Presence of Iranian Bureaucrats in the Administrative Organization of the Umayyads

The bulk of studies on the Umayyad era have highlighted the Arabism of the Umayyad governors and agents and their contempt for non-Arabs. Nevertheless, in the Umayyad bureaucracy, the Iranian characteristics inherited from the Sassanid period and the activities of the Iranian bureaucrats are clearly visible. The Umayyads were indebted to the pre-Islamic bureaucracy of Iran not only on the account of their ignorance and organizational demands, but also due to the skills and competencies of the Iranians in this domain. This paper, by considering criteria such as explicit reports in these sources regarding the Iranian origin of bureaucrats and also signs that lend credit to this argument, seeks to identify bureaucratic Iranians in this period. By doing so, this paper challenges Umayyad Arabism inherent in the bureaucracy governing eastern lands of the Caliphate