An Analysis of Barāt in the Bureaucratic (Divāni) Texts

The term barāt, originally derived from Arabic barā't, has been used as a bureaucratic term in ancient Persian texts by two meanings: the earliest usage was a receiving document or a receipt were issued by treasurer in turn for goods, and the other, a bureaucratic manuscript documented by the court seal through which the government agent could transfer the money or the goods had committed to pay to another person or reference. Since what has occurred in general dictionaries as idiomatic and bureaucratic meaning of barāt is often tolerant, referring to the first-hand resources, it has been tried in present essay to analyze the apparent and functional features of the term barāt. It has also endeavored, through this approach to express the differences of barāt with similar terms such as “taliq” and “muthannā”.