, "name": "pa_cocle_3", "long_name": "Late Greater Coclé", "start_year": 1000, "end_year": 1515 }, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "tag": "IFR", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "name": "Postal_station", "postal_station": "absent", "comment": "The sources I have consulted do not mention a postal service, and Precolumbian Panamanian societies were non-literate. <a class=\"fw-bold\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/IPHPU92K\">[Mendizábal_Archibold 2004, p. 14]</a>", "description": null } ] }