Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tabari Volume 29
Tabari Volume 29
VOLUME XXIX
e
The History of al-Tabari
Editorial Board
Ihsan Abbas, University of Jordan, Amman
C. E. Bosworth, The University of Manchester
Franz Rosenthal, Yale University
q1
Bibliotheca Persica
Edited by Ehsan Yar-Shater
by
Hugh Kennedy
University of St Andrews
Published by
State University of New York Press , Albany
0 1990 State University of New York
e
Preface
THE HISTORY OF PROPHETS AND KINGS (Tarikh al-rusul wa'1mulnk) by Abu Ja`far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (839-923),
here rendered as the History of al-Tabari, is by common consent
the most important universal history produced in the world of
Islam. It has been translated here in its entirety for the first time
for the benefit of non-Arabists, with historical and phiological
notes for those interested in the particulars of the text.
Tabari's monumental work explores the history of the ancient
nations, with special emphasis on biblical peoples and prophets,
the legendary and factual history of ancient Iran, and, in great
detail, the rise of Islam, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and
the history of the Islamic world down to the year 915. The first
volume of this translation will contain a biography of al-Tabari
and a discussion of the method, scope, and value of his work. It
will also provide information on some of the technical considerations that have guided the work of the translators.
vi
Preface
Contents
Preface / v
Abbreviations / xi
Translator's Foreword / xiii
viii Contents
Contents ix
16
Abbreviations
Translator's Foreword
Translator's Foreword xv
attributed are often attached to isolated individuals, many of
whom contribute no more than one or two accounts and few of
whom are known to have composed books . Many of them are
eyewitnesses or sons of eyewitnesses , and it is quite unclear in
what form these accounts reached Tabari more than a century
later. The established compilers like al -Mada'ini and al-Wagidi
are relied on for points of detail, rather than substantial narratives.
16
The Caliphate of al-Mansur
The
Events of the Year
146
(MARCH 2.1, 763 - MARCH 9, 764)
According to Musa b. Dawud al -Muhandis (engineer): AlMa'mun told me this story, "If you build me a building, make it
impossible to demolish so that its remains and traces may last."
It is said: Abu Ja'far needed gates for the city and Abu 'Abd alRahman al-Humani alleged that Sulayman b . Dawud had built a
city called Zandaward near the site on which al -Hajjaj7 had built
Wasit. The devils had made five doors of iron for it the likes of
which people today could not make , and he set them up in it.
They remained there until al-Hajjaj built Wasit and this city was
in ruins. Al-Hajjaj transported its doors and used them in his city
of Wasit. When Abu Ja`far built the city, he took those doors and
used them for his city, and they are there until today. The city has
eight doors, four inside and four outside , and four out of these five
doors were used on the inside ones and the fifth on the outside
gate of the palace.
(3 2 1)
r:. Yal}ya was a maternal uncle of al-Faal, son of al-Mangur's chamberlain alRabi' b. Yiinus. Al-Tabari draws on him extensively for inside information on
court and bureaucratic intrigues.
is. For the most recent discussion of the interior of the Round City and the
problems raised by this text, see Lassner, Abbasid Rule, 184-97, where the role of
the intervalla between different rings of the Round City is explained. A Patnkios,
or patrician: a Byzantine official title. The Arab transliteration bifriq is used to
designate Byzantine officials in general, see E12, s.v. Bitri$."
r6. A man of obscure origin , apparently a freed slave, who rose to great impor-
13241
17. "Police" is the conventional translation of the Arabic shurfah. In fact, the
shurlah seems to have been a small , elite military force attached to a ruler or
governor to maintain order in peacetime and to act as a stiffening to other military
zo. An official responsible for maintaining law, order , and fair trading in the
market.
21. Al-'l'a i. a Khurasini officer , who participated in the wars of the Abbasid
Revolution, notably the siege of Wasi1 . He seems to have remained in Iraq until
166/782 - 83, when he was appointed governor of Khurasan . In 171 /787-88 he returned to the west to take control of the khdtam , the caliph 's official seal, but he
died shortly afterward. He was responsible for dividing up land on the west bank
in Baghdad and kept extensive properties for himself (Crone, Slaves, 174)
22. Originally a secretary (kdtib) to al-Manger's wazir Abu Ayyub al-Muryani,
he later became secretary and wazir to Harun and then Musa, sons of al-Mahdi,
during their father's reign . He died in 167/783-84, while in service with Musa b.
al-Mahdi in Jurjan (Sourdel, Vizirat, 1, 97-98).
(325)
23. Probably the historian al-Mada'ini . Al-Tabari uses three sources he refers to
as Ali b. Muhammad in this period, Ali b. Muhammad al-Madi'ini, Ali b.
Muhammad al -Nawfali, and `All b. Muhammad b. Sulaymin al-Hishimi. It is
often difficult to know which source is being referred to. The problem is mitigated
by the fact that al -Nawfali 's information is obtained from his father , whereas alMadi'mi does not quote his father at all. Al-Hishimi also received information
from his father, the important Abbisid Muhammad b. Sulaymin . Al-Madi'ini's
information tends to be matters of fact and date , whereas both al-Nawfali and alHishimi retell court gossip and circumstantial eyewitness accounts.
24. B. Zuhayr al-Dabbi: a long serving Khurisini officer . He had participated in
the early stages of the 'Abbasid Revolution in Khurisin and come to Iraq with the
Abbisid army . He was at various times chief of police for al-Saffih, al-Manyur
and al -Rashid, as well as being governor of Khurisin from 163 /780 to 166/782-83
(Crone, Slaves, 186-88).
25. Majlis is used in two senses by al-Tabari and his sources, as an assembly of
1 32 61
13271
In this year al-Manger deposed Salm b. Qutaybah27 from alBagrah and appointed as governor28 Muhammad b. Sulayman b.
'Ali."' The reason for his deposition:
According to `Abd al-Malik b. Shayban-Ya`qub b. al-Fadl b.
`Abd al-Rahman al -Hashimi: Abu ja`far wrote to Salm b . Qutaybah
when he appointed him governor of al-Bagrah, "To continue:
demolish the houses and destroy the palm trees of those who
rebelled with Ibrahim," and Salm wrote back , "With which of
those shall I begin, the houses or the palm trees?" and Abu ja`far
wrote, "To continue: if I had written ordering you to destroy their
dates, you would have written asking me whether you should
begin with the barn dates or the shahriz dates," and he deposed
him and appointed Muhammad b. Sulayman as governor. He
arrived and caused havoc.
According to Yunus b. Najdah: Salm b. Qutaybah came to us as
governor after the rout with Abu Barqah Yazid b. Salm31 in charge
of his police . Salm remained there five months ; then he was
deposed, and Muhammad b. Sulayman was appointed governor
over us.
According to `Abd al-Malik b. Shayban : When Muhammad b.
Sulayman arrived, he destroyed the houses of Ya`qub b. al-Fadl
and Abu Marwan in the quarter of the Banu Yashkur and those of
27. Son of the celebrated Qutaybah b. Muslim al -Bihili, conqueror of much
of Transoxiana for the Muslims . He himself was governor of al-Bagrah for the
Umayyads at the time of the Abbasid Revolution and thereafter lived in retirement in al-Rayy until he was summoned by al-Mangiir , who needed his support in
al-Bagrah when the city was taken by the 'Alid rebel Ibrahim b. Abdallih in
145/762 . He died in 149/766 - 67 (Crone, Slaves, 136-381.
28. Al-Tabari uses the word walldhu for the appointment . The two words commonly used for provincial governors are wdli and 'dmi/. Although the former is
slightly more common and occurs also in the verbal forms walld or the passive
wullhya, there is no discernible distinction between the two terms . The office of
governor is also frequently indicated by the preposition 'aid, which I have translated as "in charge of."
29. Muhammad b. Sulaymin b. Ali was the able and most important of the
younger generation of the Abbasid family at this time . His father, Sulaymin,
uncle of al-Manger, had been governor of al-Bagrah. He died in 1421759-60, and
Muhammad inherited his status . He was at times governor of al-Bagrah and alKufah and a firm opponent of the claims of'Isi b. Musi to the succession. He died
as governor of al-Bagrah in 173 /789-90, and al-Rashid's agents confiscated much
of his vast wealt:i.
30. See note 19 above.
31. Salm's son.
33. A long-time supporter of the Umayyads , who served on the Byzantine frontier in the early Abbasid period . Al-Manger sought his advice at the time of the
Alid rebellion in 145 /762. This is his last appearance in the historical record, and
we must assume that he died soon after.
34. Al-l;f3nthi. The Harithis had no record of service in the Abbasid cause but
became important because of their kinship with the mother of al-Saffib . Abdallih
b. al-Rabi', who was an intimate of al-Manger, had been appointed governor of
Medina the previous year . This is his last datable appearance in the historical
record. In the treasury of St . Germer in Cologne, West Germany, there is an ivory
box with an inscription saying that it was made for him in Aden (Crone, Slaves,
149).
35. Less successful brother of Muhammad b. Sulaymin (see note 29). He was
later absentee governor of al-Bahrayn in 157 /773-74 and of Mecca and Medina in
the reign of al-Mahdi, c. 166/781. Apart from these, he held no high office and died
in 177 /793-94.
36. B. al-Hanth b. Abdallih b. al-Abbas, hence a distant relative of al-Manger.
He was with al-Mahdi in Khurisin in 141 / 758-59 and had been governor of
Mecca since 143/760 -61. According to &I-Ya 'gebi, Ta'rikh, II, 470, he led the
summer expedition against the Byzantines in 147/764.
37. The youngest of the Bann All, al-Manger 's uncles. He was in some ways
the black sheep of the family, joining the unsuccessful rebellion of his brother
Abdallih against al-Manger in 137/754 and being deposed from the governorate
of al-Jazirah and imprisoned for insulting al-Mahdi (see below p. 214). He also
emerged as spokesman for the family interests against the power of the freedmen
(mawdlil at this time. He was briefly governor of Damascus, wher e he caused
trouble by favoring the Yamamyyah , and al-Bagrah, at the beginning of al-Rashid's
reign. He survived until 185/801.
38. Despite the fact that he was the son of the martyred Ibrahim b. Muhammad,
the Abbasid pretender killed by the Umayyads shortly before the Abbasid
Revolution, he never became a political figure of consequence . He spent most of
his time in Syria and the Byzantine frontier areas , where he led the summer raid
at least twice, and he died as governor of Syria or Palestine , c. 157/774.
13281
16
The
Events of the Year
147
(MARCH 110, 764 -JANUARY 28, 765)
40. Protected people ; the name given to Jews or Christians who lived under
Muslim rule but were free to practice their own religion : See El ', s.v. "Dhimma."
41. Thlisi, capital of Georgia, strategically located where the Kura river emerges
from the northern Caucasus mountains into the broad plains of Azerbaijan; it was
the farthest outpost of Muslim rule in this direction.
42.. A Khurasani officer who served in Baghdad before being posted to Mosul.
The Harbiyyah quarter was situated immediately northwest of the Round City )le
Strange, Baghdad, 121-33) and was the area of western Baghdad where most of
the Khurasani soldiers settled.
43. See Azdi, Tdrikh al-Mawwil, 194 -95, Kennedy, Provincial Elites, 30-31.
46. 'Isa b. Musi b. Muhammad b. Ali b. Abdallah b. al-Abbas. He had participated in the defeat of the Umayyad forces in Iraq at the time of the Abbasid
Revolution and was rewarded with the governorate of al-Kufah, which he held for
the next fifteen years. He also played a major part in the defeat of the Ahd
rebellion of 145 /761. On his deathbed al-Saffih had been concerned that his heir,
al-Mansur, then on the pilgrimage, might not return alive, so as a precaution he
had stipulated that al-Mansur should be succeeded in turn by Isa b. Musa The
oath of allegiance was then taken to both of them . By this time al-Mansur was
trying to revise the succession so that it would pass directly to his own son
Muhammad, but 'Isa was resisting stubbornly.
137-91
13301
According to Ibrahim b. `Isa : When Abdallah b. Ali died, alMansur was riding one day , and 'Abdallah b. `Ayyash was with
him, and he said to him as he was alongside him, "Do you know
that three caliphs whose name began with 'ayn killed three rebels
whose names began with 'ayn?" He replied, "I only know that
the common people say that 'Ali killed 'Uthman, and they lie,
and 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan killed 'Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath and 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr and 'Amr b. Sal d"
and a house collapsed on 'Abdallah b. 'Ali." Al -Mansur said,
"Am I to blame if the house collapsed on 'Abdallah b. All?" and
he replied, "I never said you were to blame."
In this year al-Mansur deposed `Isa b. Musa and had the oath
of allegiance taken to his son al-Mahdi and appointed him heir
apparent after him and, some say, 'Isa b. Musa after him.
48. Le Strange, Baghdad, 13o-49.
49. All these names begin with the Arabic letter 'ayn. The caliph 'Uthman
I332I
The reasons for his deposition and how the matter happened:
Opinions differ as to what brought al -Mansur to the point of
deposing him. Some say the reason that brought al-Mansur to do
that was that Abu Ja'far confirmed 'Isa b. Musa, after the death
of Abu al-Abbas, in what Abu al `Abbas had appointed him to,
the governorship of al-Kufah and its Sawad. He honored him and
treated him with respect, and when he came in to him he sat him
on his right hand and sat al -Mahdi on his left. This was his attitude
to him until al-Mansur decided to give al -Mahdi precedence over
him in the caliphate . Abu al-Abbas had decided that the succession after him should pass to Abu Ja'far and then after Abu Ja'far
to 'Isa b. Musa.
When al-Mansur decided on that he spoke to 'Isa b . Musa about
giving his son precedence over him with kind words , and 'Isa
replied, "0 Commander of the Faithful, what about the oaths and
agreements that bind me and bind the Muslims in my favor and
the freeing and divorcing and other guarantees of the oaths?so
There is no way to that, 0 Commander of the Faithful."
When Abu Ja'far saw his refusal, his mood (color) changed, and
he became rather estranged from him . He ordered that al-Mahdi
be given permissions ' ( to enter) before him, and he used to come
in and sit on al -Mansur's right hand in 'Isa 's seat . Then he gave
'Isa permission, and he entered and sat beyond al-Mahdi on alMansur's right as well, and nobody sat on his left on the seat that
al-Mahdi used to sit on. Al-Mansur was furious about that, and
matters were coming to a head . He used to order that al-Mahdi be
given permission, then that 'Isa b. 'Ali be given permission after
him. Then he waited a little while and ordered that 'Abd al-$amad
b. 'Ali be given permission, and then he waited a little while
was murdered in 35 /656 by insurgents from Iraq and Egypt . 'Ali b. Abi Tilib, who
succeeded him, was not directly involved . The Umayyad caliph Abd al -Malik b.
Marwin was responsible for the deaths of the rebels Ibn al-Ash 'ath )85 /704) and
lbn al-Zubayr (71/792 ). Amr b. Said al-Ashdaq was an Umayyad rival to 'Abd alMalik, executed by him in 70/689-90.
5o. He had sworn oaths with the condition that his slaves would be freed and
his wives divorced if he broke them.
5 i. Allowing people to enter the caliph 's audience was the function of the hdlib
(chamberlain), and the order in which people were admitted was an important
indication of status.
13331
13341
57. He survived to be restored to his father 's old office of governor of al-Kufah
in 167/783-84 by al-Mahdi. In Harun ' s reign he was serveral times governor of alKufah, as well as of Syria and Egypt. He never made any attempt to claim the
caliphate and died in 183/799-800.
58. Brother of the caliphs al-Saffab and al-Man$ ur. He spent much of his time
leading expeditions on the Byzantine frontier and does not seem to have played an
important role in politics . He was, however, immensely wealthy, being the owner
and developer of the Abbasiyah Island in Baghdad, among other properties: see
Ya'qubi, Bulddn, :13, 2521 Le Strange , Baghdad, it, 148 . He is last recorded at
the court of al-Hadi in 170/786-87.
1 3351
13361
59 The story suggests that isi b. Ali, an old man at this date , was blind, but
there is no other evidence for this in the sources.
When they returned to their positions , Musa asked, "0 Commander of the Faithful, may I say something to my father?" and
that pleased him, and he thought that he wanted to discuss some (337)
of their affair with him. So he said, "Go on," so he went to him
and said, "0 my father, `Isa b. `Ali has killed you and me many
times because of what he has said about us . He has exposed his
vulnerable spot to me ." His father asked, "How?" and he replied,
"He said to me this and that, and if I tell the Commander of the
Faithful he will kill him, and you will satisfy your thirst for revenge
and kill him before he kills you and me . We don't care what
happens afterwards." His father said , "Damn this thought and
opinion! Your paternal uncle said words to you in confidence that
he hoped would please you, and you have made them into a
reason for doing him evil and annihilating him! Keep silent and
do not let anyone hear this from you and go back to your place."
He stood up and returned to his place, and Abu Ja'far waited to
see if he could see any result from his going to his father and
speaking with him, and when he saw nothing he went back to his
original threats and tried to intimidate him. "By God , I will swiftly
do to you what harms you and what will make you despair of his
surviving after you ! 0 Rabi`, go up to Musa and strangle him
with his sword belt! ,61 Al-Rabi` came up to him and gathered his
sword belt and began to strangle him slowly.
Musa shouted out, "0 Commander of the Faithful , fear) God in
killing me and shedding my blood ! I am not in the position you
imagine, and Isa will not care if you kill me , for he has more
than ten male children, all of whom are like me or have precedence
over me." The caliph said, "Tighten more, 0 Rabi`; finish him
off!" Al- Rabi` made as if he were going to annihilate him and
6o. `Isa b. Ali admits that `Isa b. Musa is in the right, and so Musa b. `Isa
could have accused him of disloyalty to al-Mangur.
61. The strap by which the wearer hangs a sword around his neck ; see Lane, s.v.
mihmal.
63. The term an$dr (helpers) was used for the people of Medina who supported
the Prophet Muhammad. Abbasid propaganda often drew parallels between them
and the Prophet and referred to the lChurasanis as their an$dr.
( 3401
(3421
Faithful from `Isa b. Musa : Peace be upon you, 0 Commander of the Faithful, and the Mercy of God . I praise to
you God, other than Whom there is no god. To continue:
Your letter has reached me in which you mention what
you have decided on in contradicting the law and committing sin in the cutting off of your kin and violating the
pact that God has accepted from the people about faithfulness to the caliphate and to my inheriting it after you in
order to cut off what God made close by bonds of affection
and to split up what God joined together and join together
business that God separated in defiance of God in His
heaven and turning from God in His decree and following
Satan in his desire.
Whoever defies God He throws him down and whoever
goes against Him He subdues and whoever tries to deceive
Him about anything He requites, but whoever puts his
trust in God He protects and whoever humbles himself
before God He raises up. The rule on which the building
was founded and that should be followed is that there is
an inheritance to me from the last Caliph from God and
a command before which we are the same and no one
Muslim has more right to change than another . The fulfillment of it is obligatory and the first has no more right
to change it than the last and if something is legal for the
second then it cannot be forbidden for the first. The first
who followed information about it and recognized its sign
and revealed what he thought about it and hoped from it
has precedence . He who wished to work first was more
13431
13 441
had been left to depend on our own efforts and desires, our
power would be weakened and our ability diminished to
seek what God brought us. But God, if He wishes firmly
to execute His order and carry out His promise and complete His covenant and make certain His pact , decides His
conclusion and concludes His decision and gives light to
his announcement and establishes His pillars when He
founds His building, and (His ) servants are not able to
delay what He is hastening or to hasten what He is delaying. But Satan, the beguiling and obvious enemy, whom
God has warned against obeying and made clear his enmity,
causes disputes among the agents of the right and the
people of His obedience so that they divide their community and scatter their gathering . He sows discord and
hatred among them and washes his hands of them when
the realities of affairs and the straits of tribulation become
conspicuous.
God, Great and Glorious, has said in His Book, "Never
did We send an apostle or a prophet before thee, but, when
he framed a desire, Satan threw some (vanity) into his
desire: but God will cancel anything (vain) that Satan
throws in and God will confirm (and establish ) His signs:
for God is full of knowledge and wisdom . i7O and He described those who fear (Him) and said, "When a thought
of evil from Satan assaults them , bring God to remembrance, when lo! they see (aright)! i71
So I ask God's protection for the Commander of the
Faithful, lest his intentions and the innermost part of his
soul are in opposition to what God, Great and Glorious,
granted to those who were before him. Indeed their sons
asked them and their desires had led them to a similar
position to what the Commander of the Faithful was considering, but they preferred the right over its opposite and
they knew that nobody overcomes the decree of God, nor
turns away His gifts . And beside that, they did not feel
72.. Asad, a soldier presumably of Persian origin, Marzbin being a Persian title
given to military officials in frontier districts of the Sasaman Empire . For his
subsequent relations with 'Uqbah and his death, see below p 6o. 'Ugbah was
from Huni 'ah of Azd (Caskel, table :i i). He is first recorded in Sind with 'Uyaynah
b. Musi in 14 1/759-60 (Ya'qubi, Tdrikh, II, 448). For his subsequent role in alBakirayn, see below p. 60. He was assassinated in 167/783-84, apparently in
revenge for a man he had killed in al -Yamimah (below p. 2 38, Ya'qubi,
Tdrikh, II, 478). Nasr, a Tamimi and a member of Abu Ja'far's guard, was subsequently appointed to the frontiers of Firs (below p. 85(. He was probably the
son of Harb b. Abdallih al-Riwandi (see note 42 above).
73. Qur'dn, II 71.
74. Al-Mahdi.
13 4 51
32
it "If you accept its loss, you may obtain compensation for it in
this world, and you may be secure from it responsibilities in the
next."
1 3461
Khalid left him and the members of the party left after him, and
Khilid said to them, "What is your advice in this matter?" and
they said, "Let us bring the Commander of the Faithful his message
and tell him what we did and what he did," but Khalid said, "No,
we will tell the Commander of the Faithful that he has agreed and
we will bear witness against him if he denies it." They replied,
"Do it and we will do our part," and he said, "It is the right
course," and he informed the Commander of the Faithful about
what he attempted and wished.
They went to Abu Ja`far, and Khalid was with them , and told
him that he had agreed so he issued the document for the oath of
allegiance to al-Mahdi and wrote all areas.
When the news reached `Isa b. Musa, he came to Abu Ja`far
75. Nothing seems to be known of these.
76. The word shrah here, and elsewhere in al-Tabari 's work, applies to the
Abbasid party, only later does it come to be applied exclusively to the pro=Alid
party in the modem sense.
13 4 71
(3 481
He has chosen you, he has chosen you for it , He has chosen you.
We had looked for a time to your father,
Then we looked to you for it.
We were among them,BO but our longing was for you.
Yes, we shelter in your protection.
79. For a variant version of this poem, Aghdni, Bulaq, XVIII, 15 z; Beirut, XX,
39'.
8o. Supporters of the Umayyads. Much of the poem is concerned with the
author's attempt to excuse his support of the previous dynasty.
St. For a variant, see Aghuni, Bulaq, XVIII, rsr; Beirut, XX, 288-89.
Si. Muhammad al-Mahdi was the namesake of the Prophet.
83. Al-Mahdi.
(3501
This was recited and spread through the mouths of the servants
and reached Abu Ja`far, who asked who the author was. He was
informed that it was a member of the Banu Sa'd b. Zayd Manat
and he was pleased . He called me and I was brought into his
presence . `Isa b. Musa was on his right-hand side, and the people
were with him with the chiefs of the commanders and the army.
When I was in a place he could see me, I cried out, "0 Commander
of the Faithful, bring me near you so that I can make you understand and you can listen to what I have to say ." He beckoned with
his hand, and I came near until I was closed to him . When I was in
front of him I spoke and raised my voice and recited to him from
this position. Then I returned to the beginning of the urjuzah,85
and I recited it from the beginning to this place also. I repeated it a
second time until I came to its end. The people were listening,
and he was delighted with what I recited to him when he was
listening to it. When we left him, there was a man putting his
hand on my shoulder, and I turned and there was `Igal b. Shabbah
saying, "As for you, you have delighted the Commander of the
Faithful and, if the affair is resolved as you wish and you said, by
84. That is, the caliphate was settled on al-Mahdi.
8 S. A poem in the rajaz meter.
(351)
38
13521
89. According to al-Tabari, III, 72, isa had been appointed governor of al-Kufah
in 131/75o. This would have given him fifteen years as governor.
13531
16
The
Events of the Year
148
( FEBRUARY 27,
765- FEBRUARY
5, 766)
41
94. Known as Ja'far the Elder, to distinguish him from his younger brother of
the same name . He was at one time considered as a possible rival to al-Mahdi for
the succession but died in 15o/758 see below pp . 49, 145-461.
95. Plural of mi$r. The am$dr were orginally the towns established by the
Muslims in the years immediately after the conquests at al-Kufah , al-Baorah and
al-Fuslat. In the early Abbasid period, the term is applied generally to the mayor
provincial capitals.
The
Events of the Year
149
( FEBRUARY i6, 766-FEBRUARY 5, 767)
ip
96. Brother of Humayd (see note 91 above). On his father's death, he took over
command of the Abbasid army . The rest of his career was spent in Armenia and
on the Byzantine frontier, where he built numerous fortresses and frequently led
expeditions against the Greeks . He died in 18 1 /797, full of honor and years, at the
age of eighty-four (al-Tabari, III, 17, 95, 353, 493 , 495, 646 ; al-Balidhuri, Bulddn,
22.3). For the family properties in Baghdad, see Le Strange, Baghdad, 140-41.
97. AI-Khuzi' i. A close colleague of Abu Muslim, he was sent to Ifrigiyah by
Abu Ja'far in 144/761, but he was subsequently driven out by a mutiny of his
Khurisini troops. (al-Tabari, 11, :001, 111, 71 , 1z2.; Ibn Idhiri , Baydn , 72). In the
Leiden edition of al-Tabari, III, 74, his appointment to lfriqiyah is wrongly dated to
133. See Crone, Slaves, 184-85
98. On the east bank of the Tigris, about thirty miles southeast of Mosul. See
Yaqut, Mu jam, II, 23o, Le Strange, Lands, 9o-911.
99. Son of Ibrahim al-Imam, the leader of the Abbasid family put to death by
the Umayyads immediately before the Abbasid Revolution. He had an unspectacular career, mostly in the Holy Cities . He led the pilgrimage on three occasions
in al-Mangur 's reign (149/757, 151/759, 154/762) and was governor of Medina at
the time of the caliph 's death (see below, pp 86 - 87). He died in 185/8oi.
13541
e
The
Events of the Year
150
(FEBRUARY 6, 767-JANUARY 25, 768)
0
too. Ya'gUbi, Tdrikh, II, 457, and Gardizi , Zayn, 74b, both make it clear that
there was a religious aspect to the rebellion and that Ustadhsis claimed to be
a prophet. The independent account in Agapius of Manbij, 'Unwdn, 544-45,
suggests that there were economic causes, notably a dispute over control of silver
mines in Bidhghis . See Sadighi, Mouvements, 155-62 ; Kennedy, Abbasid Caliphate, 183-84 ; Daniel, Khurasan, 133-37.
io3. Or Sistan, the province of eastern Iran around the delta of the Helmand
river, near the modem Iran-Afghanistan frontier . On the history of the area, see
Bosworth, Sistan under the Arabs.
504. Marw al -RUdh lay on the Murghib river south of Marw, near the modem
Soviet-Afghan border. It was an important center of Muslim settlement in the
area, and its people has played an important part in the Abbasid Revolution. See
Yiqut, Mu'lam, V, i 12; Le Strange, Lands, 404-5.
[ 3551
46
13561
47
Then Khazim went to a place and stopped there and dug a trench
around it. He brought inside it all that he wanted to, including all
his companions. He made four gates in it and appointed man from
his chosen companions, who were 4,000 strong, in charge of every
gate. He assigned to Bakker b. Muslim , the commander of his
vanguard, 2,000 men to supplement the i 8,ooo he had already.
The other side came, bringing with them spades, axes, and large
baskets, intending to fill in the trench and enter it. They reached
the trench at the gate that Bakker b. Muslim was in charge of and
attacked it so fiercely that Bakkar's companions had no choice
but to flee and they were pursued into the trench by the enemy.
When Bakker saw that, he dismounted and rushed and stood at
the gate of the trench and shouted to his companions , "You sons
of harlots, the Muslims are attacked from the side I guard!"' 19
and there dismounted about fifty of his tribe and family who were
with him and they blocked the gate so that they held the enemy
back from it.
Then a man from Sijistan called al-Harish, 12O who was with
115. Al-Tamimi, like Khizim. He had fought under Khizim 's command before
and was later to serve his son Khuzaymah (al-Tabari, III, 69, 130, 856).
118. Zibrigan is a Persian word meaning either the moon or the man with the
little beard . Neither he nor Bassim is recorded elsewhere.
i 19. Suggesting, of course, that Ustidhsis' supporters were non-Muslims, a
useful clue to the nature of the rebellion.
izo. The name means "rough" or "harsh" in Arabic, but it may be either a
nickname or a corruption of a Persian word ; it is not recorded elsewhere.
(3571
48
[ 3581
Ustadhsis and was the man who was managing his affairs, came
to the gate where Khizim was. When Khazim saw him coming,
he sent to al-Haytham b. Shu'bah who was on the right wing,
saying, "Go out of the gate you are in charge of and take a different
route from the one that leads to Bakkir's gate while the enemy is
occupied with fighting and attacking us and, when you are behind
them and beyond the range of their vision, come upon them from
the rear." At that time they were expecting the arrival of Abu
'Awn121 and 'Amr b. Salm b. Qutaybah'22 from Tukharistan'23
so Khazim ordered Bakkar, "When you see the banners of alHaytham b. Shu'bah approaching you from behind, say, 'God is
great!' and, 'The people of Tukharistin have arrived!"' So alHaytham's men did that while Khazim, with the main body of
the army, attacked al-Harish al-Sijistini and engaged in fierce and
prolonged sword fighting. While they were locked in combat they
saw al-Haytham's banners and shouted to each other, "The people
of Tukharistan have come!" and when the people of al-Harish and
those who were fighting Bakkar saw those standards, Khizim's
men attacked them fiercely and exposed them so that al-Haytham's
men attacked them with spears and arrows. Nahar b. Husayn and
his men from the left and Bakkar b . Muslim and his men from
their direction also attacked and they routed them and put them
to the sword. The Muslims made a great slaughter and those who
were killed in that battle numbered about 70,000 and 14,000 were
taken prisoners.
rsr. Abd al-Malik b. Yazid al-Azdi, a Khurisini from Jurjin who played an
important role in the Abbisid Revolution and came west with the Abbisid
armies . He was later governor of Egypt , 133-36 /751-35 and 137-41/755-58, and
of Khurisin, in c. 159 - 60/775-77, but was deposed by al-Mahdi for his failure to
defeat the rebel al-Muganna`. He died in 168/784 - 85. See al-Tabari, III, 38, 48, 72,
459,477, 536-37, for his relations with al -Mahdi and his son; Gardizi, Zayn, 74b,
76b, gives him two periods as governor of Khurisin ; Kindi, Governors, 102-5,
says he was a mawli of Huni'ah of Azdj see Crone, Slaves, 174.
122. Son of Salm b. Qutaybah; see note 27 above; not recorded elsewhere.
123. A district of Khurisin in the Oxus valley east of Balkh; see Le Strange,
Lands, 426-27.
1x4. Abu Awn was clearly known and trusted by the rebels as no other Muslim
leader was, but the sources give no indication as to why this was so.
i z5. According to other sources (Gardizi, Zayn, 74b; Mas' udi, Mural, IV, 299),
Ustadhsis' daughter Marijil, mother of the future caliph al -Ma'mun, was among
the captives taken to Baghdad on this occasion.
i z6. Al-Wagidi.
i 27. An important and significant move : Al-Hasan was an Alid who had proved
loyal to al-Manlier, and there is no doubt that his appointment to Medina , a center
of Alid support, was a conciliatory gesture He remained governor until 155/772
and died in 168/784-85.
rz8. Le Strange, Baghdad, 158, says that this was situated at KiZimayn, north
of Baghdad, on the west bank.
1:9. Possibly Usayd for Asid) b. Abdallih al-Khuza' i (Crone, Slaves, 175-76),
but he is said to have been governor of Khurisin at this time (Hamzah, 141). More
likely this is a mistake for Yazid b . Usayd al -Sulami (see note r9o below), as
Brooks suggests ("Byzantines and Arabs", 734.
13o. The fertile meadows and pastures around Dabiq (see note 93 , above), which
were frequently used as a base for Muslim raids.
131- Sawwar b. Abdallah, d. 1 57/773-74, was qd.Ii of al-Bagrah for many years.
46
The
Events of the Year
151
(JANUARY 26, 768-JANUARY 13, 769)
Among the events of this year was the seaborne attack on Jeddah
by the Kurk132 mentioned by Muhammad b. `Umar.
In this year Umar b. Hafs b. `Uthman b. Abi $ufrah133 was
appointed governor of Ifriqiyah. He was deposed from Sind and
replaced by Hisham b. `Amr al-Taghlibi.131
The circumstances of the deposition of `Umar b. Hafs from
Sind and his appointment as governor of Ifriqiyah, and of the
appointment of Hisham b. `Amr as governor of Sind.
According to `Ali b. Muhammad b. Sulayman b. `Ali al=Abbasi 1360]
-his father: The reason for that was that al-Mansur had appointed
53
risen in al-Basrah and taken it over ." He said, "You are most 136][1
welcome," and he took the oath of allegiance to him from them
and ordered him to be concealed with him.
Then he called the people of his household, his commanders
and the great men of the town to take the oath of allegiance and
they accepted. He cut up white standards, white turbans and
white galansuwahs and on Thursday he prepared white garments
in which to go up to the pulpit. On Wednesday there came a boat
from Basrah with a messenger of Khulaydah bint al -Mu`arik,
wife of Umar b. Hafs with a letter telling him of the killing of
Muhammad b. `Abdallah . He went to `Abdallah, told him the
news and consoled him and said to him , "I have sworn the oath of
allegiance to your father and now this had happened ." `Abdallah
said, " My activities are now notorious and my position wellknown and my safety is your responsibility so look after yourself
or leave." `Umar replied, "I have a suggestion to make : there is
here one of the Kings of Sind with a great kingdom and following.
He is, despite his polytheism, a great admirer of the Prophet of
God and he is a trustworthy man. I will write to him and make an
agreement between you and him and send you to him to stay with
him, and you will be beyond reach with him." `Abdallah replied,
"Do as you wish ." So he did that and he went to the king who
was very generous to him and showed him great kindness. The
Zaydiyyah escaped to join him until there were about 400 "people
of perspicacityi139 with him and he used to go out riding and
hunting among them and he amused himself in the manner of
kings and their families.
13621
54
55
says, "I would not refuse you any request except marriage , and, if
I had need to marry, I would accept what you offered me, so may
God reward you for the good you intended to do for him . Instead
of that I have given you the governorate of Sind ."' He ordered him
to write to the king commanding him to hand over `Abdallah b.
Muhammad and, if he did not obey , to make war on him . He also
wrote to `Umar b. Hafs appointing him governor of Ifrigiyah.
13631
13641
13651
57
According to Khalid b. Yazid b. Wahb b . Jarir b. KhazimMuhammad b. Musa b. Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. Muhammad b.
`Ali b. `Abdallah b. `Abbas147-his father: When the Rawandiyyah rioted against Abu Ja 'far and did battle with him at the Golden
Gate, l4s Qutham b. al= Abbas b. Ubaydallah b. al-`Abbas, 149
who was at that time a very old man , respected by the people,
came in to him. Abu Ja`far said to him, "What is your opinion
about the situation we are in concerning the slowness of the army
to help us? I am afraid that they will agree together and this power
will slip from our hands . What do you think?"
not let that make you frightened of me but repeat your request, 13661
and I will curse you, but do not let that intimidate you but repeat
The page left early in the morning and sat where he had ordered
him in the palace of the caliph and, when the old man came, the
page did as his master had ordered, and his master did as he had
said he would and then he said to him, "Speak!" and he asked,
"Which of the two tribes is more noble, al-Yaman or Mudar?"
Qutham said, "Mudar among which was the Prophet of God
and in which is the Book of God and the House of God (the
Ka'bah) and among which is the caliph of God."
Al-Yaman were resentful that he had mentioned nothing of
their honor and one of the commanders of al-Yaman said to him,
"The matter is not absolutely like that, with no honor or merit in
al-Yaman." Then the Yamani commander said to his page, "Get
up and take the bridle of the old man's mule and restrain it forcibly
until he is lowered down."
The page did as his master ordered him, so that he.'almost
brought it down on its hamstrings. Mudar were annoyed about
this and said, "Is he doing this to our old man (shaykh)?" and one
of them ordered his page "Cut off the hand of the slave," so he
came up to the Yamani's page and cut off his hand. The two tribes
began to quarrel and Qutham sent away his mule and went in to
Abu Ja`far. The army split into groups, Mudar being a group,
al-Yaman another, the Khurasaniyyah152 another , and Rabi'ah
another, and Qutham said to Abu Ja'far, "I have split your army
into groups and divided them into parties, each one fearing that, if
it does any evil to you, you will strike it with the other. It remains
to you to organize the rest."
15 r. Mu4ar, al-Yaman, and Rabi'ah were the large groupings to which Arab
tribes were traditionally assigned . Under the Umayyad caliphate these divisions
had become a major source of conflict , and this continued, though to a lesser
extent, under the Abbisids. The word used for tribe here is hayy, while the
smaller tribes that made up the group might be called gabilah (pl. gaba'il), but the
usages are not always consistent (cf. Ell, s.v. "Hayy," where it is defined as
the smallest unit).
r 5 n. Interestingly, the Khurisiniyyah are considered here as a group with a
separate indentity, though many of them in fact came from Arab tribes attached in
theory to one of the other groups.
He accepted his idea and opinion, and his power was firmly
established . This was the reason for building on the east side and
in al-Rusafah and the granting of property to commanders there.
$alih Sahib al-Musalla ' 53 was put in charge of the plots on the
east side, and he did as Abu al `Abbas al-Tusi had done about distributing the remaining'54 plots on the west bank. He had for
himself building plots at the Gate of the Bridge, the market of
Yahya, the mosque of Khudayr and in al-Rusafah and the Road of
the Skiffs on the Tigris, 15' which he asked for as a gift from the
plots that were undistributed among owners . $alih came from the
people of Khurasan.
In this year al-Mansur caused the oath of allegiance to himself,
to his son Muhammad al-Mahdi after him, and to `Isa b. Musa
after al-Mahdi to be renewed by all the people of his family in his
audience on Friday. He gave them a general permission to enter,
and every one who took the oath to him kissed his hand and the
hand of al-Mahdi and then pressed the hand of `Isa b. Musa but
did not kiss it.
155. Le Strange, Baghdad, 197-99. The word for skiffs is zawanq (sing.,
zawraq).
13671
13681
leader of the Abbasid armies . Al-Man4dr restored him to favor as a reward for his
help against the Riwandiyyah rebels . He was later appointed as governor of Yemen
in 141 /759-6o and Sistin in 15 x /768 and was assassinated in the latter in the next
year. He was important as a patron of poets, notably Marwin b . Abi Haf$ah, and as
a symbol of old Arab bedouin qualities (al-Tabari, II, 16, 63, 119-30, 368, 369,
3914-971 Wynn, 119, 164; Ya'qubi, Tdrikh, II, 448, 462, Crone, Slaves, 169-70;
El , s.v. "Ma`n b. Zi'idah."
i6o. According to Igfahani, Magatil, 311, he had sent Abu Ja`far to al-Bagrah to
oppose the Alid revolt of 145 /761-63, he is otherwise unknown.
[ 3691
The
Events of the Year
152
(JANUARY
The governors of the main cities (amsdr) in this year were the
same as in the previous year except al-Basrah, where the governor
was Yazid b. Mansur, and Egypt, where the governor in this year
was Muhammad b. Sa' id.
164. Otherwise unknown except for a reference in Jabi;, Managib al-Turk,
where the Khurisiniyyah boast of his prowess.
t65 From Marw al-RUdh in Khurisin , an early supporter of the 'Abbasid Revolution, he and the Marwarrudhiyyah had a quarter in Baghdad. He and Hashim
seem to have represented "rank and file" opinion among the Khurisaniyyah, and
neither held government office. Abu Khalid survived this incident and was one of
the leaders of the Khurasaniyyah who demanded the removal of isa b. Mnsa from
the succession. He is last recorded in 171 /787-88, but his son Muhammad was to
be one of the leaders of the Khuraasaniyyah in the civil wars that followed the
death of Hirun (al-Tabari, II, 1oo4, III, 21 , 455, 6o6, Yiq'ubi, Bulddn, 247)
166. About ten miles southeast of al-KUfah on the road to Mecca (Yiqut,
Mu'lam, IV, 391-93; Le Strange , Lands, 76).
167. The governors of Egypt given by al-Tabari at this period differ from those
recorded by the local historian al-Kindi . It seems that al-Tabari recorded the
names given in the records of the financial administration in Baghdad , whereas alKindi gives those of the prayer leaders and military commanders; see Kennedy,
"Provincial Elites ," 33-34, n. 46.
The
Events of the Year
153
(JANUARY 4, 7 70-DECEMBER 23, 770)
270. Abu Hitim, Abu Ad, and Abu Qurrah were the Khanlite leaders of this
largely Berber rebellion (Ibn Idhiri, Baydn, 74-75, Kennedy, Abbasid Caliphate,
187-91).
171. Neither Abbad nor Yusuf is recorded elsewhere. Harthamah b. A'yan was
to achieve great power as a trusted servant of Harun and played a central role in
the civil war that followed Milan 's death (Crone, Slaves, 177-78).
172. See above, note 52.
173. Zand b. al-)awn, d. ca. 160/776-77; he was a sort of court jester for the
first three Abbasid caliphs, famous for his outrageous humor and doubtful religious views . He is also quoted in al-Tabari, III, 541. See Aghdni, Buliq, IX, 120;
Beirut, X, 247; 812, S.V. "Abu Dulama."
174. That is 'Ubayd, son of the daughter of Abu Layli . Ibn Abi Layli was qdi
of al-Kufah under the last Umayyads and was reappointed by `Isa b. Musa after the
Abbasid Revolution. For the family , see E12, s.v. "Ibn Abi Layla," but nothing
more seems to be known of 'Ubayd.
175. Born in Bukhiri in 75/694- 95, died in Ahwiz, where he was gddi, in 177/
793-94 (lbn Khallikan, I, 622). Later, it seems, he combined the offices of gd4i and
governor in al-Kufah, most unusual for this period (see below, pp. 168-69).
1 3711)
1 3721
176. Brooks, "Byzantines and Arabs," 7341 Ma'yuf led the summer expedition
again in 158 /775 and 169/785-86 and a naval raid on Cyprus in 191 /807. llajur
was a branch of Hamdin, well established in Syria see al-Tabari, III, 385, 568,
711,.
16
The
Events of the Year
154
( DECEMBER 24, 770- DECEMBER 12., 771
41
178. On the Euphrates by al-Raqqah, it soon merged with the older city, and the
whole became known as al-Raggah ; for the design of the city and outlines of the
walls, which are still visible, see Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture, II.
1 3731
In this year 'Abd al-Malik b. ?abyan al-Numayri 182 was appointed governor of al-Basrah.
Zufar b. 'Asim al-Hilali 183 led the summer expedition in this
year and reached the Euphrates.
Muhammad b. Ibrahim led the pilgrims this year; he was Abu
Ja`far's governor of Mecca and al-Ta'if. Al-Hasan b. Zayd was
governor of Medina, Muhammad b. Sulayman of al-Kufah, 'Abd
al-Malik b . Ayyub b. 7,abyan was in charge of al-Basrah, with
Sawwar b. `Abdallah ( in charge) of its judiciary, Hisham b. `Amr
was in charge of Sind, Yazid b. Hatim of Ifrigiyah and Muhammad
b. Said of Eygpt.
179. This prophecy also appears in connection with the foundation of Baghdad
and is discussed in Lassner, Abbasid Rule, 164-65 . The word migldf is said to
mean a "fat she-camel." See Lane, s.v. qll.
18o. In Mecca.
18 r. Unknown elsewhere.
182. Properly Abd al-Malik b. Ayyub b. 7abyin. He was briefly governor of alBalrah a second time in 159 /775-76 but is not recorded elsewhere.
183. Brooks, "Byzantines and Arabs," 734, Zufar's father had been governor of
Armenia for the Umayyad caliph Marwan b. Muhammad . He himself joined the
rebellion of Abdallah b. Ali against al-Mangur. He led the $d'ifoh several times
and was governor of Medina in 16o-63 /776-8o and, according to Azdi, Tdrikh,
243-44, briefly of al-jazirah thereafter (see al-Tabari, III, 94, 378, 482, Soo, Crone,
Slaves, 166(.
e
The
Events of the Year
' 55
(DECEMBER 13, 771-DECEMBER z, 772)
185. I.e., al-Rusifah. In what sense the plan of al-Rifiqah resembled that of
Baghdad is not clear; certainly the surviving walls show an irregular plan very
different from the round plan of Baghdad.
186. These towns seem to have been unfortifled before this date.
13741
187. Al- Khurasani ; he had been governor of Mecca in 140-43/758-61 and possessed properties in Baghdad, both inside and outside the Round City. Al-Tabari
(III, 119 ) reports that the Rawandiyyah considered that he was the incarnation of the
Angel Gabriel, but it is difficult to know quite what to make of this information.
191. 'Isa b. Musa is expressing the rivalry in the Abbisid family between the
descendants of Muhammad b. All, who included al-Saffah, al-Manger, and their
brothers, and the families of the other sons of All b. Abdallah . For the political
background, see Lassner, Abbasid Rule, 19-38.
r92. This presents problems . Al-Tabari, III, 138, states clearly that Musa b
Ka'b died in 141/758 - 59, and he is not recorded after this date, except 111, 383,
where his deposition from al -Jazirah is noted. Al-Azdi, Tarikh, has Musa b. Kab
appointed to al-jazirah in 154 and deposed in 155 (771-72) but Mug'ab as governor
at the death of Abu Ja 'far (Azdi, 222-26 ). Michael the Syrian records the appointment of Musi b . Mug'ab sub anno 1083 (trans. Chabot, III, 526), which is the equivalent of 1 55/772. His exactions in al-Jazirah provoked the long diatribe in the
history of Pseudo Dionysius of Tell Mahr@ ( Chronique, trans. Chabot, see the
discussion in Cahen, "Fiscalite "). Musa b. Mug'ab later became governor of Egypt,
where his oppressions were equally severe and led to his death in 168/785 (alKind!, 124). It seems most likely that Masi b. Mug'ab should be read for Masi b.
Ka'b in both al-Tabari and al-Azdi . See Crone, Slaves, 186.
193. He was in charge of barb and khardi. This unusual formula may mean that
13751
7z
Ibn Abi al-Awja ' spoke to Abu al-Jabbar, 197 who was an intimate
of Abu Ja'far and Muhammad and then of their sons after them,
and said, "If the Amir delays (punishing me) for three days there
will be ioo,ooo dirhams for him and you yourself will get such
and such." Abu al -Jabbar told Muhammad about this and he said,
"You have reminded me about him, by God, for I had forgotten
him. When I leave Friday prayers, remind me about him." When
he left he reminded him and he summoned Ibn Abi al-'Awja' and
ordered him to be beheaded. When he was certain that he would
be killed, he said, "But if you kill me, by God I have invented four
thousand traditions of the Prophet in which I forbid which is
he was not in charge of the prayers ($aldt ) as well and that he was a military fiscal
agent, rather than full governor.
194. The important historian and compiler 'Umar b. Shabbah, d. 262/876, who
wrote on the Alid rebellions of 145 /762 and the early Abbasid caliphs; see Fihrist,
246-47.
195. Crone, Slaves, 169; Vajda, Les Zmdlgs, 269.
196. l.e., Umar b. Shabbah.
Then Abu Ja`far's messenger arrived with his letter to Muhammad, 'Be careful what you do in the case of Ibn AN al =Awja'! If
you have taken action (against him) I will do this and that," threatening him. Muhammad said to the messenger , "This is the head
of Ibn Abi al-`Awja ' and his body is crucified in al-Kunasah,198 so
inform the Commander of the Faithful what I have told you."
When the messenger reached Abu Ja`far he was furious and
ordered that a letter be written dismissing him and he said, "By
God, I considered killing him for Ibn AN al-`Awja '." Then he sent
for `Isa b. `Ali and when he came to him he said, "This is your
doing. You advised me to appoint this youth as governor so I
appointed him, an ignorant young man with no knowledge of
what he perpetrates in daring to kill a man without asking my
opinion about him and waiting for my orders . I have written ordering his dismissal and, by God , I will do this and that," threatening him.
`Isa remained silent until his anger had subsided and then he
said, "O Commander of the Faithful , Muhammad only killed this
man on account of his Zandagah , i99 If his killing was right then
the credit goes to you and if it was wrong the responsibility is
Muhammad's. By God, 0 Commander of the Faithful, if you depose him for acting as he did, he will go with praise and reputation
and the common people will criticize you." So he ordered that the
letters be torn up and that he be confirmed in his post.
13771
16
The
Events of the Year
156
( DECEMBER I, 772- NOVEMBER 2O, 773)
q1
1378]
205. One of the main canals of al-Bagrah , connecting the city with the Tigris;
see Le Strange, Lands, 44, 46.
zo6. It is not clear what the reason was for the division of the functions of the
governorship of a1-Bagrah at this time . There seem to have been four or more
elements, the leading of the prayers with the giving of the khutbah, or Friday
sermon; the gads', or judiciary; the shurat (p1. of shurtah), meaning police but cf.
note 17 above; and the ahddth . Ahddth at this stage means "incidents," presumably any matter that required the governor to take action . In later centuries the
word came to mean "young men." I am indebted to Professor I. Abbas for putting
me right on this matter.
207. The cemetery of the Banu Hishim is probably to be identified with the
Cemetery of the Quraysh (at Kizimayn, on the west bank , north of the Round
City(. It is not clear why he was so honored; he was an 'Ataki , that is, he came
from a branch of Azd; see note 187, above.
208. According to Ya 'qubi, (Tdrikh, II, 498), he was an early governor of Yemen
in Harun 's name, but he is otherwise unknown.
:09. The word for poll tax here is iawdli. See Lane, s.v. ;1w.
iso. Sadagdt, another sign of the way in which al -Bagrah retained its early
Islamic administrative institutions ; elsewhere in the Muslim world land was
usually subject to the khardj, or basic land tax.
13791
fb
The
Events of the Year
1 57
(NOVEMBER 21, 773-NOVEMBER I0, 774)
q1
Among these was that al- Mansur began building his palace on the
banks of the Tigris, which is called al -Khuld.212 He divided reponsibility for construction between his freedman al-Rabi' and
Aban b. $adaqah.
In this year Yahya Abu Zakariyya ' the muhtasib was executed.
We have already mentioned the reasons for his execution.211
2t2. The name means eternity. It lay to the east of the Round City, between it
and the Tigris . See Le Strange, Baghdad, ioi-S.
2 It 3. See above, p. 9.
214. See above, pp. 7-to.
79
z16. The district that included the northwestern quarters of Baghdad, see Le
Strange, Baghdad, 50-5 i. "Below" (duna ) Qa;rabbul must mean on the west bank
of the Tigris, just north of the Round City.
217. A soldier of no great distinction He served in Egypt and Ifrigiyah at the
beginning of al-Mangur 's reign and was sent to police al-Kufah at the time of the
Alid revolt of 145 /762-63 He had a property near the Kufah Gate of Baghdad (alTabari, III, 301; al-Kindi , Governors, io;, rio).
z is. That is, over the prayers and the judiciary there . He remained gdcli until
166/782 - 83 but seems to have been removed from the prayers in 159 /775-76, at
the beginning of al-Mahdi 's reign.
219. This was the lower of the bridges of boats across the Tigris (Le Strange,
Baghdad, 95).
2.21. AI- Kindi does not report his appointment at all He had been a slave bought
by Abu Ayyub al- Muryini, who gave him to al-Mangur , who employed him in the
post before appointing him to Egypt (Crone, Slaves, 193)
ziz. Al- Muzani. He remained governor for two years until his death in 159/
775-76. He did not take the banner of appointment from the caliph in person, as
was usual
e
The [38111
Events of the Year
158
(NOVEMBER 111, 774-OCTOBER 30, 775)
40
Among these was al -Man^ur's sending his son al -Mahdi to alRaqqah and ordering him to dismiss Musa b . Ka`b225 from Mosul
and appoint Yahya b. Khalid b . Barmak as governor.
According to al-Hasan b. Wahb b . Sa`id2 6 $alih b. `Aliyyah:
The circumstances of that were that al-Manqur imposed a fine of
3,000,000 (dirhams ) on Khalid b. Barmak on pain of his life and
gave him three days to pay. Khalid said to his son Yahya, "0 my
little son, I have been mulcted and required to pay what I do not
have and he had only done this to take my life . Go to your
women and your family and do to them what you would do to
them after my death ." Then he continued, "Do not let that pre22.5. See note 193, above.
zz6. Brother of the third-century vizier Sulaymin b . Wahb. This is the only
time al-Tabari uses him or the otherwise unknown $ilih b . 'Atiyyah as a source.
An abbreviated version of this story appears in Jahi;, 99-too, where al-Mangur's
anger is instigated by the vizier Abu Ayyub al-Muryani. In keeping with the
author's more romantic presentation, al-Khayzurin, wife of al-Mahdi and mother
of al-Hidi and Harlin, lends Khalid an extremely valuable jewel because of the
milk brotherhood between his son al -Fa41 and the young Harlin.
1382.1
zz7. All important figures in the palace and fiscal administration at the end of
al-Man^ur's reign. Mubarak al-Turki appears again as a leader of the Abbasid
forces against the uprising of al-Husayn b. Ali the Alid in Medina in 169/785-86.
He had property on the east bank in Baghdad. The geographer al-Hamadhani says
that he built a stronghold in Qazvin in central Iran; al-Hamadhani, z81).
zz8. That is the hwd', which is the symbol of the governorate of a province. See
note 113, above.
I came to him and found him in the same position as I had met
him in before and I greeted him, but he did not return my greeting
and said nothing except "How is your father?" and I replied that
he was well and that he said such-and-such and he sat up and said,
"Was I only a treasurer for your father from whom he takes when
he wants to and returns when he wants to? Go away, won't you?"
219. Meaning al-Musayyab; the narrative slips into the first person.
[3 8 31
1 3841
233. Al-Hasan and Sulayman also accompanied Yahya on the summer expedition of 163 /780, when he went with Harun (see al-Tabari, III, 497).
13 8 51
241. He appears once as a source for the 'Alid rebellion of 145 /762-63 (alTabari, 111, 206, 293), and his son al-Hasan was governor of'Umin in 169/785-86.
For his family, see Crone, Slaves, izi.
242. Nuwwdb, not a usual administrative term at this period, its sigmflcance is
unclear.
243. In Ctesiphon/al-Madi ' in. The building was still used by the Muslims
for official purposes in early Umayyad times (Morony, Iraq, 761. Al-Mangur was
claiming that it formed part of the fay' (booty) of the Muslims and hence should
not be divided up but used for the common good.
244. Brooks, "Byzantines and Arabs," 734. The Darb al-Hadath was the pass
that led from the Muslim base at al-Hadath across the mountains into Byzantine
territory.
245. Probably to be identified with the Ibn Jurayj whom al -Tabari cites extensively as a source in the early part of the History, notably on Old Testament
material . He had been in Mecca at the time of the Alid rebellion of 145 /762 but
does not seem to have played a very active part.
246. He had been in Medina in the immediate aftermath of the Alid rebellion
and interceded for one of the participants , but, like Ibn Jurayj, he does not seem to
have played a major part.
According to 'Omar b . Shabbah-Muhammad b. `Imrin , freedman of Muhammad b. Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. 'Ali b . 'Abdallah
b. 'Abbas-his father: A1-Mansur wrote to Muhammad b. Ibrahim,
governor of Mecca, ordering him to imprison a man of the family
of 'All b. Abi Talib who was in Mecca along with Ibn Jurayj,
'Abbid b. Kathir, and al-Thawri, so he imprisoned them. He had
companions with whom he used to talk at night24 " and, when it
was time for his nighttime conversation , he sat down looking
intently at the ground and not uttering a syllable until they dispersed. I approached him and said, "I saw what you did; what is
the matter ?" He replied, "I came upon the possessor of kinship249
and imprisoned him and some of the most worthy people250 and
imprisoned them. The Commander of the Faithful might come,
and I do not know what will happen. Maybe he will order that
they be killed and his authority will be strengthened, but my
religion will be destroyed."
I asked him what he would do and he replied , "I will placate
God and release the people . Go to my camels and take a female
riding camel and take fifty dinars and give them to the Talibi,251
give him greeting and say to him, 'Your cousin252 asks you to
release him from his guilt about you. Ride this camel and take
this money."'
When he saw me he had begun to ask God's protection from my
evil, but when I told him he said, "He is released .253 I have no
247. This is the celebrated traditionist Sufyin b . Sa'id al-Thawri, d. 161/778,
like Ibn Jurayl an important source for the early sections of al-Tabari 's history. He
spent much of his life in hiding in the Hiliz and Yemen to escape appointment as
a gd4i. See El' , s.v. "Sufyan."
248. The sdmir or samir was a friend or courtier with whom one had relaxed
conversations at night . These nighttime gatherings were an important social and
cultural institution of the period.
249. With the Prophet, by which he means the (anonymous ) Alid referred to
above.
25o. The three learned men mentioned above.
251. That is, the Alid. The term Talibi was used for desecendants of Ali's
father, Abu Tilib, either through Ali himself or through his brother Ja'far.
252. Muhammad b. Ibrahim, being an Abbasid, speaks as a cousin, albeit a
very distant one, of the Alid.
253. The Alid releases Muhammad b. lbrihim from his guilt for imprisoning
him.
13861
1 3 871
need of the camel and no need of the money," but I said, "It would
be better for his soul if you took them," so he did.
Then I came to Ibn Jurayj, Sufyan b. Said, and 'Abbad b. Kathir
and told them what he had said and they said, "He is released." I
said to them that Muhammad b. Ibrahim had said that none of
them should appear as long as al-Mansur was staying.
When al-Mansur approached, Muhammad b. Ibrahim sent me
with gifts but, when al-Mansur was told that the messenger of
Muhammad b. Ibrahim had arrived, he ordered that the faces of
his camels be struck . When he reached Bi 'r Maymun,254 Muhammad b. Ibrahim came to meet him but, when he was told of that,
he ordered that the faces of his mounts should be struck. So
Muhammad was traveling on one side of the road while Abu
ja`far was diverted from the road to the left-hand side and the
camel was made to kneel for him (to relieve nature). Muhammad
was waiting facing him, and his doctor was with him. When Abu
Jafar mounted and he and his companion al-Rabl' went on,
Muhammad ordered his doctor to go over to Abu Ja`far's camelkneeling place, and he saw his excrement and he said to Muhammad, "I saw the excrement of a man who does not have long to
live." When he entered Mecca he remained there only a short
time before he died and Muhammad was saved.
In Shawwal of this year (August 4-September r, 775) Abu ja`far
set out from the City of Peace heading for Mecca. It is said that he
stayed at Qasr Abdawayh255 and while he was there a meteorite
fell on z6 Shawwal (August z9) after the beginning of dawn and
remained visible until sunrise ; then he went on to al-KUfah and
stayed at al-Rusafah25a and then set out from there on the pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage 257 With him he drove the
camels to be slaughtered in Mecca , branded them, and put signs
on their necks for some days into Dhu al-Qa'dah (September 2-
254. On the borders of the sacred area of Mecca, where al-Mangur died. See
Yagiit, Mu';am, 1, 302.
255. Not noted by Yignt or Le Strange.
2.56. That is al-RuOfah of al-Kiifah ) see note 54, above.
257. For the differing rituals of the pilgrimage lha;;) and lesser pilgrimage
)'umrah ), see El , s.v., "Hadjd;;" EI' s.v. "Umra."
259. Bustin Abu Amir and Bit Ibn al -Murtafi' were, like Bi t Maymun, stages
on the route from Iraq to Mecca and Medina.
[3881
[3891
z6o. Probably meaning the Abbasid family but possibly the family of the
Prophet, including the Alids, at least one of whom, al-Hasan b. Zayd, is known to
have been present.
266. The rukn is the comer of the Ka'bah in which is the Black Stone, the
maqdm, short for "magdm Ibrshun," is a small building, containing the mark of
Abraham's footprint, near the Ka'bah; both of these are in the mosque in Mecca.
267. Mawla al-Man$ur; in an anecdote dated 145 - 48/762-66 he was sent to
Mosul to execute a political suspect (see below, p. 145 ) but is otherwise unknown.
268. That is, he was in the ritual dress for pilgrimage, having entered the hardm
(sacred area) at Bt'r Maymun . The lhrdm involves being bareheaded.
269. B. Abdallah b. al-Abbas and therefore a member of the Abbasid family.
He was later governor of Medina from 166 until 167 (782-84 ), when he died. For
Shi'b al-Khuz, see Yaqut, Mu'^am, III, 347.
1 3901
1 3911
Opinions differ about his age when he died; some say he was
sixty-four years old, some that he was sixty-five, and some that he
was sixty-three on the day he died. Hisham b. al-Kalbi272 said that
al-Mansur died when he was sixty-eight and that he held power
for twenty-two years less twenty-four days. Different riwayas are
related to Abu Ma'shar273: Ahmad b. Thabit al-Razi told me on
the authority of those who were told by Ishaq b. 'Isa on his (Abu
Ma'shar's) authority that he said:274 Abu Ja'far died one day before
the day for providing oneself with water (Yawm al-Tarwiyyah: 8
Dhu'l-Hijjah/October 9, 77S), which was a Saturday. His caliphate
lasted twenty-two years less three days. It is related on the authority of Ibn Bakkar that he (Abu Ma'shar)275 said: Less seven
nights. Al-Wagidi said that the reign of Abu Ja'far was twentytwo years less six days. 'Umar b. Shabbah said that his caliphate
was two days short of twenty-two years.
The leader of the pilgrims in this year was Ibrahim b. Yahya b.
Muhammad b. All.
173. Najih al-Sindi. An important source for the earlier sections of al-Tabari's
history, he contributes only occasional details of appointments and dates , the last
being the date of the death of al-Nadi (see al-Tabari, III, 579).
274. He being Abu Ma'shar, Ahmad b. Thibit and Ishaq b. Ibrahim, both otherwise unknown, are al-Tabari's usual isndd for Abu Ma'shar's information.
275. Presumably Abu Ma 'shar again, by a different isndd. Ibn Bakkir is alZubayr b. Bakkir, who is occasionally used elsewhere by al-Tabari.
276. Constantine V, A.D 741-75.
278. Al-Tabari usually follows the account of the death of a caliph with some
undated anecdotes. In general these are arranged at random, but some are loosely
arranged according to themes, Abu Ja'far's meanness, the contrast between him
and his son al-Mahdi , the activities of Ma'n b. Zi'idah are some of these. The
sources of this material are usually named , in contrast with the main body of the
text, but are often individuals who contribute only single narratives and about
whom nothing else is known.
279. This is the only time al-Tabari uses this source, and nothing more is
known of him or his father. The story should probably be dated 145 -47/762-65
when `Isa was still governor of al-KUfah, but al-Mansur was attempting to remove
him from the succession.
280. Nasr b. Sayyir was the last Umayyad governor of Khurisin and an ancient
enemy of the Abbisids.
281. The Arabic uses al.imar (red) to mean "white."
1 3921
13931
According to `Abbas b. al-Fad1282-Yahya b. Sulaym,2s3 secretary to al-Fadl b. al-Rabi': Entertainment was never seen in the
house of al-Mansur, nor anything like entertainment games or
amusements, except one day, when we saw a son of his called
'Abd al-'Aziz, the brother of Sulayman and `Isa,284 sons of Abu
Ja`far by the Talhi woman, who died when he was a youth. He
came out to the people with a bow on his shoulder, wearing a
turban and a striped outer garment and looking like a bedouin
boy. He was riding on a young camel between two saddlebags in
which there were mugl,285 sandals, and sticks for cleaning the
teeth286 and the things that the bedouin gave as gifts . The people
were amazed at this and disapproved of it . The young man went
on until he crossed the bridge and came to al-Mahdi in al-Rusafah
and gave them to him. Al-Mahdi took what was in the saddlebags
and filled them with dirhams, and he set off with the saddlebags.
It was made known that this was a sort of royal joke.
According to Hammad al-Turki : I was standing by al-Mansur's
head when he heard a clamor in the house and he said , "What is
that, Hammad ? Have a look." I went and found one of his servants
sitting among the slave girls and playing a Iunbur287 for them,
and they were laughing . I came to him and told him and he said,
"What sort of thing is a funbur?" and I replied that it was made of
wood and I described it to him. He said, "You have given me a
282. That is, al-Abbas b. al-Fall b. al-Rabi', later hdlib to al-Amin as his
grandfather had been to al-Manger and al-Mahdi ('Uynn, 342; lahshiyari, 289).
283. Yahya took over some of al-Rabi"s administrative functions on his death
and later worked for al-Amin (see below 598, lahi; , 266, 289, 292.E
284. Both Sulayman and isa reached maturity and played a part in political life
in Hirun 's reign and after.
z88. A slave dealer. Al-Karkh was the commercial quarter of Baghdad , south of
the Round City.
:89. A palace servant, who was later in charge of the ma?dlim (complaints) for
al-Mahdi . Abrash means speckled or marked with various colors.
290. Great-grandson of Jarir b . Hizim, an important source for the earlier sections of al-Tabari 's work; he himself contributes only two short narratives.
291. He may be identified with Abdallih b. Muhammad al-Munaggtri, who
appears as a source in al-Tabari , 111, 565, neither name is recorded elsewhere.
Minqdr means "the beak of a bird."
13941
13951
298. Ma'n's tribe, Shaybin, was part of Bakr b . Wi'il, which was a section of
the larger Rabi'ah tribal group.
299. Not known elsewhere.
300. Not known elsewhere.
13971
13981
will he marry me? With his woollen jubbah and garments?" When
he returned to Man, the first thing he asked him was that he
should marry him to her. Her father was in Ma`n's army. He said,
"I want Zahri ' and her father is in your army, 0 Amir." He married
him to her for ten thousand dirhams, which he gave her as a
dowry. Then Man said, "What is your second wish?" and he
replied, "The palm grove in which my house is in Ilajar .306 Its
owner is in the army of the Amir." Main bought it from him and
handed it over to Mujji`ah and said, "What is your third wish?"
"Give me money," he replied . Ma`n ordered that he be given
thirty thousand, one hundred thousand dirhams in total, and he
sent him away to his house.
According to Muhammad b. Silim al-Khwirazmi , whose father
was one of the commanders of Khurisin ,Abu al-Faraj, the maternal uncle of `Abdallah b. Jabalah al-'J aligani :307 I heard Abu
Ja`far saying, "How much I need four people at my door and they
should be the most decent people there." He was asked, "0 Commander of the Faithful, who are they ?" and he replied, "They are
the pillars of the state and the state would not be safe without
them as a couch would not be safe without four legs and, if one of
them is missing, it is weakened. The first of these is a judge
whom no reproach can deviate from what pleases God. The second
is a chief of police who defends the rights of the weak from the
strong. The third is a chief of taxation who investigates and does
not oppress the peasants because I can dispense with their oppression. The fourth ...." Then he bit on his index finger three times,
saying each time "Ah, ah," and he was asked, "Who is that, 0
Commander of the Faithful ?" and he replied, "A head of the post
who writes reliable information about these men."
said, "How well do I know what is in your mind. You will go out
now and say, 'If you become poor after that may you not thrive
again.' Leave me and go to your work and, by God, if you become
open to that, I will surely inflict on you the punishment you
deserve!" They were both appointed to it and put things right and
were sincere in their intentions 3013
According to al-$abbah b. 'Abd al-Malik al-Shaybani-Ishaq
b. Musa b. `Isa:309 Al-Mansur appointed a man of the Arabs as
governor of Ha4ramawt and the chief of the post wrote to alMansur that the governor often went out in pursuit of game with
falcons and dogs that he had prepared. He dismissed him and
wrote to him, "May your mother lose you, and may your tribe
miss you. What is this equipment you prepared to slaughter wild
animals? We put you in charge only of the affairs of the Muslims,
not the affairs of the wild animals. Hand over the office you have
been entrusted with by us to so-and-so, son of so-and-so, and go to
your family, censured and banished."
According to al-Rabi`:310 Suhayl b. Salim al -Basri3 t i was brought
in to al-Mansur after he had been appointed to an office and
dismissed. He ordered that he be put in prison and that money be
demanded of him. Suhayl said, "Your slave, 0 Commander of the
Faithful." "What an evil slave you are," he said, "But you are a
kind master, 0 Commander of the Faithful," he replied. "Not to
you, I'm not," said the caliph.
309. Neither of these can be securely identified . lsl}aq b. Musa b. 'Isi may have
been the grandson of 'Isa b. Musa, who was briefly governor of Yemen in alMa'mun's reign (`Uyiin, 348).
310. B. Yunus, hd,ib to al-Manger; see note 16, above.
14001 is abuse and insult. What makes you so sure that I will respond,
for I have despaired of life and you will never rescind my punishment even if asked ?" Al-Mansur spared his life and released him
and he never saw his face again.
According to 'Abdallah b. 'Amr al-Mulahi -Harlin b. Muhammad b. Ismail b. Musa al-Hadi312-'Abdallah b. Muhammad b.
Abi Ayyub al-Makki-his father313-'Umarah b. Hamzah: I was
with al-Mansur and I left him at midday after the people had
taken the oath of allegiance to al-Mahdi . Al-Mahdi came to me at
the time when I left and said to me, "I have heard that my father
intends that the oath of allegiance should be given to my brother
Ja'far,314 and I swear by God that, if he does, I will kill him." I
went immediately to the Commander of the Faithful and I said,
"This matter will not wait," and the chamberlain said, "You have
only just left," but I replied, "The matter is new." He gave me
permission and I went in to al -Mansur and he said , "Hey, 'Umarah,
what has brought you?" and I replied, "A new matter, 0 Commander of the Faithful , that I wish to tell you about ." He said, "1
will tell you about it before you tell me: Al-Mahdi came to you
and said such-and-such," and I said, "By God, 0 Commander of
the Faithful, it is as if you were present as the third of us." He
continued, "Tell him that we are too solicitous of him (Ja'far) to
expose him to you."
M. B . Ali al-Abbasi, son of $ahh b. 'All (see note 92, above ) and himself
governor of Palestine and Egypt in al-Mahdi 's reign.
316. B . Yasuf al-Thaqafi, the famous governor of Iraq and the east for the
Umayyad caliphs.
;20. The alms Muslims are enjoined to pay. At this time it was a compulsory
tax, rather than a voluntary contribution, and probably the only tax a bedouin
would pay.
323. The site of the famous fairs outside Mecca, where poets are said to have
gathered in pre-Islamic times.
32.4. A source used several times in this section of the History but otherwise
unknown.
reconciled to Abu Ja'far and was briefly appointed governor of Mosul . Thus this
story belongs to a genre in which Abu Ja 'far looks for advice and example to the
Umayyads and their supporters.
32.8. A term cognate with Nabataeans but generally used of the indigenous
14031
14041
According to `Ali b. Muhammad33s-Hafs b. `Umar b. Hammad336-Khalisah:331 I went in to al-Mansur and he was com3 31. AI-Zuhri, d. 119/737, was one of the great early authorities on the Traditions of the Prophet; see E( , s.v. "al-Zuhri."
332. A source used fairly commonly in sections I and H of his history but only
twice for the 'Abbisid period see al -Tabari, III, 5 t above.
333 Unknown elsewhere.
334. Meaning "How many offices are at your disposal?"
335. Probably al-Nawfali; see note 2;, above.
1 4051
According to `Ali b. Marthad340 Abu Di`amah the poet14061 Ashja' b. `Amr al- Sulami341-al-Mu'ammil b . Umayl:342 This
338. Mother of al-Hidi and Hirun al -Rashid. Al-Mahdi marned her in 159/
775-76, and she died in 173/789-90.
339. Small copper coin of very little value . This refers to the nickname alMansur was given by the people because of stinginess , i.e., Abu al-Dawiniq.
340. The addendum suggests this name should read Yazid. He is also recorded
as a transmitter of poetry . See Tabari, III, 593.
341. See Aghani, Buliq, XVII, 3oj Beirut, XVIII, 143.
342. B. Usayd al-Muhiribi . For this poet, see Aghani, Buliq, XIX, 147j Beirut,
XXII, :55, where the narrative and the poem are given with minor variations. He
had been a poet in Umayyad times but was attached to al-Mahdi , and it was for
him that his best -known work was done.
1 4071
1 4081
Al-Mansur said, 'You have done well, but this is not worth
twenty thousand dirhams,' and he continued, 'Where is the
money? ' and I said, 'Here it is.' He said, 'Rabi', go down with him
and and give him four thousand dirhams and take the rest.' AlRabi` went out and he put down my load, weighed out four thousand dirhams for me and took the rest . When the caliphate passed
to al-Mahdi he appointed Ibn Thawban345 to the mazalim. He
used to hold audience for the people in al-Rusafah and, when his
robe was full of notes, he would take them up to al -Mahdi. One
day I took him in a note in which I told my story. When Ibn
Thawban brought them in, al-Mahdi began to look through the
345 Not known elsewhere.
14091
112
said, "You are the most prosperous of the Arabs with the four
spindles they are turning in your house."
According to Bishr al-Munajjim :347 Abu Ja'far called me one
day at sunset and sent me off on some errand, and when I returned
he lifted the corner of his prayer mat and there was a dinar, and he
said to me, "Take this and keep it," and I have it to this hour.
According to Abu al-Jahm b. `Atiyyah34s-Abu Mugatil alKhurasani : One of his pages let Abu Ja`far know that he had ten
thousand dirhams, and Abu Ja`far took it from him, saying, "This
is my money." The man asked, "How can it be your money? By
God, I was never appointed in any office by you, and there is no
kinship or relationship between you and me ." Abu Ja'far said,
"Yes, you were married to a freedwoman of `Uyaynah b. Musa b.
Ka`b,349 and she bequeathed you some wealth. That man was
disobedient, and he took my money when he was governor of
Sind, and this is part of that money."
According to Mus`ab-Sallam-Abu Harithah al-Nahdi, the
master of the treasury :3'0 Abu Ja`far appointed a man to Barusama, 35i and when his governorship was over the caliph wanted
an excuse for not giving him anything , so he said, "I took you into
my confidence and appointed you to part of the fay'352 of the
Muslims and you have betrayed it," and he replied , "I ask God's
protection against you, 0 Commander of the Faithful; I kept nothing from that office except a little bit of a dirham which I
slipped into my sleeve so as to use it when I go out from you, to
hire a mule to go to my family , and I shall enter my house without
any of the wealth of God or of your wealth," and al-Mansur said,
355. Sahdbah ; see above, note 143. Neither Sawadah nor Abd al -Malik is recorded elsewhere.
356. Yazid b. 'Omar b . Hubayrah, the last Umayyad governor of Iraq, was
besieged in Wasit by Abu Ja`far and executed after his surrender.
3S7. Fursdn al-Arab, in contrast to the `Abbasid troops, many of whom were
Persians.
141o1
114
14111
strove with all our might to take advantage of his army and defeat
it, but there was no opportunity . When he began the siege there
was not a white hair on my head; when I surrendered to him there
was not a black one. As the poet al -A`sha says:ass
He stands out in spite of his people.
He forgives, if he wishes, or takes revenge,
The brother of war, with no enfeebling weakness,
who does not wear worn-out sandals."
According to Ibrahim b. `Abd al- Rahman :359 Abu Jafar was
staying with a man called Azhar al-Samman , not the traditionist 360 This was before his caliphate, and, when he succeeded to
the caliphate, Azhar went to him in the City of Peace , and, when
he was admitted, the caliph asked him what he wanted . He replied,
"0 Commander of the Faithful , I have a debt of 4 ,000 dirhams
and my house is falling down , and my son Muhammad wants to
marry." He ordered that he be given i 2,ooo dirhams and said, "0
Azhar, do not come to us making requests," and he agreed. After
a little he returned, and the caliph asked him what had brought
him. He replied, "I came to greet you, 0 Commander of the
Faithful " and he said, "It occurs to me that you have come to us
for the things for which you came to us the first time," and he
ordered him to be given twelve thousand dirhams and said, "0
Azhar, do not come to us making requests or greeting us," and he
agreed. He did not wait long before he returned , and the caliph
asked him what had brought him and he said , "A prayer I heard
from you that I wanted to learn." The caliph replied , "You should
not want it, for it has not been granted because I called on God in
it to spare me from your foolishness , and he has not done so." He
sent him away and did not give him anything.
358. Maymtin b. Qays, ca. 57o-6z5, a well-known blind poet of the pre-Islamic
period from central Arabia; see Aghdni, Buliq , VIII, 77, Beirut, IX, 104; El 2, S.V.
"al-A'shi."
14121
141131 my praise on him?" He said, "Yes, what a mother that gave birth
to you and what a night that was disclosed on you! I bear witness
that you are the son of a freeborn mother and of a noble father."
Then he listened to him and ordered that he be given gifts. He
said, "0 Commander of the Faithful, I do not take it out of need
but only so that I may be honored by your generosity and boast of
your gift." Then he took his gift and went out , and al-Mansur
said, "Where in our army is there a man like that? To such a man
favor is recommended, kindness finds its proper place , and the
protected valuables can be given."
According to Hafs b. Ghiyath36a-Ibn `Ayyash: A number of
the people of al-Kufah continued to speak evil of their administrator ( dmil and complain about their governor (amir(365 and
verbally attack their Sultan. This was told to al-Mansur in a report,
and he said to al-RabF, "Go out to those of the people of al-Kufah
who are at the gate and tell them that the Commander of the
Faithful says to them, 'If two of you gather together in a place, I
will shave their heads and their beards and strike their backs so
go to your houses and take care of yourselves ."' Al-Rabi` went
out to them with this message, and Ibn `Ayyash366 said to him,
"0 you who look like `Isa b. Maryam,367 tell the Commander of
364. Al- Nakha`i: qd ii of the Sharqiyyah of Baghdad and later of al-Kufah and
an important traditionist of Hirun 's reign. He is also an occasional source for
section I of the History; see al-Khatib, VIII, i88.
365. It is not clear whether the 'dmil and the amir are two different officials
or whether this duplication is simply for rhetorical effect. For the language of
appointments, see above, note 28.
117
the Faithful from us what you told us from him and say to him,
'By God, 0 Commander of the Faithful , we cannot tolerate beating, but if you want beards shaved.... "' Ibn 'Ayyish was cleanshaven . When al-Mansur was informed, he laughed and said,
"What a really crafty and wicked man!"
According to Masi b. $ilih36A-Muhammad b. 'Uqbah al$aydawi369 Nasr b. Harb, who was in the guard of al-Mansur:
There was brought to me a man from a distant part who had
plotted to undermine the state , so I brought him in to Abu Ja'far
and when he saw him he said , "Are you Asbagh ? i37O and he said,
"Yes, 0 Commander of the Faithful ," so the caliph continued,
"Woe to you . Did I not free you and do good to you ?" and he said,
"Yes." "And you have striven to destroy my state and undermine
my rule," and he said, "I have done wrong, and forgiveness is more
becoming for the Commander of the Faithful ." Abu Ja'far called
'Umarah'371 who was present, and said to him , "O 'Umarah, this
is Asbagh ."'Umarah started to gaze intently into my face because
he had evil in his eyes and said , "Yes, 0 Commander of the Faithful," and al-Mansur said, "Bring me the purse that contains my
('ata')," and so the purse was brought and there were five hundred
dirhams in it, and he said, "Take it. It is pure silver, woe to you!
Go to your work," and he pointed with his hand and moved it.
'Umarah said , "I asked Asbagh what the Commander of the
Faithful meant and he replied, 'When I was a young man, I made
ropes and he used to eat from my earnings."372
Nasr said : Then he was brought again, and I took him in as I
had before and, when he stood before him, he stared at him and
said, "ASbagh !" and he replied, "Yes, 0 Commander of the Faithful," and he told him what he did to him and reminded him of it,
coming of the Hour of judgment ; therefore have no doubt about the Hour but
follow ye Me, this is a Straight Way," but it may be that IbnAyyish is insinuating
that al-Rabi`-like 'Isa-had no father.
; 68. Probably the traditionist Musa b. $ilih b. Shaykh, d. 257/871 (al-Khatib,
XIII, 42-4;1. He appears again as a narrator ; see al-Tabari, III, 589
369. $aydawi means from Sidon (Saydi ) in Lebanon Not known elsewhere.
370. No further information seems to be known about him.
371. B. Hamzah; see note 214, above.
372. That is, during Abu ja'far 's wanderings before the Abbislds came to
power.
1 4IS1
120
14171
380. Ushndnddnah , for holding the ashes of glasswort used for cleaning the
hands.
;81. Houtsma, citing ibn al-Athir, VI, 147, establishes that his true name was
Muhammad. The reading of Rabra is uncertain , and the editor )Addendum, ncLIv)
suggests Zira as a possible alternative. The significance of the name, which is
described as a laqab, or title, is quite unclear to me.
; 8z. A grandson of al-Mansur 's cousin Ja'far b. Sulayman (see note 35, above).
He contributes one other anecdote, below, p. ooo.
He replied, I took the song from Ma`bad.3116 I used to take melodies from him and if he was asked for it he would say, 'Go to
Ash'ab, for he has a better rendering of it than I."'
According to al-Asma` i-Ja`far b. Sulayman: Ash`ab said to
his son 'Ubaydah "I think that I will expel you from my house
and banish you," and he asked, "Why, 0 Father ?" and his father
replied, "I am the best of God's creatures in earning a loaf of
bread, and you are my son and you have reached this age of maturity and you are still in my household and have not earned
anything ." His son said, "I do earn, but I am like the banana tree
that does not bear fruit until its mother dies."
According to `Ali b. Muhammad b. Sulayman al-Hashimi-his
father Muhammad: The Sasanians used to cover the roofs of their
houses with clay in the summer every day and the king had his
siesta there. Stems of canes and willows, long and thick, were
brought and put together closely around the house. Large pieces
of ice were brought and put in the spaces between them. The
Umayyads did the same, and al -Mansur was the first to use sackcloth.
Some people say that at the beginning of his caliphate al-Mansur
made a clay house for himself in which to take his siesta in the
summer. Abu Ayyub al-Khuzi brought heavy cloths for him,
which were dampened and placed on a wooden framework, and
he enjoyed its cold and said, "I reckon that if you took thicker
cloths than these, they would hold more water and would be
colder." So he took sackcloth, and it was made into a dome for
him. Then the caliphs after him took woven palm leaves , and the
people did likewise.387
386. Two famous singers of this name are known - Ma'bad b. Wahb, who was
well known in the Umayyad court of Damascus in the reign of al-Walid b. Yazid,
d. t26 /744, and Ma'bad al-Yaqtini, who appeared at court in Hiran's reign and
was attached to the Barmakids ; it is difficult to link either of these chronologically
to Ash'ab. See Aghdni, Bali% 1, i9 XII, z68; Beirut, 1, 47, XIV, no.
387. For a discussion of these methods of cooling , see Ahsan, Social Life, z 8z- 83.
1 4 181
122
14191
395 Sudayf b. Maymun, see Aghdni, Buliq, XIV, 162., Beirut, XVI, 86. A Hi;izi
poet of Umayyad times who was a partisan of the Banu Hishim and forced into
hiding. He survived into the Abbisid period. This is the only citation of this poet
in al-Tabari 's History.
396. The ancestor of the Umayyads and brother to Hishim , ancestor of the
Abbisids and Alids.
397. Near Edessa (modern Urfa ) just north of the Turkish-Synan frontier. Marwin, the last Umayyad caliph, had made it his capital. Yiqut , Mu'jam, II, 2.35,
quotes a parallel verse that makes it clear that the tomb referred to is that of the
'Abbisid Ibrihim al-Imim.
398. Abdallih b. Ali had received most of his support from the people of
Syria; see Kennedy, Abbasid Caliphate, 58-61.
14201
124
1 4 211 1
400. Al- Akki. His brother'Uthmin had been an early supporter of the Abbisids
in Khurasin and was one of Abii Muslim's assassins. He had become head of alMangiir's guard, but the Riwandiyyah, who held him to be the spirit of Adam
incarnate, had killed him in their revolt . 'Isa succeeded him in command of the
guard until his death, probably in the 140s. The point of the story is to show Abu
la'far's concern for a family that had served him well (see Crone, Slaves, i89).
According to Ishaq b. Ibrahim al-Mawsili402-al-Fall b. alRabi'-his father: Abi3 Ja'far al-Manur held a public audience
for the people of Medina in Baghdad, a number of whom had come
on a delegation to him. He said, "Let every one of you who come
into me give his genealogy." One of those who came in was a
young man of the descendants of 'Amr b. Hazm, who gave his
genealogy403 and then said, "0 Commander of the Faithful, alAhwas recited a poem about us and we were deprived of our
wealth sixty years ago because of it." Abu Ja'far told him to recite
it so he recited:
Do not be moved with pity for a Hazmi if you see
poverty in him or even if the Hazmi has been thrown into the
fire,
Those who pricked the mule of Marwan, at Dhu Khushub4O4
the invaders of 'Uthmin's house. 405
He continued, "The poem is in praise of al-Walid b. 'Abd alMalik,' and he had him recite the qasidah and, when he reached
this point, al-Walid said, 'You have reminded me of the sin of the
family of Hazm,' and he ordered the confiscation of their wealth."
Abu Ja'far asked him to recite the poem to him again, and he
repeated it three times, and Abu Ja'far said, "Certainly you will
401. That is to say that it was registered in the diwans , where official salaries
were listed ; the implication is that these were regular payments, not one-time
gifts.
402. Perhaps the most famous of the singers of the early Abbasid court. He
succeeded his father, who died in 188/804, at the cultural center of the Abbasid
court. See Aghdni, Buliq, V, 52; Beirut, V, 242 ; Ell, s.v. "isbit b. Ibrihim alMawgili."
403. He was a descendant of Amr b. Hazm al-Anliri, a companion of the
Prophet. The family supported 'Ali's claim to the caliphate, hence its members'
attacks on the Umayyads Marwin and 'Uthmin, their punishment by the Umayyad
caliph al-Walid, and the restoration of their properties by Abu ja'far.
404. A valley one night 's journey from Medina (Yiqut, Mu'lam, II, 372).
405. The assailants who attacked the caliph 'Uthman in his house in Medina
and killed him in 35/656.
406. Umayyad caliph, 86-96/705-15.
413. Arwa bt . Manger. He marred her before becoming caliph . It is not known
when she died.
414. Authority on religious law.
142-31
1 4 24 1
418. Ancient Susa, in Khuzistin, southwestern Iran. See Yiqut , Mu'lam, III,
z8o-8i ; Le Strange, Lands, 240.
419. Yahyi b. al-Hasan b . Abd al-Khiliq, maternal uncle of al-Fa1 b . al-Rabi'.
He mentioned on the authority of Abin b . Yazid al- Anbarial-Haytham al-Qari ' al-Basri :42O He read in the presence of alMansur, "Squander not in the manner of a spendthrift, X421 to the
end of the verse, and al-Mansur said to him and started praying,
"God preserve me and my son from squandering the gifts that.
You have bestowed on us! " Al-Haytham read to him, "Those who
are niggardly or enjoin niggardliness on others . ,422 He said to the
people, "If it were not that wealth is the fortress of authority and
the pillar of the Faith and of this world and the glory and ornament 1 4 251
of them, I would not pass a night retaining a dinar of it nor a
dirham because of the pleasure I find in expending wealth and
because of the reward I know lies in giving it away."
A learned man entered to al-Mansur, and he thought little of
him and he fixed him with his eyes disdainfully , but he did not
ask him any questions he did not know the answer to. He said to
him, "Where did you get all this knowledge ?" and he replied, "I
am not stingy with the knowledge I have learned, and I am not
ashamed to learn," and he said, "From there." He said: Al-Mansur
often used to say, " Whoever acts without organization," or he
said, "Whoever acts from lack of organization will not lack
mockery or scorn from the people."
According to Qahtabah: 423 I heard a1-Mansur say that kings
will put up with anything from their intimates except three things,
giving away of secrets, interfering in what is inviolate, and slandering the king.
According to `Ali b. Muhammad : Al-Mansur used to say, "Your
secret is of your life blood , so take care whom you entrust it
to.i424
420. Neither of these sources is known elsewhere. Ai-Qari means "the (Qur'an)
reader."
421. Qur'an, XVII: 26.
422. Qur'an, IV: 37.
423. B. Ghadanah al -(ushami. These are the only two occasions al-Tabari uses
him as a source.
424. Or "Do not pour it out"; Freytag, Proverbia, III, 222.
'3r
honor his own face to the exclusion of your face, so honor your
own face rather than rejecting him."
According to 'Umar b. Shabbah-Muhammad b. 'Abd alWahhab al-Muhallabi:429 I heard Ishaq b. 'Isa saying, "There was
none of the Banu al=Abbi s who could speak and be spontaneously
eloquent except Abu Ja'far, Dawud b. 'Ali,430 and al-Abbas b.
Muhammad."
435. Not recorded elsewhere, this is the first of a small group of stones in
which Abu la'far confronts hecklers in the mosque.
142$1
440. Referring to al-Musayyab b. Zuhayr , chief of polices see above, note 24.
441. Freedman of al-Manger , see al-Khatib, IX, 482
442. In the year 147/764-65.
443. Qur'dn, XXI: toy.
[429)
134
pressors444 who treated the Ka'bah with contempt and took the
fay' as an inheritance441 and who have made the Qur' an into
shreds.446 He has afflicted them with what they scorned. How
many blocked-up wells and lofty castles do you see? God has cast
them into oblivion because they changed the Sunna and oppressed
the Family (of the Prophet). They turned aside and acted outrageously and became overbearing. He has frustated the hopes of
every obdurate tyrant. Then He took them and said, 'Canst thou
find a single one of them or hear a whisper of them?' A47
According to al-Haytham b. 'Adi-Ibn 'Ayyash: When the incidents441 followed one another before Abu Ja'far, he quoted the
verse,449
14301
Then he ordered that the commanders, the freedmen, his companions, and the people of his house be summoned to his presence,
and he ordered Hammad al-Turki to saddle up the horses, Sulayman b . Mujalid to take the lead, and al -Musayyab b. Zubayr to
guard the gates . Then he went out one day and climbed the pulpit.
He was silent for a long time , saying nothing, and a man said to
Shabib b. Shabbah'450 "What is the matter with the Commander
of the Faithful that he does not speak? For he is one of those for
whom the most difficult speech is easy. What is the matter with
him?" Then he began the sermon:
"Why am I repelling others from Sa'd4-11 when he abuses me?
If I were to abuse the Banu Sa'd, they would be silent
445 The Umayyads are accused here of taking the fay', which should belong to
all the Muslims communally, as their personal property.
446. Qur'dn, XV: 91.
447. Qur'dn, XIX: 98.
448. See above, note zo6.
449. Aghdni, XI, 74.
450. Possibly a brother of 'Omar b. Shabbah, the historian; nothing else is
known of him.
"I threw the covering from my head , and I am not the sort of man
to
uncover it except because of a great calamity.
By God, they452 were incapable of the matter we have undertaken,
and they were not grateful to the one who did it. It was made
smooth for them and they sought to make it rough and they
refused to recognize the truth and held it in contempt . What have
they sought ? That I would drink muddy water that chokes or
accept injustice and agony? By God, I do not honor anyone by
insulting myself. By God, if they do not accept the truth, they will
seek it, but they will not find it with me . The happy man is he
who is warned by others . Lead on, page! " Then he rode off.
According to al-Fugaymi-`Abdallah b . Muhammad b. `Abd alRahman,453 freedman of Muhammad b. `Ali:454 When al-Mansur
had arrested `Abdallah b. Hasan4ss and his brothers and those of
his family who were with him, he went up on the pulpit and gave
thanks to God and praised Him and prayed for the Prophet. Then
he said, "0 people of Khurasan, you are our party (shiah) and our
helpers (ansar) and the people of our state and, if you give the oath
of allegiance to someone else, you will not take a better oath to
him than to us. As for these members of my family from the
children of All b. Abi Talib, we have left them, by the one and
only God, with the caliphate. We did not oppose them in the
caliphate in any way.456 All b. Abi Talib undertook it and he was
stained, and the two judges passed judgment on him and the
Community split from him and opinions were divided about him.
Then his own party, helpers, companions, retinue, and trusted
143=1
457. 'Ali was caliph in 35-40/656-61. After the Battle of Siffin he agreed to
accept the verdict of the two judges 'Amr b. al=Ag and Abu Mai al-Ash`ari as to
whether he was worthy of the caliphate. This in turn led to the defection of many
of his supporters, notably the first Kharijites.
458. All's son al-Hasan surrendered his rights to the caliphate to Mu'iwiyah
in exchange for a large sum of money and went to live a life of luxury in Medina.
459 At Karbala', near al-Kufah, in 6i/68o.
460. He rebelled in al-Kufah in 111/740 but was captured and executed.
461. Al-Mangur's father.
1137
1431
1138
the steps of the pulpit, "And between them and their desires is
placed a barrier as was done in the past with their partisans, for
they were indeed in suspicious doubt."46s
1 4331
1 4341
(4 351
141
the gddi had made, he wrote to him about that and asked those
who were in his presence about his conduct and, if he disapproved
of anything that was done , he wrote to him, rebuking him and
criticizing him.
According to Ishaq al-Maw^ili-al-Sabbah b. Khagan al-Tamimi
-a man of his family-his father: Al-Walid was mentioned to alMansur when he was settling in Baghdad and leaving Medina
and finishing with Muhammad and Ibrahim, the sons of Abdallah,
and they said, "God curse the apostate unbeliever ." In the assembly were Abu Bakr al-Hudhali, Ibn Ayyash al-Mantuf, and alSharqi b. al-Qulami,477 all of them members of his sahnbah, and
Abu Bakr al -Hudhali said that he was told by a paternal cousin of
al-Farazdag478 that al-Farazdaq said, "I came into the presence of
al-Walid b. Yazid,479 and his boon companions were with him and
he had had a morning drink and he said to Ibn `A'ishah,480 'Sing
the song of Ibn al -Zibara:481
480. Muhammad b. A'ishah, d. ca. 1:5/744, famous singer at the court of the
Umayyad caliph al-Walid b . Yazid. See Aghani, B6liq, Il, 6%) Beirut, II, 170.
481. Abdallih b. Zibafa al -Sahmi, Qurashi poet who abused the Muslims. He
was converted to Islam at the conquest of Mecca and was received by the Prophet,
see Aghdni, Buliq, XIV, ii ; Beirut, XV, 13S. The poem is also quoted by Ibn
Hishim, Sirah, 6i6.
482L. One of the tubes of Medina that supported the Prophet Muhammad This
is an anti-Islamic poem, attacking the military prowess of the Prophet 's supporters
at the battle of Badr, hence Ibn A'ishah 's reluctance to sing it and al -MangUr's
comment.
(436
142
the faith of Ibn al-Ziba`ra the day he recited this poem. Al-Mansur
cursed him and his companions cursed him, and he said, 'Praise
be to God for his generosity and his unity."'
According to Abu Bakr al-Hudhali: The governor of Armenia483
wrote to al-Mansur that the army had mutinied against him and
broken the locks of the treasury and taken what was in it, and alMansur said in his letter, "Leave our office in disgrace, for if you
were intelligent they would not have mutinied and if you were
strong they would not have plundered."
According to Ishaq al-Mawsili-his father : A joker rebelled
against Abu Ja`far in Palestine and he wrote to his governor there,
"His blood will be on your blood if you do not send him to me,"
so he made great efforts to find him, captured him, and sent him
off. He was ordered to be brought into the caliph 's presence and
when he stood before him Abu Ja `far said to him, "You have
preyed on our governors. I will scatter about more of your flesh
than remains on your bone," and he replied , and he was an old
man with a weak , thin, unimpressive voice:
Do you train your wife after she has become decrepit?
The training of the decrepit man is wearisome.484
14371
He said, "0 Rabi`, I have forgiven him so let him go, take care of
him, and give him good care."
He said: A man complained to al-Mansur about his tax gatherer
('dmil ), saying that he had taken a part of his estate and added it
to his property, so he wrote to his official in the note of the
complainer, "If you prefer justice, peace will be your companion.
Do justice to this complainer for his wrong."
He said: A man of the common people wrote a note to him
requesting the building of a mosque in his area , and he wrote on
143
14381
1 439)
[ 4401
1147
Among the eleg.'es for al-Mansur was the poem of Salm alKhasir:501
[4421
The names of his children and wives : Among his children were
al-Mahdi, whose name was Muhammad, and Ja'far the Elder,
and their mother was Arwa, daughter of Mansur and sister of
Yazid b. Mansur al-Himyari . Her kunyah was Umm Musa. This
Ja'far died before al -Mansur. There were also Sulayman, `Isa and
Ya`qub, whose mother was Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad,
Soz. Lit . "the two heavy ones", see Lane, s.v., thgl.
5o3. A name of Baghdad, allegedly because the qiblah was bent or crooked and
did not face Mecca. See Le Strange , Baghdad, r i.
505. One of the companions of the Prophet, killed at the Battle of the Camel in
36/656.
506. Little is known of fa'far the Younger, and he seems to have played no part
in politics He died in i86/8oz.
507. Not noticed in Le Strange.
508. Not known elsewhere.
509. Brother of Muhammad (note z9j and la'far (note 35(. He was probably
younger than his brothers and only became prominent in the reign of Harun, when
he held a number of governorates, including Sind, Egypt, al-Ba$rah, and Armenia.
He disappears from the record after 194/810. As a governor he seems to have been
rather ineffectual but is recorded in the Fihnst as an early patron of translators.
Daughters of the Abbasid caliphs in this period were usually married within the
family.
51o. The various versions of al-Mangur 's wills and their interpretation are discussed in detail in Dietrich , "Das politische Testament ." He also provides a
German translation on which I have drawn.
(44 31
(44 4(
fir. Baghdad.
"I commend to you generous treatment to the people of Khurasan, for they are your helpers (ansdr) and your party (shi'ah) and
have spent their wealth in the service of your state and shed their
blood for you. You will not drive out love for you from their
hearts if you are good to them and forgive whoever among them
commits a blunder, rewarding them for what they do and providing for the families and children of those of them who die, but
I do not think you will do this.
"Take care over the building of the eastern city (of Baghdad) in
case you do not complete it, but I do not think you will do this.
"Be careful not to ask for help from a man of the Banu Sulaym,513
and I think you will do this.
"Be careful not to bring women to advise you in your affairs,514
and I think you will do this."
According to sources other than al-Haytham : Al-Mansur summoned al-Mahdi when he left for Mecca and said to him, "0 Abu
`Abdallah,515 I am setting out and I will not return , for we are
God's and return to him . I am asking for a blessing on what I am
going to do. This sealed book contains my testament . If you hear
that I have died and power has passed to you , look into it. I have a
debt and I would like you to pay it and be responsible for it." He
replied, "I will do it, 0 Commander of the Faithful ." He said, "It
is three hundred thousand dirhams and some more, and I do not
consider it lawful to pay it from the treasury of the Muslims, so
take responsibility for it and for any more like it," and he replied,
"I will do it."
14451
144 61
1 4471
) 448)
"Refrain from taking the fay', for you have no need of it on top
of what I have left you . Inaugurate your work with a grant to the
family and generosity to the kinsmen . Beware of self-indulgence
and wasting your subjects' wealth, fortify the frontiers and establish the borders; make the roads safe. Extend your favor to
the best people, improve the livelihood of the common people,
and keep them calm by bringing them benefits and defending
them from disaster . Keep account of your wealth and put it in the
treasury and beware of waste. Nobody is secure from misfortunes,
and (future ) events cannot be relied on, for that is the nature of
time.
"Prepare men and horses and soldiers as far as you are able.
Take care not to put off today 's work until tomorrow, lest matters
pile up on you and they are lost. Be diligent in settling matters
that come up at the proper time , first come, first served. Make an
effort to get ready for them and prepare men at night to know
what will happen in the day and prepare men in the day to know
what will happen at night . Take matters in hand yourself; do not
get impatient, do not be idle, and do not be faint-hearted. Think
the best of your Lord but the worst of your tax collectors and
secretaries. Hold yourself in wakefulness. Investigate those who
spend the night at your gate and grant permission to the people
(to see you) readily. Investigate those strangers who come to
you and entrust them to a sleepless eye and undallying soul. Do
not sleep, as your father has not slept since he succeeded to the
caliphate, and sleep has not entered his eyes without his heart
being awake . This is my testament to you and God is my Successor in charge of you."
155
for you more freedmen than any caliph before me and I have built
for you a city the likes of which there has not been in Islam. I am
only afraid for you of two men, `Isa b. Musa and `Isa b. Zayd.519
As for `Isa b. Musa, he has given me assurances and guarantees
that I have accepted from him and, by God, even if he only spoke
empty words, I am not afraid for you of him, so put him out of
your mind. As for'Isa b. Zayd, if you spend this money, kill these
freedmen, and destroy this city so that you can gain control of
him, I would not criticize you."
According to `Isa b. Muhammad-Musa b. Harun: When alMansur reached the last halt on the road to Mecca, he looked
inside the house he was staying in and there was written in it:
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Abu Ja'far, your death is drawing near, and your years
Are coming to a close. There is no escape from the decree of God.
Abu Ja'far, is there a wizard520 or astrologer
With you today who can hold back the pain of death?
He summoned the man in charge of maintaining the halting places
and said to him, "Did I not give you orders that no vandal should
enter the building?" and he replied, "0 Commander of the Faithful, no one has entered it since it was finished." He said, "Read
what is written inside the house!" and the man replied, "I do not
see anything, 0 Commander of the Faithful." He summoned the
chief chamberlain and said, "Read what is written inside the
house!" and he replied, "I do not see anything inside the house."
Al-Mansur then dictated the two verses and they were written
down . Then he turned to his chamberlain and said , "Recite me a
verse from the Book of God that will make me long for God," and
he recited, "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
And soon will the unjust assailants know to what vicissitudes
Sig. Son of Zayd b. Ali who rebelled against the Umayyads in al-Kufah m 122/
740. He played an active role in the Alid rebellions of 145/762 and subequently
went into hiding, becoming leader of the small clandestine group of the Zaydiyyah
(see above, note 137) and refusing the blandishments of al-Mahdi and Ya'qub b.
Diwud. He died of natural causes toward the end of al-Mahdi 's reign (see Ilfahini,
Maqdtil, especially pp. 405, 411, 416-19).
520. A soothsayer or pre-Islamic holy man among the Arabs; see Ell, s.v.
"Kahn."
1 44 91
156
14501
their affairs will take them. "521 He ordered that his jaws be pinched
and said to him, "Could you not think of anything other than this
verse to recite?" and he replied, "0 Commander of the Faithful,
the Qur'an has been erased from my mind except for this verse."
He gave orders to move from that lodging, seeing what had occurred
as an evil omen, and he rode off on horseback . When he was in the
wddi called Saqar, which was the last lodging on the road to
Mecca, his horse stumbled and crushed his back . He died and was
buried at Bi'r Maymun.
According to Muhammad b. `Abdallah, freedman of the Banu
Hashim522-one of the `ulamd' and people of adab: A voice called
to Abu Ja'far from his palace in the city and he heard it say:
By the Lord of Stillness and Movement,
death has different nets.
Remember, 0 myself, that if you do evil
and if you have good intentions, everything will be yours.
The night and day do not take turns,
nor do the stars of the sky revolve in the heavens
Except to transfer authority from one king,
when his power ceases, to another
Until they bring it to a King
Who shares the glory of His authority with no one,
Who is the Creator of the sky and earth,
the establisher of the mountains, the Controller of the
heavens.
157
saw him like that, intending to leave him, but he said to me after
a while, "I saw as a dreamer sees a man reciting these verses to
me:
16
The Caliphate of al-Mahdi
qI
1^
The
Events of the Year
15 8 (cont'd)
(NOVEMBER II, 774-OCTOBER 30, 775)
41
Muhammad b. `Abdallah b. Muhammad b. All b. `Abdallah b. al`Abbas: A description of the oath of allegiance that was taken to
al-Mahdi as caliph when his father al-Mansur died at Mecca.
According to All b. Muhammad al-Nawfall-his father: In the
year that Abu a far died I left (on the Pilgrimage ) by the Bagrah
road and Abu Ja`far had left by the Kufah road, and I met him at
Dhat `Irg525 and accompanied him. Whenever he rode, I put myself in his way and greeted him. He was seriously ill and on the
brink of death. When he reached Bi'r Maymun, he stayed there
and we entered Mecca and I completed the lesser pilgrimage. I
used to visit Abu Ja`far frequently in his camp and stay there
until shortly after midday, and then I left and the Hashimites did
likewise . His illness began to worsen and become acute. On the
night that he died, none of us knew and I performed the morning
prayer in the Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca) at daybreak and then
5:5. Modem Dariba, the point where pilgrims coming overland from Iraq don
the ihrdm . See Yiqut, Mu'jam, IV, 107.
1 4 521
1 4531
Then al-Rabi' came out with a scroll in his hand. He let the end
of it fall to the ground and took the top of it and read:
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
From 'Abdallih al -Mansur, Commander of the Faithful,
to the Bana Hishim, his supporters, the people of Khurisin,
and the generality of the Muslims who survive him.
Then he dropped the scroll from his hand and wept and the people
wept, and then he picked up the scroll and said, "It is easy for you
to weep but this is a covenant that the Commander of the Faithful
has made and we must read it to you, may God have mercy on
you, so listen!"
14541
14551
He said : I heard my father say that the first thing that earned
53 i. Al- Hasan was a leading member of the Alid family; hence his pledge of
loyalty was very important.
532. The narrator, Muhammad al-Nawfali, came from a branch of Quraysh,
Nawfal, having been a brother of Hishim and Abd Shams , and this accounts for
his position of honor.
533. Shaving the hair is part of ihrdm; he would have grown his hair to make
the subsequent shaving more noticeable.
535. He was a freedman of Muhammad b. All, al- Manyur's father, and later
became governor of Mosul.
536. The staff (gadib) and the mantle (burdah) were among the msigma of the
caliphate. The gadib was lost in the later Middle Ages, but it is believed that the
burdah passed eventually to the ottomans and is now kept in the Topkapi Palace
in Istanbul.
537. He was keeper of the seal at this time; see above, note 21.
538. Son of al-Manyur's long-serving gddib al-shurfah (above, note x4). He was
later governor of Egypt for a year in Hirun's reign and fdhib al-shurfah for alMa'mun (Crone, Slaves, 187).
539. There seems to have been a continuing rivalry between the family of alMusayyab b. Zuhayr al-Dabbi and Malik b. al-Haytham al-Khuza'i for command
of the shurfah. Al-Qisim himself was later gadib al-shurfah to Hirun for a short
time but was overshadowed by his powerful uncle Abdallih b. Malik. For the
family, see Kennedy, Abbasid Caliphate, 8o-8i.
540. It is not clear why 'Isi was so unpopular with sections of the Khurisimyyah, but the ruthless repression of the Riwandiyyah, who were Khurisinis, in
1411758- 59 seems to have been a contributory factor.
(456(
talked about their journey, one of the leaders being Abu Khalid alMarwarrudhi . The matter was on the point of becoming serious
and reaching alarming proportions so that they put on arms.
Muhammad b. Sulayman took action about that and dealt with
the matter with other members of his family, but Muhammad
was the best of them at it ; the disturbance died down and became
calm. He wrote to al-Mahdi about it, and he wrote back removing
`Ali b. 'Isa from command of Musa b. al-Mahdi 's guard and
putting Abu Hanifah Harb b. Qays54 i in his place , and the state of
the army quieted down . Al-Abbas b. Muhammad and Muhammad
b. Sulayman came to al-Mahdi , al-`Abbas b. Muhammad arriving
first. Manarah reached al-Mahdi on Tuesday, 115 Dhu al-Hijjah
(i6 October, 775, a Monday), greeted him as caliph, offered his
condolences, and handed the letters over to him . The people of
the City of Peace took the oath of allegiance to him.
According to al-Haytham b. `Adi-al-Rabi`: When al-Mansur
was on the pilgrimage during which he died, at al= Udhayb542 or
one of the other halts on the road to Mecca, he had a dream. AlRabi` was in the other side of his litter . He was frightened by it
and he said, "0 al-Rabi`, I think I will die on this trip of mine and
that you must secure the oath of allegiance to Abu `Abdallah alMahdi."
Al-Rabi' continued : I said to him, "God will preserve you, 0
Commander of the Faithful, and Abu `Abdallah will reach what
you love in your lifetime, if God wills ." His illness increased at
that, and he said, "Hasten me to the Haram and safety of my Lord,
and I will escape from my sins and self-indulgences." He continued
to feel like this until he reached Bi'r Maymun, and I said to him,
"This is Bi'r Maymun , so you have entered the Haram," and he
said, "Thanks be to God," and he died the very same day.
544. Al- Rabic tried to show that Abu Ja'far was in a normal condition . Thus he
dressed him in fawilah (galansuwah) and durrd'ah is coat of mail).
545 The narrative changes to the third person here.
546. Khdgah means the elite, or inner circle , and was a more loosely used term
than faltdbah, which can also be translated as "courtiers," who were a defined and
salaried group. Awhyd' is also a general term for prominent people.
547 The Abbisids had exhumed the bodies of the Umayyad caliphs and desecrated their graves; Abu Ja`far must have been anxious that the same would not
happen to him.
14571
14 581
saw $alih b. al-Mansur with his father. The people were with him
and Musa b. al-Mahdi was among his followers , but when the
people returned they were following Musa , and $alih was with
them.548
It was mentioned on the authority of al-Asma' is The first person
to announce the death of Abu Ja'far in al -Basrah was Khalaf alAhmar,549 and that was when we were sitting in the circlesso of
Yunus,sst and he passed us and greeted us and said:
"Calamity has prepared to bring forth her first born."
Yunus said, "What did he say?552
550. Halgah, the circle of students and friends gathered round a teacher.
551. Abu Ishiq Yunus b. Amr al-Sabi'i, a Baran traditionist who was an
important source for sections I and 11 of the History but who contributed no
material on the Abbasid period.
552. Meaning "How does the poem continue?"
553. Al- Tabari quotes him twice as a source for the last days of Umayyad rule
in Iraq, but nothing else is known of his career.
554 A tax specialist who was later in charge of the taxation of Iraq, Syria, and
the Maghrib in Hirun 's reign ; see Ya'qubi, Bulddn, 252; al -lahshiyari, 124, 177.
(4 591
16
The
Events of the Year
159
(OCTOBER 31, 775- OCTOBER 18, 776)
41
561. Son of Milik b. al-Haytham, brother of Abdallih b. Malik and uncle of alQasun b. Napr; see note 539 , above. Hamzah was later governor of Khurisin in
177/793-94 and died in 181/797-98 ; see Crone, Slaves, 181-83.
56z. He was again interim governor in the next year but is otherwise unknown.
563. He was bnefly governor of Sind two years later . None of the other commanders is known elsewhere.
564. The distinction seems to be between the salaried aindd and the voluntary
mu(awwi ah, who fought because they wished to make a contribution to the
,ihdd, or Holy War.
565. Murdbi fd f means the men who form such a garrison (see Lane, s.v. raba f a).
From the same root comes the better -known nbdf, meaning a frontier fortress or
simply a religious house.
566. According to Ibn al-Athir, this name should read $ubih (see editor's note).
567. So voweled by the editor in the text ; the manuscript versions are obviously
corrupt. They were Persian cavalrymen who deserted to the Muslims after the
conquest of Iraq and settled in al-Bagrah, where they became like a small tribe and
retained their own identity . See Morony, Iraq, 198, 207, 213.
568. Again this is reconstructed by the editor from corrupt readings . He relates
it to Persian shabdnah, meaning "night watchmen ." The Addenda, s.v. sbi,
suggests the reading siydbilah and that it derives from a name given to soldiers
originally from Sumatra who emigrated to Iraq in pre-Islamic times ; see EI', s.v.
"Sayabidiah."
571. His origins and rise and fall are fully dealt with in the following pages. AlTabari's version is corroborated with some more detail in al-Jahshiyari , 15 5 -63.
572. An 'Alid, son of Ibrahim , who led the 145/762 rebellion in al-Bagrah.
573. For the term Wagif, see note 559, above. He later took the news of alMahdi's death to al-Nadi in Jurlan (see al-Tabari, 111, 5451 and is last recorded in
202/917-18, when he took the oath of allegiance to Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi.
14631
(4641
577. Mawla of Shayban from al- KUfah and a poet at the court of Hirunj Ibn alNadim numbers him among the Zindiq poets ( Fihnst, 804). See Aghdni, BUlaq,
XIII, 14; Beirut, XIV, 166 . He is not quoted elsewhere by al-Tabari.
578. AbU 'Ubaydallih, al-Mahdi 's vizier, whose position was being threatened
by Ya'qub.
579 Ibn Yazid al-Azdi . He is described as joint qd4i of Askar al-Mahdi with
Ibn 'Ulithah. The sense of the poem is that he was supplanting Ibn 'Ulathah, just
as Ya'qub was supplanting Abu'Ubaydallah.
58o. I. e., a member of the tribe of Kindah, descended from the great Ash'ath
b. Qays al-Kindi, companion of the Prophet and a leading figure in the politics
of early Muslim Iraq. The family was still very influential in al-KUfah in early
Abbasid times . Ishaq was the father of Ya'qub al -Kindi, known as the "philosopher of the Arabs"; see Crone, Slaves, iio-iz.
1 4651
176
They say that Ishaq did not thank Sharik and that Sharik said to
him:
He prays and fasts for the things of this world he hopes for;
he attains them and prays and fasts no more.
According to `Umar583 - Ja`far b. Muhammad, the gddi of alKufah :584 Al-Mahdi put Shank in charge of the prayers as well as
the judiciary and Ishaq b. al-$abbah in charge of the police. Then
he later appointed Ishaq b. al-$abbah over the prayers and the
ahddth; then he appointed Ishaq b. al-$abbah b. 'Imran b. Ismail
b. Muhammad b. al-Ash`ath as governor of al-Kufah. He appointed
14661 al -Nu`man b. Ja'far al-Kindis85 over the police , but al-Nu'man
died and he appointed his brother Yazid b. Jafar over the police.
In this year al-Mahdi deposed Said b. Dalaj from the ahddth
of al-Barah and'Ubaydallah b. al -Hasan from the prayers and the
judiciary of its people, and he appointed `Abd al-Malik b. Ayyub
b. 7,ubyan al-Numayri in place of both of them. He wrote to Abd
al-Malik, ordering him to do justice to those people of al-Barah
who had been oppressed by Said b. Dalaj. Then in this year the
ahddth were removed from the control of 'Abd al-Malik b. Ayyub
and given to `Umarah b. Hamzah . `Umarah put a man from alBai3rah called al-Miswar b. `Abdallah b . Muslim al-Bahilis86 in
and none of his forebears seems to have distinguished himself; the identical genealogy is recorded by Ibn al-Kalbi (Caskel, table 24).
58z. The poem may be a comment on the different social status of Sharik and
Isbaq, humble Sharik appointing the aristocratic Ishaq as his deputy.
583. B.Shabbah.
584. Not recorded elsewhere.
585. Presumably a relative of his.
586. Probably a cousin of Salm b. Qutaybah b. Muslim al-Bahili, whose family
was prominent in al-Bagrah; see above, note 17.
589. Mother of the future caliphs al-Nadi and Hirtin and the princess al-Banugah.
A former slave of Yemeni origin, she became very powerful because of her influence with al-Mahdi. Her position declined in al-Hidi 's reign, but she regained
much of her influence upon the accession of Hiran. She died in ' 73/789.
59o. This lay on the west bank of the Tigris, where the isi Canal flowed into
it, see Le Strange, Baghdad, 146. There was a harbor there mostly used by boats
coming from al-Bayrah.
591. Not to be confused with Muhammad b . Sulaymin the 'Abbisid (see note
29, above ). He remained governor until 161/778, according to al-Tabari, but is not
recorded by al-Kinds (see note 167, above).
1 4671
597. Al- Azdi. He had been one of the small group of Khurasani soldiers who
had discovered al-Saffah in al-KUfah and first proclaimed him caliph (al-Tabari,
History, III, 361. Immediately before his death, al-Hidi sent him to arrest his
brother Harun, and, when Harun became caliph, he had Muhammad executed in
171/787-88.
(469
charge of the Pilgrimage and telling him of his longing to see him
and have him near.
[ 4701
e
The
Events of the Year
i6o
(OCTOBER 19, 776-OCTOBER 8, 777)
14721
603. The editor suggests that these words from Ibn al-Athir's version should be
inserted; al-Tabari,111, 47:, n. b.
604. Dar al-Diwan, presumably the building where the diwdn records (see note
401, above ) were kept, but it is not recorded by the geographers.
605. Sahn al-Abwdb, it seems that this was in the caliph's palace in al-Ruofah.
1473)
14 741
(476)
(477)
14781
609. He was to lead the expedition for the next two years . For his background,
see Crone, Slaves, ro5-6.
bro. Ya'gnbi, Bulddn, z53, says that he had a property in Baghdad and calls
him gdhrb al-balrr, "the lord of the sea."
61 i. Abu Bakrah Nufay' )or Nafi') b. Masruh was a slave man of Thaqif by
origin, but he became a mawla Ichent here , rather than freedman ) of the Prophet.
His mother, Sumayyah, later married 'Ubayd, so he and Ziyad were half -brothers
(see note 6r:). His descendant is claiming that this bond entitles him to be
considered as a member of the Prophet 's kin. The issue was important because
genealogy decided the level of pension paid by the diwdn.
6r2. Ziyad was Mu' iwiyah 's right -hand man in Iraq. At first he was accepted
as the son of 'Ubayd, a mawli of Thaqif and his wife Sumayyah , but it was widely
believed that Sumayyah had been unfaithful and that Ziyid's true father was Abu
Sufyin, Mu'iwtyah 's father. As a sign of his gratitude, Mu'awiyah acknowledged the link and had Ziyid accepted as an Umayyad . Al-Mahdi removed his
descendants to the humbler position of mawili of Thaqif. The descendant of Abu
Bakrah is arguing that this is a precedent and that the caliph can alter people's
genealogical status if he believes that to be right.
6 16. The situation seems to have been that the young Hiriin had some theoret-
192
Al-Mahdi led the pilgrims in this year. When he left his city, he
626. Numayr and Quraysh were of the Qays group, thinly represented in alBa$rah, and 'Abd al-Malik did not want to lose the family of Ziyad.
627. B. Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Talhah b.'Ubaydallah, a descendant of Talbah
b. 'Ubaydallah, the Prophet's companion and one of the first Muslims . This may
be why al-Tabarl singles him out for notice, for he does not seem to have been
famous for any other reason (see Caskel, Table 2r, for the full genealogy(.
628. B. Hishim al-Yashkuri. Ibn al-Athir adds that he was killed near Mosul,
and al-Khalifah, Tdrikh, 702, quotes al-Mahdi's letter refuting his claims. For
further details, see text, p. 492.
[ 482
In this year, al-Mahdi took off the cover (kiswah) of the Ka`bah
and replaced it with a new one. This was because the keepers of
the Ka'bah, it is said, told him that they were afraid that it would
be destroyed by the weight of the covers that were on it. He
ordered that the covers that were on it should be stripped off so
that it was completely bare. Then he ordered that the whole
house be covered with perfume (khaluq). It is said that, when
they reached Hisham's cover, they found it was made of very
thick brocade and they found that the covers of those before him
were mostly of textiles from Yemen.
This year it is said that al-Mahdi distributed a great deal of
money to the inhabitants of Mecca and that he did the same to
the people of Medina. It is said that the amount he distributed on
this journey was investigated and it was found to be thirty million
dirhams, which he brought with him. Three hundred thousand
dinars came to him from Egypt and 200,000 from Yemen, and it
was all distributed. One hundred and fifty thousand garments
were also distributed. He extended the mosque of the Prophet
of God and ordered the removal of the enclosure (magsurah)
that was in the mosque of the Prophet, so it was removed.629
He wanted to reduce the height of the pulpit of the Prophet of
God and return it to its original state, removing from it what
Mu`awiyah had added. It is said on the authority of Malik b.
Anas`0 that he took advice about this and he was told that there
629. The enclosure for prominent people (magfurah) was disapproved of by the
pious because all Muslims should be considered equal before God.
630. D. 179/796. The great traditionist and legal scholar, author of the Muwalld
and founder of the Maliki legal school ; see Ell, S.V. "Malik b. Anas."
were nails that joined the wood that Mu`iwiyah had added to the
original ancient wood and that it was not safe to take out these
nails because the vibration would break it, so he abandoned the
idea.
During the days he was staying in Medina he ordered that five
hundred of the men of the Ansir631 should be recruited and that
they should be a guard and helpers (ansdr) to him in Iraq. They
were to be given their food in addition to their salaries and, on
their arrival with him at Baghdad , they were given a property
(gati'ah),632 which was known after them.
During his stay there, he married Ruqayyah the Uthmani,
daughter of 'Amr.633
In this year Muhammad b. Sulayman brought ice to al-Mahdi,
which reached him in Mecca . Al-Mahdi was the first of the caliphs
to have ice brought to him in Mecca.
In this year, al-Mahdi returned to his family and others the
plots (gatd'f) that had been confiscated from them.
Ishaq b. al-$abbah al-Kindi was in charge of the prayers and the
ahddth in al-Kufah in this year , and Sharik was in charge of the
judiciary there . Muhammad b. Sulayman was in sole charge of
al-Basrah and its ahddth and its separate offices, the districts
(kuwar) of the Tigris, Bahrayn, and `Umin and the districts of
Ahwaz and Firs. 'Ubaydallah b. al-Hasan was in charge of the
judiciary of al-Ba^rah in this year. Mteidh b. Muslim was in
charge of Khurisan, al-Fadl b . $alih of al-jazirah, Rawh b. Hitim
of Sind, Yazid b. Hitim of Ifriqiyah, and Muhammad b. Sulayman
Abu Qamrah of Egypt.
63 r. In this case, descendants of the original an;8r of Medina, the helpers of the
Prophet are meant, not the Khurisiniyyah , who are often referred to as the an;ar
of the Abbisidsi see note 63 , above.
632. Le Strange, Baghdad, :: 2, notes a Bridge of the Anger on the East Bank of
the Tigris in Baghdad.
633. Probably daughter of Abdallih b . Amr, a grandson of the caliph'Uthman.
After al-Mahdi's death , Ruqayyah became the wife of al-Husayn b. Ali, the unsuccessful 'Alid rebel of 169/785-86.
( 484)
16
The
Events of the Year
161
(OCTOBER 9, 777-SEPTEMBER 27, 778)
4P
634. For the most recent discussion of al-Muganna `, with full references, see
Daniel, Khurdsdn, 137-47.
635. This name should probably read Ugbah b. Salm, on whom see note 72,
above.
636. He was later appointed governor of Sind (see below , p. 505 ; Ya`qubi,
Td'rikh, II, 4651 Crone, Slaves, 192.
637. Not to be confused with Said b. Amr b. Aswad al -Harashi, who was
governor of Khurisin for the Umayyads 103-4 /721-22 (cf. Crone, Slaves, 144-45,
who attempts to link the two). Al -Kindi, Governors, 122, reveals that the family at
638. In Transoxania between Samarqand and the Oxus, known since AD the
fifteenth century as Shahr-i Sabz . See Le Strange, Lands, 469-70.
639. Son of the Khurasani commander Muhammad b . al-Ash'ath al-Kliuzi'i.
He was later governor of Sind and died there in 164 /780-811 (Crone, Slaves, i85).
640. Son and heir apparent of Marwin b. Muhammad, the last Umayyad caliph.
He died in pnson in 170/786-87.
641. The state pnson within the walls of the Round City in Baghdad; see Le
Strange, Baghdad, :7.
642. Nothing is known of this man or his father.
1 48 51
( 486(
644. Modem Mara, in southeastern Turkey. It was one of the main Muslim
bases on the south side of the Taurus mountains ; see Le Strange, Palestine, 502-3.
645. With the establishment of Abbasid power in Iraq, the pilgrimage road
from al- Kufah and al-Ba$rah to Mecca became increasingly important, and water
supply was a constant problem ; see below, p. Sot. This was aggravated by the fact
that the pilgrimage fell in high summer during the reigns of al-Mahdi and Hirun.
This was one of a series of measures to improve the position that culminated in
the work of Zubaydah in the reign of Hirun.
649. In 141/758-59. For the fall of Abu'Ubaydallih, see also al -Jaht;, 150-57,
and Sourdel, Vizlrat, 1, 99-103.
14871
14881
He said : When Abu `Ubaydallah saw the influence of the freedmen over al-Mahdi and how they were alone with him, he approached four educated and knowledgeable men from different
tribes and attached them to al -Mahdi so that they were among his
courtiers, so as not to let the freedmen be alone with him. Then
when Abu `Ubaydallah spoke to al-Mahdi on some business of
his, one of these four men raised objections concerning the business that he was speaking about. Abu `Ubaydallah passed over it
in silence and did not argue with him and left. He ordered that the
man be kept from seeing al -Mahdi, so he was kept from him.
News of this reached my father.
He said : My father went on the pilgrimage with al-Mansur in
the year in which he died, and my father undertook what he undertook on behalf of al-Mahdi with regard to the oath of allegiance
and its renewal from the household of al-Mansur and his commanders and freedmen . When he arrived, I met him after sunset
and accompanied him while he went past his dwelling place and
left the house of al-Mahdi and went to Abu `Ubaydallah and he
said, "0 my little son, he is friend ($dhib) of the man,6so and it is
necessary that we should not deal with him as we used to deal
with him about it, nor should we call him to account for the help
we gave him in his business."
We went oil until we reached Abu `Ubaydall ah's gate, and he
remained standing while I prayed the evening prayer . The chamberlain came out and said, "Enter," so he stretched his legs and
I stretched mine. (The chamberlain ) said, "I only gave you permission to enter, 0 Abu al-Fadl," and my father replied, "Go and
tell him that al-Fadl is with me," and turning to me he said, "This
is also related to that."
He said : The chamberlain came out and gave permission for us
to enter together so we went in , my father and I . Abu `Ubaydallah
was in the front of the reception room, on a prayer mat leaning
with his elbow on a cushion and I said (to myself), "He (usually)
stands up for my father when he comes in," but he did not stand
up for him. And I said, "He will sit erect when he approaches
him," but he did not do it. And I said, "He will summon a prayer
650. l.e., al-Mahdij now that Abu 'Ubaydallih's master is caliph, he must be
treated with respect.
14 8 91
14901
have any ideas about his business ?" He replied, "Abu `Ubaydallah
can only be got at in one way, which I will tell you. It is said that
Abu Ubaydallah is the most ignorant of men in his trade, but
Abu `Ubaydallah is the most skillful of people , or it is said that
he is suspect in his adoption of the Faith, but Abu `Ubaydallah is
the most upright of men; if the daughters of al-Mahdi were in his
lap, that would be their safe place . Or it is said that he is inclined
to contradict the Sultan, but Abu `Ubaydallah cannot be attacked
through that , yet he is only showing some inclinations toward
Qadar. He cannot be attacked through that to the extent of
drawing an accusation against him, but he can be attacked for all
this through his son."
Al-Rabi` took him in his arms and kissed him between the
eyes. Then he began to conspire against the son of Abu `Ubaydallah and, by God, he continued to scheme and make insinuations
to al-Mahdi and accused him with regard to one of al-Mahdi's
harem until suspicion of Muhammad b. Abu `Ubaydallah was
established in al-Mahdi 's mind. He ordered that he should be
summoned and Abu Ubaydallah was brought out, and he said,
"Muhammad, recite! " and he began to recite, but he was unable
to speak the Qur'an. The caliph said, "Mu`awiyah, did you not
tell me that your son has learned all the Qur'an?" He replied, "0
Commander of the Faithful , I did tell you, but he left me years ago
and in that period when he kept his distance from me, he has
forgotten the Qur'an." He said, "Get up and come near to God by
killing him!" and he began to stand up and collapsed . Al-`Abbas
b. Muhammad said , "I think, Commander of the Faithful, that
you should excuse the old man."
65z. Al-Rugafah in Baghdad was sometimes called 'Askar al-Mahdi , the Camp
of al-Mahdi, and it may be what is meant here.
653. It is not clear what is meant here . The Sharqiyyah quarter lay on the west
bank of the Tigris to the east of the Round City. According to Le Strange (Baghdad,
9o-91), it originally had its own Friday mosque and gdtii, so it could have been
referred to as a madinah . The other possibility is that this should read , madinat
al-gharbiyyah ("the western city"), meaning the Round City and its suburbs on
the west bank, as opposed to al-Rug3fah on the east.
654. Al-Kindi, Governors, ixS.
14921
The
Events of the Year
162
( SEPTEMBER 28, 778- SEPTEMBER 16, 779)
14931
663. Presumably this relates to the payment of alms, though why the people of
the prisons )ahl al-suivn) were so favored is not clear.
664. Brooks, "Byzantines and Arabs ," 735-36. My interpretation differs somewhat from his.
665. Dorylaion, modem Eski$ehir, on the main road across Asia Minor, between the frontier and Constantinople.
666. Nothing more is known about him.
1 4941
The
Events of the Year
163
(SEPTEMBER 17, 779- SEPTEMBER 5, 780)
0
`Isa b. `Ali died on the last day of Jumada II (March 1111, 780) in
Baghdad . The next day al -Mahdi left for al-Baradan, setting out on
the summer expedition . He left Musa b. al-Mahdi as his deputy in
Baghdad, and his secretary at that time was Aban b. $adaqah;
`Abdallah b. U lathah was the keeper of his seal ; `Ali b. `Isa was
14 951
676. B. Khuzaymah al-Tamimi . The text reads Hizim, but this is corrected in
the Addenda. Son of Khazim (note r i i, above), he was Sahib al-shurEah to al-Hidi
for many years and was consequently out of office under Hanin but emerged after
his death as one of al-Amin's chief supporters ; see Crone, Slaves, iSr.
677. Castle of Maslamah , more commonly called Hign ("fortress ") Maslamah.
It lay to the north of the Euphrates in al-)azirah , between Harrin and al -Raqqah.
Maslamah was a son of the Umayyad caliph 'Abd al -Malik who never became
caliph himself but established a great reputation as a soldier on the Byzantine
frontier. He built a formidable fortress there and developed irrigation systems,
much admired by the geographers (Yaqut, Mu';am, II, 265 , Le Strange, Lands,
ro5).
He said: My father came and I gave him the message and he went
into al-Mahdi and told him . He replied, "By God, he has made
a good excuse, not like the cupper, son of the cupper" (meaning
`Amir b. Isma`il,68O who had excused himself from setting out
with Ibrahim and he was angry with him and confiscated his
wealth).
According to `Abdallah b. Ahmad b . al-Waddah-his grandfather Abu Budayl : "` Al-Mahdi sent al-Rashid on a raid and he
sent with him Musa b. `Isa b . Musa, 'Abd al-Malik b. $alih b.
`Ali, and two of his father 's freedmen, al-Rabi' the Chamberlain
and al- Hasan the Chamberlain.682 Two or three days after he set
out, I came in to him (al-Mahdi ), and he said, "Why were you kept
back from going with the heir apparent and especially with your
two brothers ( meaning al-Rabi` the Chamberlain and al-Hasan
the Chamberlain)?" and I replied, "The Commander of the Faithful gave me orders and my place is in the City of Peace until he
gives me permission ," and he said, "Go and catch up with him
and the two of them and say what you require ." I said, "I do not
need any equipment , if the Commander of the Faithful decides to
give me permission to leave ." He asked, "When do you intend to
68i. Al-Wa44ah b. Habib, quoted by al-Tabari four times in all. His father had
governed al- Rayy for the Umayyads (Crone, Slaves, 1671.
68z. Possibly to be identified with al -Hasan al-Watif, who had been on a previous raid on Byzantium in 159/779 , see note 559, above.
14 961
1 4971
He said: I thanked him for that and kissed his hand and he
ordered that I be given a hundred thousand dirhams as subsistence for my journey, and I was sent to that army when I was sent
to him.
He said: Al-Rabi` sent Sulayman b. Barmak on a mission to alMahdi and sent a delegation with him. Al-Mahdi was generous to
his mission and favored him and was good to the delegation who
were with him. Then they went on their way.
In this year was the journey of al-Mahdi with his son Harlin. AlMahdi deposed `Abd al-$amad b. `Ali from al-lazirah and appointed Zufar b. 'Aim al-Hilali in his place.
The reasons for his deposition:
498)
2114
1 4991
He reviewed his army there and gave orders for the journey. He
despatched all those of his family who had joined him with his
son Harun to Byzantium . Al-Mahdi escorted his son Harun until
he had gone through the Pass and reached the Jayhan, 687 and there
he chose the site of the city that was called al-Mahdiyyah.688 He
bade farewell to Harun by the Jayhan.
laid down for themselves that they would not be killed or deported
or split up. They were granted that and they came out, and he
fulfilled (the conditions] for them. Harun returned safely with the
Muslims, except those who had been killed or wounded there.69'
In this year and on this journey, al-Mahdi went to Jerusalem
and prayed there . With him were al -Abbas b. Muhammad, alFadl b. $alih, All b. Sulayman, and his maternal uncle Yazid b.
Mansur.
In this year al-Mahdi deposed Ibrahim b. $alih from Palestine,
and Yazid b. Mansur interceded for him until he was reinstated
over it.
In this year al-Mahdi gave his son Harlin charge of all the west
and Azerbaijan and Armenia .692 He appointed as his secretary in
charge of taxation Thabit b. Musa and in charge of his correspondence Yahya b. Khalid b . Barmak.
In this year Zufar b. `ASim was deposed from al -Jazlrah and
`Abdallah b. $alih b. All was appointed in his place. Al-Mahdi
had stayed with him on his journey to Jerusalem and admired his
house, which he saw in Salamiyah.693
In this year he deposed Mu`adh b. Muslim from Khurasan and
appointed al-Musayyab b. Zuhayr to it.
In this year he deposed Yahya al -Harashi from al-Isfahan and
appointed al-Hakam b. Sa`id694 in his place.
689. Rusfdq, from Middle Persian rostak, an administrative district of the
Sasaman Empire . The term continued in use in Muslim Iraq, but it is somewhat
strange to find it in a Byzantine context.
690. A Byzantine fortress above Tarsus near the Cilician Gates; see Le Strange,
Palestine, Sao.
691. For this expedition, see Brooks, "Byzantines and Arabs," 436-37.
69z. This is the first example of the division of the caliphate between two
Abbasid princes, which was to be a recurrent feature of the politics of the dynasty.
693. In central Syria, to the east of Hamah. His house is commented on by the
geographers, and his descendants continued to live there for many years. See Le
Strange, Palestine, 5z8.
694. He is not recorded elsewhere.
The
Events of the Year
164
(SEPTEMBER 6, 780-AUGUST 25, 781)
41
Among the events of this year was the raid697 by `Abd al -Kabir b.
'Abd al -Hamid b. `Abd al-Rahman b. Zayd b. al-Khattab698 by the
pass of al-Hadath. Michael the Patrician met him, it is said, with
about ninety thousand men, among them 't azadh the Armenian
the Patrician 699 Abd al-Kabir lost heart before him and prevented
the Muslims from fighting and returned . Al-Mahdi wanted to
execute him, but intercession was made for him and he was imprisoned in the Mutbaq.
In this year, al-Mahdi deposed Muhammad b . Sulayman from
his offices. 70 He sent $alih b. Dawud7O1 over what Muhammad
b. Sulayman had had and sent with him `Asim b. Musa al-Khurasani
e
The
Events of the Year
165
(AUGUST 26 , 781-AUGUST 14, 782)
0
(5041
Among the events of this year was the summer raid of Harun, son
of Muhammad al-Mahdi . 711 It is said that his father sent him on
Saturday, 18 Jumada II (February 7, 782 , a Thursday), to raid the
lands of Byzantium. He attached al-Rabi` his freedman to him.
Harun penetrated deeply into Byzantine territory and conquered
Majidah .712 The horsemen of Nicetas, Count of Counts, 71; met
him. Yazid b. Mazyad went out to meet him in single combat.
Yazid was forced to dismount,714 and then Nicetas fell off and
Yazid struck him so that he was defeated. The Byzantines were
put to flight, and Yazid took posession of their camp and went
to the Domesticos, head of the armed forces (masdlih ) in Nicomedia. 715 Harun set out with 95,793 men and took 194,450
711. Brooks, "Byzantines and Arabs," 737-38 ; my interpretation differs somewhat from that of Brooks.
712. In Cappadocia (Honigmann, Ostgrenze, 46, 47(.
713. Count of the Opsikion Theme.
717. Unusually al-Tabari uses the Christian months Nisan and Haziran here.
As Brooks and the Addenda point out, Nisan should probably read Kinun 1, being
December and making the payments due every half year.
718. Sometimes called al -Akbar, to distinguish him from Abu al-Saint
Marwin b. Abi al-Janub, who is also called lbn AN Haf$ah . See Aghdni, Bulaq, IX,
36; Beirut, X, 74.
15051
222
You just went toward it and lo, its kings came to you
with its jizyah, while the pots of war were boiling.
In this year he deposed Khalaf b . 'Abdallih from al-Rayy and
appointed 'Isa, freedman of ja'far, 719 to it.
In this year $alih b. Abi Ja'far al -Mansur led the pilgrims.
The governors of the amsar were the same this year as in the
previous year, except that Rawh b. Hitim was the governor of the
ahdath and the public prayers at al-Basrah . Al-Mu'alli,720 freedman of the Commander of the Faithful al -Mahdi, was in charge of
the districts of the Tigris, al-Bahrayn, 'Uman, Kaskar, and the
districts of Ahwiz, Firs, and Kirmin. Al-Layth, freedman of alMahdi, was in charge of Sind.
719. Nothing more is known of him, see Crone, Slaves, 192.
720. Brother of Layth ; see text, p. 484 . According to Aghdni, Beirut, VI, 239-40,
he and his brother were bought in al-Kufah by Ali b. Sulaymin , who gave them to
al-Mangur, who in turn gave them to al-Mahdi , who freed them. Al-Mu'alli was
first given charge of the firdz (state textile industry) and post in Khurisin before
being appointed to this vast governorate; see Crone, Slaves, 193. The reign of alMahdi was the high point of the influence of the freedmen , and this is exemplified
in the careers of al-Mu'alli and Layth.
e
The
Events of the Year
166
(AUGUST 15, 782-AUGUST 4, 783 )
In this year al-Mahdi took the oath of allegiance from his military
commanders to Harun after Musa , son of al-Mahdi, and named
him al-Rashid.
In this year he deposed 'Ubaydallih b. al-Hasan from the judiciary of al-Basrah and appointed Khilid b. Taliq b . 'Imrin b.
Husayn al-Khuza' i722 in his place, but his appointment was not
approved of, and the people of al -Basrah asked to be free from him.
In this year he deposed ja'far b. Sulayman from Mecca and
Medina and the offices he held.
721. A dry weight that vaned from place to place, probably between 2 and 4 kg.
722. Nothing more is known of him.
224
(5071
727. That is, the family of al-Husayn b . Ali b. AN T alib, in this case Muhammad b. Abdallah and his brother Ibrahim , the rebels of 145/762.
728. In 145/762.
736. An outer cloak, see Ahsan, Social Life, 44. The point of this description
is that he was wearing white, traditionally associated with the 'Alids, not the
Abbasid black.
15091
According to my father: Ya`qub b. Dawud had known from alMahdi dissoluteness and licentiousness in the mention of women
and sexual intercourse . Ya`qub b. Dawud used to describe many
things from his own experience in that, and al -Mahdi did like740. Not known elsewhere.
741. An Abbasid, son of al-Man$ur's uncle, Ismail b. Ali. He was governor of
Mosul, 165-68/781-85 (al-Azdi, 246, 252).
15111
742. Ibn al-Athir explains : Intriguers used to make attacks on Ya `qub at night
(when they were talking with the caliph) and when they dispersed they were of the
belief that he (al-Mahdi( would arrest him the next morning.
When he had made certain of me in his mind, he said, "This soand-so, son of so-and-so of the descendants of `Ali: I would like
you to save me from trouble with him and make me free of him
and do that quickly." I said that I would do it and he said, "Take
him to you," and I transferred him to me and I transferred the
slave girl and all the furnishings and everything that was in the
house, and he ordered 100,000 dirhams for me with it. 15121
I took all of it and went with it and, because of my great pleasure
in the slave girl, I put her in the mailis with a veil between me
and her. I sent for the `Alawi and brought him in to me and asked
him about his position, and he told me about it and, in short, I
found him the most intelligent of men and the clearest of them in
speech. Among the things he said to me was, "Damn you, Ya`qub!
You are accountable to God for my blood, and I am one of the
descendants of Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad." I said, "No by
God; are you the grateful type if you receive a favor?" And he said,
"If you do a favor, I will thank you and invoke God' s blessing on
you and ask forgiveness for you." I said to him, "Which road
would you like best?" and he replied "Such-and-such a road." I
asked, "Who is there there with whom you are friendly and whose
position you trust?" and he said, "So-and-so and so-and-so." I
said, "Go to them and take this money and travel with them in
safety under the veil of God. Your meeting with them to go out of
my house to such-and-such a place that they have agreed on is at
such-and-such a time of night."
230
he has acted and done this and this ...," until she had passed on
the whole story.
153131
743. Called al-Wagif. He is later recorded among the `Abbasid party on the
pilgrimage of 169/786 when the Alid al-Husayn b. Ali rebelled.
744. The Arabic simply has al -asmd"'listening," specifically to singing.
745 Abdallih b. ja'far b. Abi Tilib: al-Mahdi is citing the example of 'Ali-Is
nephew to prove that righteous men could listen to singing.
1 5 15 1
746. B. Abu al-Hayy al-Absi. He contributes one other report (see 539, below.
747. Probably a grandson of Zayd b. Ali, the unsuccessful rebel of 122/740.
748. Muhammad b. Sallimal-Jumahi 139 -231/756 -845, author of the surviving
Tabaqdt al- Shu'ard ', contributes six reports on the Umayyads and 'Abbasids to
the History; see Ell, s.v. "Ibn Sallam."
749. He clearly did not know how to express himself properly.
75o. A piece of material worn over the shoulders and hanging down the back, a
bit like an academic hood; see Ahsan, Social Life, 42-43.
151171
756. Most early Islamic coins had the names of the places they were minted on
them. ' Isibidh briefly became a center of habitation and government, but it
seems to have been abandoned after al-Mahdi 's death.
757. Medina.
758. Barthold, Turkestan, : o5, mentions that Musayyab introduced a new
coinage that may have provoked discontent . For further sources and discussion,
see Daniel, Khurasan, z68, 184 n. 46.
759. All these were sons of prominent members of the regime , which is probably
why they were treated so leniently . Rawb b. Hitim was the celebrated Muhallabi
see note 570, above; Sulayman b. Mujalid was a member of al-Mangur 's sahdbah
who played an important part in the development of Baghdad ; Abu Ayyub alMakki was in charge of the diwdn al-khardj at the beginning of al-Mahdi 's reign;
and Tayfur was probably the Tayfur, freedman of al-Hid! , who was al-Mahdi's
half-brother and is recorded as governor of Igfahin in 169/785 - 86; see Crone,
Slaves, 195.
235
b. Rawh to his father, Rawh, who was at that time governor of alBasrah. He was gracious to him and ordered him to educate him.
In this year al-Waddah al-Sharawi brought `Abdallah b. Abu
`Ubaydallah the wazir, that is Mu` iwiyah b. `Ubaydallah alAsh`ari of the people of Syria . He was the one whom Ibn Shabibah
conspired against and who was accused of Zandaqah . We have
already described his affair and his execution.760
In this year Ibrahim b . Yahya b. Muhammad was appointed
governor of Medina, the City of the Prophet of God; Ubaydallah
b. Qutham761 was in charge of al-'W'a'if and Mecca.
In this year Mansur b. Yazid b. Mansur was deposed from Yemen
and `Abdallih b. Sulayman al-Rabai was appointed in his place.
In this year al-Mahdi released Abd al-$amad b. All from the
prison he was in.
Ibrahim b . Yahya b. Muhammad led the pilgrimage in this year.
In this year the governor ('dmil ( of al-Kufah, in charge of the
prayers and the ahddth, was Hishim b. Said. Rawh b. Hatim was
in charge of the prayers and ahddth in al-Basrah, and Khalid b.
Taliq was in charge of the judiciary there. AI-Mu`alla, freedman
of the Commander of the Faithful, was in charge of the districts of
the Tigris; Kaskar; the governorates of al-Basrah and al-Bahrayn;
and the districts of Ahwaz, Firs and Kirmin. Al-Fadl b. Sulayman
al-Tusi was in charge of Khurasan and Sijistin ; Ibrahim b. $alih of
Egypt, Yazid b. Hatim of Ifrigiyah ; Yahya al-Harashi of Tabaristin,
Ruyan, and Jurjan; Farashah, freedman of al-Mahdi, of Dunbawand
and Qumis; and Sa`d, freedman of the Commander of the Faithful, of al-Rayy.
In this year there was no summer expedition against the Byzantines because of the truce in it.
760. The passage raises a problem. On p. 490 of the text al-Tabari relates how
Muhammad b. Ubaydallah was executed, and there is mention of Abdallih.
It is not clear whether this is the same incident with a mistake in the name or
a separate event that has been lost from the text . Neither al-WaQah nor lbn
Shabibah can be identified further.
761. B. al. Abbis b. Abdallih b. al-Abbas, an Abbasid; for his father, see note
149, above. He remained governor until Hirun 's reign.
The
Events of the Year
167
(AUGUST 5 , 783-JULY 2 3, 784)
41
1 51191
Among these was the sending by al-Mahdi of his son Musa with
a huge number of soldiers and equipment the likes of which, it
was said, no one had ever been equipped with before to Jurjan for
the war against Wandahurmuz762 and Sharvin ,763 the two lords of
Tabaristan. When al-Mahdi organized it for Musa , he placed Aban
b. $adagah in charge of his correspondence , Muhammad b. Jumayl
of his army, and Nufay`, freedman of al-Mansur, as his chamberlain. `Ali b. `Isa b. Mahan was in command of his guard and
`Abdallah b. Khazim of his police. Musa despatched the troops
against Wandahurmuz and Sharvin under the command of Yazid
b. Mazyad and he laid siege to them.
In this year `Isa b. Musa died in al-Kufah . The governor of al762. One of the native princes of Tabanstan . He resisted this Muslim assault in
his mountain stronghold and is last recorded visiting Hariin on his trip to al-Rayy
in 189/805. He was the grandfather of Mazyar, the famous opponent of the Muslims during the reign of al-Mu 'ta^im.
763. Neighbor and ally of Wandahurmuz.
In this year al-Mahdi stepped up the hunt and search for Zindigs
in all areas and executed them . He put Umar al-Kalwadhi765 in ]Szo]
charge of dealing with them. Yazid b. al-Fayci,766 secretary to alMan^ur, was arrested and, it is said, he confessed and was put in
prison but escaped and could not be recaptured.
764. This is probably a reference to the fact that the Muhallabis had opposed
the later Umayyadsand worked for their overthrow and that Rawh should have
paid his respects to i si for his part in the cause to which his father and grandfather
had contributed, whatever his personal feelings.
765. From Kalwidhi, a small town on the eastern bank of the Tigns dust south
of Baghdad. Nothing more is known of him.
766. He seems to have remained in hiding and was one of the Zindigs specifically
excluded from an amnesty granted at the beginning of Hirfin 's reign (see al-Tabari,
III, 604 ).
767. Al-Rabi' as lid/ib would not have the necessary expertise to run the diwdn
al-rasd il (chancery, responsible for sending out letters himself . Nothing more is
known of Said b. Wiqid.
771. He may have been the brother of Muhammad b. Yazid al-Hinthi who was
governor of Yemen 133 -34/750- S2.. Al-Saffib's mother was a Hinthi, and several
of them were influential in the early Abbisid state , especially in Yemen, where
the family originated (Crone, Slaves, 149, Kennedy, Abbasid Caliphate, 5z-53).
772.. A descendant of the Prophet 's companion al-Zubayr b. al-Awwim. Beside
his political role, he was a significant source for al-Tabari's History.
773. Not known elsewhere.
774. See note 193, above.
The
Events of the Year
168
J
( ULY
was only known as Nahr al-$ilah (the canal of the grant ), it is said,
because he wished to assign to his family and others the rents of
it and grant them that. 171
In this year al-Mahdi appointed All b. Yagtin780 to the Diwdn
Zimam al-Azimmah781 over `Umar b. Bazi`.
According to Ahmad b. Musa b. Hamzah-his father:782 The
first person to work the Registry Department was `Umar b. Bazi`
in the caliphate of al-Mahdi. This was because, when the diwdns
were gathered to him, he thought that he could organize them
only by setting up a zmam (registry) on every diwdn, so he set up
the registry departments and appointed a man to every department. To the registry department of the khardj, he appointed
Isma il b. $ubayh.783 The Banii Umayyah did not have registry
departments.
Swamp (Yaqut, Mu'jam, V, 242- 43) Le Strange, 43). For his efforts against the
Zindiqs, see al-Nahrawini, al-Jails al-SdhIi (Beirut, 1987) , III, 203-7.
778. The diwan of the family was the list of its members and the salaries they
were entitled to. It is surprising that it had remained in the old Umayyad capital:
its return to Medina (not Baghdad ) was intended to emphasize the connection
between the Abbisids and the Family of the Prophet.
779. Yigdt (Mu'lam, V, 321) says that the canal was dug by al-Mahdi and the
land brought into cultivation by him but that the revenue was assigned to the
people of the Haramayn (Mecca and Medina).
780. Son of Yaqtin b. Musi (note 271 , above). According to al-Tabari, 549, he
was executed for Zandagah in 169/786, but Ibn al-Nadim , Fihnst, 224, says he
died in 182/798.
781. For diwdn al-azimmah (registry departments), see note 66o, above. This
new diwan seems to have been an attempt to centralize the registries of different
departments.
782. Not known elsewhere.
783. Al-Harrini. He was subsequently to have a long career as secretary for
Hirun and later for al-Amin and is last heard of in 195 /81o-11.
16
The
Events of the Year
169
(JULY 14 , 785-JULY 2, 786)
14-August 12 ,
15231
According to All b. Abi Nu `aym al-Marwazi:790 One of al787. A qahramdn was a member of the domestic staff of the court , rather than a
political figure; Wadib is not otherwise known.
788. A formula meaning that the caliph has died . Compare the specter who
announces the death of al-Mangur ; see above, p. 162.
789. Abu Hishun MasrUI al-Khidim, a palace servant who became an important figure at the court of Hirim ; see Crone, Slaves, 192-93.
790. Marwazi means coming from Marw ; this is the only report he contributes.
244
15251
7-45
Noah was.
Lament for yourself for you have no alternative but to
lament.
According to $alih al-Qari'-`Ali b. Yaqtin: We were with alMahdi in Masabadhan and he woke up one day and said, "I have
woken up hungry," and he was brought loaves and cold , cooked
meat in vinegar. He ate some of it and then said, "I am going into
the hall to sleep in it. Do not wake me up until I wake up myself."
He went into the hall and slept, and we slept in the house under
the portico. We were awakened by his weeping and hurried to
him and he said, "Did you not see what I saw?" and we replied
that we had not seen anything and he said, "There stood at the
door a man who would be easily recognized by me had he been
among a thousand or a hundred thousand men and he recited,
saying:
It is as if I were in this palace and its people have perished [526]
and its residences and dwelling places are deserted.
The chief of the people has come after glory and
power to a tomb covered with stones.
Nothing remains but his memory and story
and the wailing of his wives cries out for him."
Ten days did not pass before he died . According to Abu Ma'shar
and al-Wagidi he died in the year 169 on the night of Thursday
(i.e., Wednesday night by our reckoning) 2.2 Muharram (Thursday,
August 4, 785). His caliphate lasted ten years and one and a half
months. Someone said that his caliphate was ten years, forty-nine
days and that he died at the age of forty-three.
According to Hisham b. Muhammad: Abu `Abdallah al-Mahdi
Muhammad b . `Abdallah began to rule on 6 Dhu al-Hijjah, 158
(October 7, 775), and reigned for ten years, one month, and twentytwo days and then died in 169 , when he was forty-three years old.
246
May the mercy of the Merciful One at all hours (come down)
over a corpse that decayed at Masabadhan.
The tomb covered a fault-free man
and two palms that hasten to do kindness.
15271
His son Harun prayed over him, and there was not a bier to be
found to carry him on, so he was carried on a door and buried
under a nut tree he used to sit under.
He was tall, of thin build, with curly hair. Opinions differ as to
his coloring; some said that he was brown, and others said that
he was white. Some said that he had a white spot in his right eye,
and others said that it was in his left eye, and he was born in
Idhaj.797
797. On the border between the provinces of Iyfahan and Khiizistan, in the
Zagros mountains . He was bom there because his father was involved in the
unsuccessful rebellion of Abdallih b. Mu'awiyah against the Umayyads in
r26-:7 /743-45 ( Yiqut, Mu'/am, 1, 266-69).
798. Nothing more is known of al-Hasan, who contributes a number of reports
to the History, of which this is the first . Ali was the son of $alih, Sahib al-Mugalla
(note 15 3, above) and so a good source of court gossip.
"I read it and it was a letter whose author had abused him
savagely without sparing anything, and I said, '0 Commander of
the Faithful, who is this cursed liar?' and he replied, 'The Lord of
al-Andalus.i80' I said, 'By God, 0 Commander of the Faithful,
799. AI-Wigidi.
8oo. The famous historian. Nothing else is known of Hafg or his father.
8oi. The Umayyad ruler of Muslim Spain, at this time Abd al -Rabman b
Mu'iwiyah b. Hishim ( 138-7 :/756-88(.
[5291
the shame is on him and his fathers and mothers .' Then I began
abusing them . He was pleased with that and said, 'I am asking
you to dictate all abuse of them to a secretary.'
"He called one of the confidential secretaries and ordered him
to sit down nearby, and he ordered me to go to him, and the
secretary began a reply from al-Mahdi , and I dictated abuse against
them in great quantity and did not spare anything until I had
finished the letter. I showed it to him, and his pleasure was obvious
and he went on to order that the letter be sealed and put in a bag
and given to the Master of the Post and he ordered that it be
hastened to al-Andalus.
"Then he ordered a cloth in which there were ten of the best
robes and ten thousand dirhams and this mule with its saddle and
bridle, and he gave me that and said to me, 'Keep silent about
what you have heard."'
According to al-Hasan-Miswar b. Musawir: Al-Mahdi's agent
(wakil ) oppressed me and was angry with me on account of an
estate I had, so I went to Sallam, sahib al-mazalim ,802 and complained about the oppression to him and gave him a written note.
He took the note to al-Mahdi , and there were with him his paternal uncle, al-Abbas b. Muhammad ; Ibn Ulithah; and 'Afiyah
the Qddi. Al-Mahdi said to me, "Come near," so I came near, and
he asked, "What are you saying ?" and I replied, "You have oppressed me ." He said, "Are you satisfied with one of these two
(gadis)?"
"Yes," I said and he told me to approach , and I did so until I was
touching the cushion, and he said, "Speak!" I said, "May God give
the judge peace, he oppressed me on account of this estate of
mine." The gddi then asked, "What do you say, 0 Commander of
the Faithful ?" and he replied, "It is my estate and it is in my
hands," and I said, "May God give the judge peace . Ask him
whether the estate passed to him before he became caliph or
after."
1531)
8 13. That is to say that the Alids, not the Abbisids, were the rightful leaders
of the Muslim community.
15321
( 5331
"Who was this enemy that he was angry with you for cursing
him?" he asked . "Ibrahim b. `Abdallah b. Masan," the man replied. "Ibrahim is a very close relation and most worthy of alMansur's kinship rights. If your cursing was as you allege, he was
protecting his kin and defending his honor . What is wrong with
someone who comes to the aid of his own cousin (ibn `amm)?"si4
He said, "He was his enemy," but al-Mahdi replied, "He did not
come to his aid out of hostility (to you) but because of his kinship." He silenced the man and, when he turned to go , al-Mahdi
said, "Perhaps you wanted something and you were not able to
find a better pretext for coming to me than this claim ?" and he
replied, "Yes." Then he smiled and ordered that he be given five
thousand dirhams.
A man was brought to al-Mahdi who claimed to be a prophet
and when he saw him he said, "Are you a prophet?" and the man
replied, "Yes," so he asked to whom he had been sent, and he
replied, "Have you left me to go to those to whom I was sent? I
was despatched in the morning, and you arrested me in the evening
and put me in prison ." Al-Mahdi laughed at him and let him go.
According to Abu al-Ash 'ath al-Kindi815-Sulayman b. `Abdallah-al-Rabi': I saw al -Mahdi praying in a hall on a moonlit
night, and I do not know whether he was more beautiful or the
hall or the moon or his clothes . He read this verse : "Then it is to
be expected of you, if ye were put into authority, that ye will do
mischief in the land, and break your ties of kith and kin?""' He
completed his prayers and turned to me and said , "0 Rabi`," and I
said, "Your servant, 0 Commander of the Faithful ," and he said,
"Bring me Musa," and stood up to pray . I asked (myself ), "Which
Musa, his son Musa817 or Musa b . Ja`far? X818 (who was imprisoned
at my house ) and I began to think and came to the conclusion that
it was Musa b. Ja`far, and I brought him . Then he broke off his
814. Stressing the unity of the Family of the Prophet , despite Ibrihim 's rebellion
in 145/768.
815. Presumably a member of the family of al-Ash 'ath b. Qays, see above, note
580.
816. Qur'an, XLVII: 22.
253
prayer and said, "0 Musa I was reading this verse 'Then it is to be
expected of you, if ye were put into authority, that ye will do
mischief in the land and break your ties of kith and kin,' and I was
afraid that I had broken the tie of kinship with you, so confirm
that you will not rise in rebellion against me," and he said, "Yes,"
and confirmed it and he released him.
8zo. Ibn al=Awwim, the Prophet's companion. The family's estates were confiscated after the unsuccessful rebellion of his son Abdallah b. al-Zubayr against
the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik.
Sir. B. 'Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph 86-96/705-15.
8z2.. B. Abd al-Malik, Umayyad caliph 96-99/715-17.
15341
1 5351
825. A belief in human free will, which came to be considered heretical; see
El2, s.v. "Kadanya."
826. A traditionist occasionally quoted in the History.
827. No more is known about him. It is suggested in the Addenda that the
name should be Qantash.
W. A traditionist quoted by al-Tabari who later became a valued companion
of the caliph al-Hadi.
829. Not recorded elsewhere.
830. B. Ali al=Abbosi; see note 430, above.
(5361
15371
and he recited it. The Samuri said, "Gone are the people who
deserve to be eulogized by such poetry." Al-Mahdi was angry
with him and considered him ignorant and thrust him aside but
did not punish him, and the people considered him stupid.
It was said that Abu `Awn `Abd al-Malik b. Yazid was ill and
al-Mahdi visited him and there was a shabby house, badly built,
and the arch of the suffah was made of mud brick. There was a
luxurious tent in his audience. Al-Mahdi sat down on a pillow
and Abu Awn sat in front of him, and al-Mahdi treated him with
respect and commiserated with him about his illness. Abu `Awn
said, "I hope for good health from God, 0 Commander of the
Faithful, and that He will not cause me to die in my bed before I
am killed in your service. I trust that I will not die before I show
God in your service what He is entitled to, for indeed we have
been succored and given succor."
Al-Mahdi expressed a very good opinion of him and said, "Request from me what you need and ask me for what you want, and
I will provide for you in life and death. By God, if your wealth fails
in any way, make a request and I will indeed fulfill it, whatever it
is. Say and request."
Abu `Awn thanked him and blessed him and said, "0 Commander of the Faithful, my request is that you show favor to
836. B . Habib b. Abd Shams. Habib was a brother of that Umayyad after whom
the dynasty was named.
837. In the classical Arabic ode Jga6idah) all the lines end with the same rhyme.
2-57
`Abdallah b. Abi `Awn and summon him, for your anger against
him has lasted a long time."
Al-Mahdi replied, "0 Abu `Awn, he is on the wrong road and is
against our belief and your belief . He defames the two shaykhs,
Abu Bakr and `Umar,sae and uses evil language about them."
Abu `Awn said, "He is, by God, 0 Commander of the Faithful,
of the belief for which we rebelled and that we summoned people
to.sa9 If you have engendered any change, order us to do what you
wish, so that we can obey you."
Al-Mahdi went away and, when he was on the road, he said to
one of his children and family who were with him, "Would that
you were like Abu `Awn. By God, I did not expect that his house
would be built of materials other than gold and silver. You, if you
found a dirham, would build in teak and gold."
According to Abu `Abdallah-his father: Al-Mahdi preached the
sermon one day and said, "Servants of God, fear God," and a man
stood up and said "And you too fear God, for you are acting unjustly!" He was arrested and brought, and they set about goading
him with the points of their scabbards . When he was brought into
al-Mahdi, he said, "0 son of a whore, you said to me when I was
on the pulpit, 'Fear God !"' and he said, "How bad! If this insult
came from someone other than you, I would have been appealing
for your assistance against him ." He said, "I think you are only a
Nabati," and he replied, "It is the most positive form of proof
against you if a Nabali orders you to fear God." He saw the man
after that, and he was talking about what happened between him
and al-Mahdi . My father said, "I was present with him at the
time, only I did not hear the words."
According to Harun b. Maymun al -Khuza`i-Abu Khuzaymah
al-Badhghisi : 840 Al-Mahdi said, "Nobody seeks my help with a
petition or offers an excuse that is more pressing than he, reminding me of a favor I did him so that it would be followed by its
838. An indication of Acid sympathies since Abu Bakr and 'Omar, the first
two caliphs, were held by some to have deprived Ali of his rightful inheritance,
the caliphate.
839. This seems to mean that the original beliefs of the Abbasid movement
agreed with this but that the view had subsequently been modified.
84o. Neither of these is recorded elsewhere.
15381
844. Al-Abbas was the paternal uncle of the Prophet and, the Abbisids argued,
his true heir, rather than his daughter Fitimah, who marred `Ali.
846. A well- known poet at the court of al-Walid b . Yaiid who died in the reign
of al-Mahdi; see Aghdni, Buliq, IV, 74, Beirut, IV, 304.
15401
It is said that al-Mahdi ordered a fast in the year (11)66 to ask for
rain for the people on Wednesday , and on Monday night (Tuesday
night in the Arabic terminology) there was a snowfall , and Lag-it
b. Bukayr al-Muharibi said about that:
0 Imam of right guidance , you watered us with rain,
and, because of you, hardship was removed from us.
You spent the night concerned with protecting them while the
people
were sleeping, covered by the darkness.
(54111
It is said that the people in the days of al -Mahdi fasted for the
month of Ramadan in the height of summer. Abu Dulamah was
seeking a reward for that , and al-Mahdi promised him one, so he
wrote a note to al -Mahdi in which he complained of his sufferings
from the heat and the fast, and in that he said:
I call on you in the name of the kinship that links us
in closeness both near and far.
15421
(5 4 31
85r. A military man, for many years chief of police ; poetry does not seem to
have been his forte. For his ability as a wrestler, see above , pp. 2.5o-Sr.
(544)
16
Bibliography of Cited Works
al-Hamadhani, Muhammad b. Is13aq, known as In al-Faqih. Kitdb alBulddn . Ed. M. J. de Goeje (Leiden, 1885).
Hamzah al-Igfahani. Tarikh sini al-muluk al-ard wa 'l-anbiyd. Ed. Y. alMaskuni (Beirut, 1961).
Ibn al-Athir, Izz al-Din. al-Kdmil ff'l-Tdrikh . Ed C. J. Tomberg; 13 vols.
(Leiden, 1866-71; reprint, Beirut, 1965-67).
Ibn Hishim, Sirah Rasul Allah. Ed. F. Wiistenfeld (Gottingen, i858-6o).
English translations, A. Guillaume, Life of Muhammad (London,
1955).
Ahsan, M. M. Social Life under the Abbasids (London and New York,
'979).
Barthold, V. Turkestan Down to the Mongol Invasions (London, 1928).
267
Index
40
al-Numayri 68 , 69-70,176-77,
180,193
Index
2.70
al=Absi 232
Abdallih b. Yazid b . Qays al-Hudhali
254
Abdallih b. al-Zubayr 17
al-Ablaq al-Rawandi 122
Abu a1 =Abbas al-Fail b. Sulayman
al-Tusi 9, 59, 68 , 165, 234,235,
239
Abu al-Abbis al-Saffah 18, 198
Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Humani 5
Abu Ad al=lba^li 65, 69
Abdallih b. 'Ubaydallih
al=Abbisi t56
Abdallih b .'Ulithah 209
Abdallih b. 'Omar b. Abu al-Hayy
Index
Abu Tawbah al-Rabi ' b Nifi' 13 z
Abu'Ubaydallih Mu'iwiyah b.
Ubaydallih 37-38 , 45-46,106,
107,145, 171-75o 193, 199-203,
2-37-38,251,253
Abu Ya'qub b. Sulaymin 15 2
Abu Zakanyyi' Yahyi b 'Abdallih 9,
78
Aliyah b. Yazid al -Azdi al-Qi4i 197,
103, 248
271
al-Hishimi
3 3, 51 ,
Index
272
B
Dabiq 198, 214
Badhghis 44
Baghdad 3-11,15,20,39,41,43,56,
63,64,69,75,77,79, 82,86, 88,91,
109, III, 132, 141,151, 173, 195,
209, 238, 264
Balgi'
Damascus 241
Darb al-Hadath 86
Dawdd b. Ali al-Abbisi 131, 136, 254
Diwrad b. Kiriz 45
Diwdd b. Rashid 131
Dunbiwand 219,235,239
I1 9
Egypt 39, 50, 61, 63, 66, 74, 77, 79, So,
139, 180, 195, 203, 204, 207, 235,
239
F
al-Fadl b. al-Rabi' 7, 1 0, 94 , 101, 125,
r28, 138 , 199-202, 215, 250
al-Fadlb.Sahl 140
C
Chosroes 4, 86
Constantinople 221
Index
H
Hadath 206
al-Nadi, see Musa b. al-Mahdi
Hadithah of Mosul 43,146
Ha4ramawt roi
Hafg, mawid of Muzaynah 247
273
al-Haljal b. Arlah 6
Hammad b. Amr 45
Hammid b. Musa 218
Hammad al-Turki 94-95
Hammid b Yahya b. Amr al=Alrad,
poet 73-74, 126-27
Hammah al-Adhruliyyah 2o6
Hamrin, slave merchant 95
Hamzah b. Malik 171
Harit 44
Harb b. Abdallih al-Riwandi 14, 15
Harb b Qays, Abu Hanifah t66
al-Hanth b. Abd al-Rahmin 123
al-Ninth al -Sijistini 47-49
Harrin 123
Hishim al-Ishtikhanj 63
Hishlm b. Said b. Manger 219, 23 5
Hassin al-Sharawi 165, 203
Hawliyi 85
Hawtharah b. Suhayl 145
al-Haytham b. Adi 103, 1 14, 124, 134,
143, 149, 166, 210, 251
al-Haytham b. Mu'iwiyah al-Ataki
70,74,75-76
al-Haytham al-Qirial-Bagri 129
al-Haytham b. Said 177
al-Haytham b. Shu'bah 47-48
Hayyin b. Abdallih b. Hibrin
al-Himmani 34
Hind 171- 72; see also Sind
Hishim b. Abd al-Malik 115,145
Hishim b.Amr al-Taghlibi 54 - 56,68,
77, 79
Hishim b. Muhammad al -Kalbi 92,
113,157,2-45,247-48
Hip Maslamah 214
Humayd b. Qahlabah 6z,168,170
Humayd b. al-Qisim al-$ayrafi 79
al-Humaymah 93
I
Ibn Abi al-jawza' 132
Ibn A'ishah, singer 114
Index
274
Ibn Bakker 92
IbnHubayrah T13,114
Ibn jurayj 86-88
251-52
'Igal b. Shabbah 36
Irene, Byzantine Empress zii
'Isa, mawld of ja'far 222
`Isa b. Abdallih b. Humayd 132.
'Isa b. Ali, palace of 177
7sa b. All al=Abbasi 7, 19, 20 - 23, 73,
86, 90 , 92, 12.5, 198, 209
7sa b. Da'b al-Lakhmi 254
7s1b. Ishaq b. Ali 153
'Isa b. Lugman 175, 203, 207
'Isa b. al-Manger 11 , 94, 148
7sa b. Muhummad 155, 165
7s1b. Musa al=Abbasi x5-38,59,63,
65, 71 , 90-91 , 93,155 , t65,17779,182 - 87, 189 , 236-37
J
jabir b. Tubah al-Kilabi 61, 6z
Ja'far b. Abi la'far al-Manger the elder
41, 49, 128, 145-46, 148
ja'far b. AN ja'far al-Manger the
younger 149
223, 254
Ja'far b. Yahya 199
Jamrah al-Altarah 152
larir, poet 54
Jarjaraya 85,86
lawdli 77
Jawwas b. al-Musayyab al-Yamani,
mawld of al-Manger 8
Index
Jayhan River 214
al-Jazirah 14 ,70,711,84,177, 180,1195,
203, 208 , 213-14, 215, 240
Jeddah 51,64
Jubb Summiqi 85
Jurjan 207, 208, 219 , 234, 235, 238,
239, 242
275
Kabul 62
Karkh (Baghdad ) 8-9,78, 95, 143
Kaskar 183, 222, 235, 239
Khalaf b. Abdallah 219, 222
Khalaf al-Ahmar 168
Khalid, brother of Abu Ayyub
al-Muryani 68
Khalil b. al-Hugayn 13
Khalisah 107
khara^ 15o, 168, 204, 241
Khari ites 14,61,67, 102
Kharrarah 258
al-Khagib, poet 127
al-Khayzuran ,o8, 177, 258
Khazim b . Khuzaymah 45-49
Khudayr, mosque of 59
Khulaydah bt. al-Mu'ank, wife of
'Umar b. Hafg 5 3
Khuld, palace 78, 85
Khurasin 27, 38 , 44, 47, 56, 59, 65, 79,
95, 137, 168 , 170,r8o,18i,183,
185, 187, 19S, 196, 209, 215, 216,
L
Layth, freedman of al-Mahdi 196, 222
M
Ma'bad, singer 121, 261
Ma'bad b. Khalil 79, 80, 172
al-Mada 'in 4, 138
Madinat Ibn Hubayrah 3
al-Mahdi 15,19 , 20-24, 26-27,3238, 45-46 , 49-56, 59, 6o, 66, 68,
69, 81 , 85, 86, 94, 102, 106, 107,
to8, 109, 110, 128, 147, 148,149,
161-264
al-Mahdiyyah 214
Mapdah 220
Malik b. Adham 144
Malik b. Anas 194
al-Ma'mun 140
Ma'n b. Za'idah 6o, 62,72,95-100,
103
Manarah, freedman of al-Mangur 165
al-Mangur 3-157,198, 199, 200, 225,
251-52
Mangur b. Abdallah b. Yazid b.
Shammar al-Himyari 157
Mangur b. Yazid b. Mansur 218, 219,
235
al-Mangurah 203
Ma'qil River 76
Index
276
Mar'ash 198
Mari Dibiq So
Marmara, Sea of 221, zz3
Marw 196, 224
Marw al- Rudh 44-45
Marwin b . Abi Hafyah, poet 221-zz,
258-59
Marwin b . al-Hakam 125
Marwin b. Muhammad 197-98
Misabadhan 24z,24-3,244,245,246
Maslamah b. Abd al-Malik 2io
MasrUr al-Khidim 243
Matar, freedman of al-Mangur 79, 80,
177
Maysan 240
Ma`yuf b. Yahyi al-Hajuri 65-66, 86
maZdlim 110, 119, 189, 246, 248, 253
Mecca 13, 39 , 43, 50, 61, 63, 64, 66, 68,
74, 76, go, 86, 87, 88, 91, 92, 103,
125, 128, 149, 155, 161, t62, 164,
166, 168, 194, 198, 204, 216, 219,
223,230- 31,234 , 235,239
Muhammad b. Abdallih b.
Muhammad, Ibn al-Ashtar 56
Muhammad b. Abdallih b.
Muhammad b. All b. Abdallah b.
fa'far b. Abi Ta11b z54
Muhammad b. Abdallah b.
'Ulitha 173-75, 182, 203, 248
Muhammad b. Abi al =Abbas 39,
126-27
Muhammad b. Abi Ayyub alMakki 234
Muhammad b. Abi Ubaydallih zoz,
235
Muhammad b. Ali al -Abbisi 136
Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath 42
Muhammad b. Awn b . Abdallah b. alHirith 162, 164
Muhammad b. al-Fadl 219
Muhammad b. Farrukh Abu
Hurayrah 179,182
Muhammad b. 'Imran 87
Muhammad b. Ismail al -Hishimi 139
Muhammad b. Jabir 67
Muhammad b. Jumayl al-Kitib
138-39,236
Muhammad b. Ma'ruf 75
Muhammad b. Maymun alAnbari 199
Muhammad b. Musa b . Muhammad b.
Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Ali b.
Abdallah b. Abbas 57
Index
Muhammad b. Said 63 , 66, 68, 74, 77,
79
Muhammad b. Salim al-Khwirazmi
too
277
N
al-Nadir b. Hadid 130
Nifi' b.'Ugbah b. Salm 6o
Nahir b. Husayn al- Sa'di 47-48
Nahr al-$ilah 241
Nahrawin 85,109 , 181,243
Ni'im b. Mazyad I I I
Nagr b. Harb b. Abdallih atTamimi 3, 85, 117
al-Muqanna' t96-97,209,z'4
Musi b. Diwud al-Muhandis 5
Musa b Dinir 68
P
Palestine 142
Qadar 102,254
gadi 173,175,176,2-03,2o6,237
Qadisiyyah 63, 198
Qahtabah b. Ghadinah alJushami 129,130
galansuwah 19, 53 , 65, 79, 233
Qili al-Farrishah 149
Qaligala 207
Qa'nab b. Muhnz al-Bihili 146,261
278 Index
al-Qa'ga' of the family of Zurirah 3 3 al-Ru $afah of Baghdad 6, 56, 59, 94,
al-Qisim b. al-Mangur 149 , 16z 110, 171, 181 , 183, 197, 203
al-Qasim b. Mulishi' al-Tamimi 251 al -Rugafah of al - Kufah 2o, 88,152, 218
a1-Qasim b. Na$r b. Malik 165 Ru$ifat Hishim i 15
Qayr Abdawayh 88, 149 al -Ruyan 208, 219, 235 , 238, 2.39
Qutham b. Ja'far 72
S
Sabibijah 171
al-$abbih b. Abd al-Malik alShaybani rot
Sabbah b. Abd al-Rahmin 264
al-Sabbah b . Khagan al-Tamimi 120,
141
Sa'd, freedman of the Commander of
the Faithful 235, 239
$adagah 186
R
al-Rabadhah 1;8
al-Rabi' b. $ubayh 171,187
al-Rabi' b. Ynnus 7-9,10 , 23-24,31,
54, 78 , 84, 88, 90-96, 101, 109,
110,I16, 1z6,133 , 142.,143,16367, 182, 200-3 , 210, 211, 212, 213,
218,220,237,252
279
Index
al-Sayyid b. Muhammad alHimyari 143
T
Tabaristan 207, 208 , 216, 219, 23 5,
236, 238, 239, 240, 255
Taghlib, tube 54
al-Ti'tf 39, 43, 50 , 61, 66, 68, 74, 8o,
137, 168, 204, 216, 219, 23S, 238
17
Thamyyat al-Madaniyyin 92
Thamyyat al-Ma'lit 92
Thaqif, tribe 188
Tiflis 14
Tigris, districts of 77, 180, 195, 216,
219 , 222 , 235 , 239
280 Index
Umar b. liaf$ b.'Uthmin b. Abi
$ufrah 51-55,165,67
'Omar al-Kalwidhi 237, 240
'Umar b. al-Mutarrif, Abu al-Wazir
204, 233-34
'Umar b. Shabbah 72,75 ,87,92, 130,
131,143# 154, 175, 178, 199, 254,
259
'Umar b.'Uthman al -Taymi 239
al-Wad4ah al-Sharawi 23 5
Wsft, freedman of al-Manjur tog,
lilt
Yahya b. Sulaym 94
Yahya b . Zayd al-Alawi 224
al-Yamimah 177,180,204 , 216,2191
239
al-Yaman, tribe 58-59
Yagtin b. Musi 92, 198, 218, 238
Ya'qub b. Diwud 172 - 75,194,1991
202, 225-34, 2-58
Zandaqah 73,234-35
Zandaward 5
Yahya b. Abi Na$ r al-Qurashi 130 Zany 54
Index
Zayd, freedman of'[sa b . Nahik 124
Zayd b. Ali 136
Zayd al-i$lali 249
Zaydiyyah 52-53, 224, 225-26
Zindigs 126-27,214, 237, 240, 241
z8i
Zubalah 198
al-Zubayr b. al-Awwam, family of
253
al-Zubayr b. Bakkar i o6, 12.9
Zufar b. Aim al- Hilali 68,76,80,193,
213, 215