(= monastery of the Catholic), a Christian monastery in Babylonia, at some distance from the west bank of the Tigris, in the area watered by the canal of al-Dud̲j̲ail which flows off from the latter south of Sāmarrā and runs parallel with it. The old building was built on a piece of high ground near al-Maskin, the capital of a district ( ṭassūd̲j̲) in the prov…

bi ’llāh, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad (or al-Zubair) b. Ḏj̲aʿfar, an ʿAbbāsid ¶ caliph, son of al-Mutawakkil and a slave-girl named Ḳabīḥa. After al-Mustaʿīn had been forced to abdicate, al-Muʿtazz was proclaimed caliph on 4th Muḥarram 252 (Jan. 25, 866). When he wanted to get rid of the two Turkish generals Waṣīf and Bog̲h̲a the younger, they got wind of his intentions and went back to Sāmarrā. On the other hand, he succeeded in putting his brother and successor designate al-Muʾaiyad to death and throwing the third brother Abū Aḥmad into prison. In the following year Waṣīf was killed by the troops when they mutinied for their pay and he attempted to appease them. After the death in Ḏh̲u ’l-Ḳaʿda 253 (Nov. 867) of th…

, Chief of the Ḵh̲urrami-sect; the name is the arabicised form of the Iranian Pāpak. He was, it is said, the son of an itinerant oilmerchant, and was engaged in a very humble occupation when Ḏj̲āwīd̲h̲ān b. Sahl, chief of the Ḵh̲urramīs noticed …

, a town in the ʿIrāḳ. According to the Arab geographers it was situated 4 parasangs (= about 16 miles) north of Bag̲h̲dād on the main road to Sāmarrā and at some distance from the east bank of the Tigris, a little above the confluence of the Nahr al-Ḵh̲āliṣ and the ¶ latter. The Ḵh̲āliṣ canal, a branch of the Nahrawān (or Diyāla) flowed immediately past Baradān. The Caliph al-Manṣūr held his court here for a brief period, before he definitely resolved on building a new capital on the site of the modern Bag̲h̲dād (Cf. Yaʿḳūbī, Bibl. geogr. arab., ed. de Goeje, vii. 256). There was a bridge i…

(popular pronunciation Tikrīt , cf. Yāḳūt), a town of ʿIrāḳ on the right bank of the Tigris to the north of Sāmarrāʾ 100 miles from Bag̲h̲dād divertly, and 143 by river, and at the foot of the range of the D̲j̲abal Ḥamrīn (lat. 34° 36′ N., long. 43° 41′ E., altitude 110 m/375 feet). Geographically, this is the northern frontier district of ʿIrāḳ. The land is still somewhat undulating; the old town was built on a group of hills, on on…

, ʿAbbāsid prince, born end of 162/July 779, d. in Ramaḍān 224/July 839. The son of the caliph al-Mahdī [ q.v.] and of a concubine of Daylamī origin named S̲h̲ikla, he was in Bag̲h̲dād at the time when the caliph al-Maʾmūn [ q.v.], who was then living at Marw, nominated as his successor ʿAlī al-Riḍā. The inhabitants of Bag̲h̲dād and the ʿAbbāsid aristocracy, in revolt against this decision which seemed to them to be contrary to the legitimist principle established by the first caliphs of the dynasty, then rejected the authority of al-Ma…

This was a small town in ʿIrāḳ, situated some 10 farsak̲h̲s to the north-east of Bag̲h̲dād and a short distance due south of Bāʿḳūbā on the left bank of the Nahrawān river, which attained the name of Tāmarrā on its arrival at Bād̲j̲isrā. The town is described by the Arab geographers as being a prosperous and pleasant recreational centre with many date groves and a considerable population, but it was laid waste in the time of Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥaḳḳ, author of the Marāṣid , who died in 739/1338. The name Bād̲j̲isrā, which is derived from Syriac, means “house of the bridge” i.e. the location of the bridge. Th…

mad̲j̲lis (A, T med̲j̲lis; pl. mad̲j̲ālis) : a term meaning a meeting place, meeting assembly, a receptio…

b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Muṣʿab , Abū ʿAbd Allāh, author of ak̲h̲bār works which combine belles-lettres and history and belong to the oldest preserved books in this field. He was born in 172/788-9 at Medina. As a descendant of al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām [ q.v.] he was ¶ a prominent member of the illustrious Zubayrī family. When he died at Mecca in D̲h̲u ’l-Ḳaʿda 256/October 870, he had been ḳāḍī of the Holy City for the previous one and a half decades. His grandfather was a close associate of the caliph al-Mahdī and was appointed governor of Medina by …

b. Ṭāhir D̲h̲i ’l-Yamīnayn , Abu ’l-ʿAbbās , Ṭāhirid governor of Bag̲h̲dād. Born in 209/824-5, Muḥammad in 237/851 was summoned from K̲h̲urāsān by the Caliph to Bag̲h̲dād and appointed military governor ( ṣāḥib al-s̲h̲urṭa ) in order to restore order in the chaos then prevailing. In spite of the great power of the Ṭāhirids, who ruled K̲h̲urāsān with considerable autonomy, although they nominally recognised the suzerainty of the caliph, his task was by no means a light one. After al-Mustaʿīn had ascended the…

, Abu ’l-Faḍl D̲j̲aʿfar b. Muḥammad , ʿAbbāsid caliph. He was born in S̲h̲awwāl 206/Feb.-March 822, son of the caliph al-Muʿtaṣim [ q.v.] and a K̲h̲wārazmī slave-girl called S̲h̲ud̲j̲āʿ. There is no sign that he had early political ambitions, and he seems to have lived in obscurity until the death of his brother, the caliph al-Wāt̲h̲iḳ [ q.v.] in D̲h̲u ’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 232/Aug. 847. Al-Wāt̲h̲iḳ left a young son but no designated adult successor. The succession was decided by a council consisting of the wazīr ibn al-Zayyāt and the chief ḳāḍī Aḥmad b. Abī Duwād [ q.vv.], two other bureaucrats…

bi ’llāh, Abu Isḥaḳ Muḥammad, an ʿAbbāsid caliph, born in 179(795—796) or 180 (796—7), the son of Hārūn al-Rag̲h̲īd and a slave-girl named Mārida. In the reign of his brother al-Maʾmūn [q. v.] he took part in the fighting against the Byzantines in Asia Minor and received the governorship of Egypt. After the death of al-Maʾmūn in Rad̲j̲ab 218 (Aug. 833) he ascended the throne and was soon afterwards acknowledged even by his nephew al-ʿAbbās b. al-Maʾmūn [q. v.] whom the troops had proclaimed caliph a…

ʿala ’llāh, Abu ’l-Faḍl Ḏj̲aʿfar b. Muḥammad, an ʿAbbāsid Caliph, born in S̲h̲awwāl 206 (Feb.-March 822), son of the caliph al-Muʾtaṣim and a slave-girl from Ḵh̲wārizm named S̲h̲ud̲j̲āʿ. He ascended the throne in Ḏh̲u ’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 232 (Aug. 847) on the death of his brother al-Wāt̲h̲iḳ. His old opponent, the vizier Ibn al-Zaiyāt, soon fell a victim to the cruelty of the new caliph and a similar fate befell the Turkish general Ītāk̲h̲, although the latter along with Waṣīf had helped him to the throne. The caliph dreaded…

, Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥammad, dixième imām des S̲h̲īʿites duodécimains. Il esé communément connu sous le nom d’al-Naḳī -et d’al-Hādī. Fils du neuvième imām Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Riḍā [ q.v.], il naquit à Médine. La plupart des autorités s̲h̲iʿites le font naître en rad̲j̲ab 214/septembre 829, mais d’autres en d̲h̲ū l-ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 212 ou 213/février-mars 828 ou 829. Selon certaines sources, sa mère était Umm al-Faḍl, la fille d’al-Maʾmūn; selon d’autres, elle était uni umm walad mag̲h̲ribine du nom de Sumāna ou Sūsan Cette dernière affirmation semble la plus vraisem blab…

b. Ṭāhir Ḏh̲ī l-Yamīnayn, ¶ Abū l-ʿAbbās, Ṭāhiride qui fut gouverneur de Bag̲h̲dād. Né en 209/824-5, il fut appelé du Ḵh̲urāsān à Bag̲h̲dād, en 237/851, par le calife al-Mutawakkil et nommé gouverneur militaire pour mettre de l’ordre dans la situation chaotique qui y régnait. Malgré la grande puissance des Ṭāhirides qui gouvernaient le Ḵh̲urāsān avec une autonomie considérable, tout en reconnaissant nominalement la suzeraineté du calife, sa tâche n’était nullement aisée. Après son avènement (248/862…

, Muḥammad b. Ziyād, Abū ʿAbd Allāh, philologue de l’école de Kūfa, qui serait le fils d’un esclave originaire du Sind devenu mawlā d’al-ʿAbbās b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Hās̲h̲imī. Né à Kūfa en 150/767, il fut notamment l’élève d’al-Kisāʾī [ q.v.], d’Abū Muʿāwiya al-Ḍarīr, d’al-Ḳāsim b. Maʿn al-Masʿūdī (voir Fihrist, Caire, 103) et ¶ d’al-Mufaḍḍal al-Ḍabbī [ q.v.] qui avait épousé sa mère et dont il transmit les Mufaḍḍaliyyāt, et eut à son tour de nombreux disciples parmi lesquels on compte T̲h̲aʿlab [ q.v.], Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī et Ibn al-Sikkīt [ q.v.], outre Saʿīd b. Salm b. Ḳutayba dont…

b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Muṣʿab, Abū ʿAbd Allāh, auteur d’ouvrages d’ ak̲h̲bār, combinant belles-lettres et histoire, faisant partie des livres les plus anciens conservés dans ce domaine. Il naquit en 172/788-89 à Médine. Descendant d’al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām [ q.v.] il fut un membre éminent de l’illustre famille des Zubayrīs. Avant de mourir à La Mecque en d̲h̲ū l-ḳaʿda 256/octobre 870, il avait été ḳāḍī de la Ville Sainte pendant une quinzaine d’année. Son grand-père fut un proche allié du calife al-Mahdī et fut nommé gouverneur de Médine par Hârûn al-Ras̲h̲īd, et …

, Ṭalḥa b. Ḏj̲aʿfar, normalement connu par sa kunya, Abū Aḥmad, fils du calife al-Mutawakkil [ q.v.] et d’une esclave, Umm Isḥāḳ, régent et pratiquement détenteur du califat à l’époque d’al-Muʿtamid [ q.v.]. Jeune homme, il fut témoin du meurtre de son père, en 247/861, par les chefs militaires turcs. En 251/865, son frère al-Muʿtazz, alors calife à Sāmarrāʾ, le choisit pour commander son armée contre leur cousin al-Mustaʿīn [ q.v.] et Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir à Bag̲h̲dād. C’est probablement à cette époque qu’il tissa avec l’armée turque les liens sur lesqu…

ʿAlī b. Muḥammad al-Zanjī (d. 2 Ṣafar 270/11 August 883), known as Ṣāḥib al-Zanj, “Chief of the Zanj,” was the leader of the famous rebellion of black slaves from the coast of East Africa, known as Zanj, who were, from an indefinite date onwards, imported in large numbers into ʿAbbāsid Iraq. This revolt would heavily disrupt lower Iraq and Khūzistān for a period of some fifteen years (between 255/869 and 270/883), causing immeasurable material damage and killing tens (some sources even claim hundreds) of thousands of people. ʿAlī b. Muḥammad was the prototype of a revolutionary: h…

b. ʿAbīda b. Rayṭa (Rāʾiṭa) al-Numayrī al-Baṣrī, Abū Zayd, expert in ak̲h̲bār on history as well as poets and poetry, very important source for some of the most prominent works of Arabic literature and himself author of ak̲h̲bār collections which mostly survive in the quotations of later authors (173-262/789-878). His father’s name was Zayd, “S̲h̲abba” being a nickname taken from a song that his father’s mother used to sing for him when he was a boy. ʿUmar was born at Baṣra as a mawlā of the Banū Numayr, as mentioned by Yāḳūt ( Irs̲h̲ād , vi, 481-2) and al-Ṣafadī ( Wāfī , …