Security Roles of the Controllership Bureau in the Persian Middle Period

The Controllership Bureau [Ishraf] was an important office in the administrative organization of governments during the Persian Middle Period since its activities could include the inspecting and controlling of the financial affairs and the expenditures in the royal household, the performance of officials, the news supplying system, espionage, and national security affairs . The Controllership Bureau, headed by the Controller General, found a significant status in the governmental bureaucracy as it played a multi-purpose role in matters of inspection, controlling, and security, and therefore, it served as the sovereign's lookout throughout the realm of government. As a historical and library research, the present study focuses on different roles of the Controllership Bureau in a descriptive –analytical manner. Moreover, the viewpoints of political theorists have been discussed concerning the necessity of this institution for central governments and for the social peace and security.Findings of the present study show that the Controllership Bureau had a high status in the administrative system in a way that the survival, or else, the extinction of a government could be determined by the proper functioning of this important institution.