The Evolution of Controllership Bureau Functions (Inspection and Intelligence System) In the Ghaznav and Seljuk Periods

Law enforcement-security bureau, have always been one of the most important bureau in Iran's Islamic bureaucracy in the early Islamic centuries and even afterwards. The functions and duties of these bureau usually range from military, law enforcement, intelligence, financial, religious, and even private spheres. Meanwhile, the controllership bureau in the concept of the inspection and intelligence system, in terms of jurisdiction and duties, was one of the most important and indispensable bureaus. The grounds and necessities of this tribunal date back to the Ancient Persia and the beginning of the formation of the institution of governance in Iran. Along with the transition of the Sassanian bureaucracy system to the Islamic period, the controllership bureau was transferred along with other Iranian bureaus to the Islamic period and evolved. Though initially adopted by the Abbasid Caliphs and their Iranian ministers, this bureau was actually in the periods of Ghaznavid and Seljuk, which evolved and took its final shape. The status of this bureau in the hierarchy of the bureaucracy system, the main concept and function, and the scope of its duties and powers in these two historical periods was not the same, and a serious development has taken place in this regard. The explanation of this development is the main issue of this research. Findings of the research indicate that the controllership bureau in Ghazni era was more of a kind of intelligence system that mostly had a security function, but during its transition to the Seljuk period, its main function was changed, and during this period it was mostly a kind of economic inspection system with economic function.