Postal Systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic World.(Book review)

Postal Systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic World. By Adam J. Silverstein. (New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Pp. xii, 214. $95.00.)

Who would want to read a book on postal systems in the premodern Islamic world? Anyone who has heretofore taken postal systems for granted on the one hand, and everyone interested in the mechanics of state formation and maintenance on the other would. Adam J. Silverstein argues that postal systems (barid in Arabic) contributed indispensably to the creation and maintenance of geographically vast states in the premodern Islamic world. By "premodern," he means before the use of modern telecommunications and before privatization. The term "postal" refers to people and riding mounts being posted at convenient intervals along a network of land-based routes, serving to transport people, objects, official decrees, and intelligence reports. With few exceptions, these postal systems were reserved for the use of ruling authorities. He describes in detail how the postal systems worked: routes, distances between posts, speed, messengers, mounts, administration, and associated means of communication like carrier pigeons and beacons.

Silverstein bases his conclusions on three categories of sources. The first of these is etymology. He describes the transfer of terminology from one postal system to another, although "linguisitic continuity can ... attest to the deliberate association of one institution with another but not to the existence of identical institutions" (86). The second is Arabic sources. The author draws from several well-known medieval Arab writers and from at least one "new source," the Siyasat al-Muluk. The third category is secondary sources, which in Silverstein's bibliography are vast and very rich. He admits that there are wide gaps in his information and that he must, in some cases, make long leaps to arrive at certain conclusions. Nonetheless, the author is aware of the risks and tries ...