ʿAmīd (plural ʿumadā, meaning "mainstay, support")[1] was an Arabic title used in Greater Iran under the rule of the Samanids, Buyids, Ghaznavids and Seljukids. It was reserved for a high rank of civilian (as opposed to military) official.[2] It was the highest civilian title under the Ghaznavids.[1] The office of ʿāmil (governor, tax collector) was usually filled from the ranks of ʿumadā. Persons with the name Ibn al-ʿAmīd claimed descent from members of this class of officials.[2]
The term ʿamīd was also used in compound titles. Under the Buyids, the forms ʿamīd al-dawla, ʿamīd al-dīn and ʿamīd al-juyūsh are attested. Under the Ghaznavids, the ṣāḥib al-barīd (head of the postal service) held the title ʿamīd al-mulk. This title was used as a laqab by the vizier al-Kundurī. The title ʿamīd declined in the 12th century and was not used after the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b C. E. Bosworth (1962), "The Titulature of the Early Ghaznavids", Oriens 15: 210–233, esp. 228–229. JSTOR 1579847
- ^ a b c Claude Cahen (1960). "ʿamīd". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume I: A–B. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 434. OCLC 495469456.