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, Abu ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Ṭalḥa , ʿAbbāsid caliph. The son of the ¶ regent al-Muwaffaḳ [ q.v.] and a Greek slave-girl called Ḍirār, the date of his birth is unknown but was probably around 245/860. His father gave him a military training and from 267/880-1 he is found leading operations against the Zand̲j̲ rebels [ q.v.]. In 271/885 he suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the troops of K̲h̲umārawayh b. Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn [ q.v.]. Relations between him and his father were not always cordial, and one occasion in 275/888-9 Aḥmad actually ordered his arrest. The incident…

, Ṭalḥa b. D̲j̲aʿfar , normally known by his kunya , Abū Aḥmad, son of the caliph al-Mutawwakil and a slave girl Umm Isḥāḳ, regent and virtual ruler of the caliphate during the time of al-Muʿtamid [ q.v.]. As a young man he witnessed the murder of his father by the Turkish military leaders in 247/861. In 251/865 his brother al-Muʿtazz, then caliph in Sāmarrāʾ, chose him as his army commander against their cousin al-Mustaʿīn and Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir in Bag̲h̲dād. It was probably at this time that he developed the links wi…

, 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…

, Abu ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. D̲j̲aʿfar, ʿAbbāsid caliph (256-79/870-92), son of al-Mutawakkil [ q.v.] and a slave-girl from Kūfa called Fityān. He seems to have had no political experience before being chosen as caliph in Rad̲j̲ab 256/June 870 on the ¶ death of his nephew al-Muhtadī [ q.v.] and he was never able to build up an independent power base. For most of his reign he remained a figurehead in Sāmarrāʾ while effective power was exercised by his brother Abū Aḥmad, who took the quasi-caliphal title of al-Muwaffaḳ [ q.v.]. Al-Muʿtamid was able to appoint his own wazīr , …

b. al-ʿAbbās , great-grandson of the Prophet’s uncle al-ʿAbbās and father of the ʿAbbāsid caliphs al-Saffāḥ and al-Manṣūr [ q.vv.]. Muḥammad was an important figure in the establishment of the ʿAbbāsid daʿwa , but the sources are confusing and his rôle was embellished by later ʿAbbāsid historiography. He is said to have been only fourteen years younger than his father ʿAlī and had taken over the leadership of the family well before the latter’s death in 118/736. It seems most likely that Muḥammad had become acquainted in Damascus with Abū Hās̲h̲im [ q.v.], son of Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya [ q.…

(a.), also ḥaḳḳ al-bayʿa , rasm al-bayʿa and şilat al-bayʿa , a term used for the payments made to the d̲j̲und at the time of the swearing of the oath of allegiance ( bayʿa [ q.v.]) to a new ruler. The practice was unknown among the Umayyads and early ʿAbbāsids, and the first example seems to be the payments made to the d̲j̲und in Bag̲h̲dād following the death of al-Mahdī in 169/785, when each man was given eighteen months’ or two years’ salary ( rizḳ ) after they had caused disturbances. It is not clear, however, that this was directly related to the bayʿa, and it may have been settlement of arr…

, Abu ’l-Walīd al-S̲h̲aybānī . military commander and governor of the late Umayyad and early ʿAbbāsid period. He came from the as̲h̲rāf of the S̲h̲aybān tribe and rose to importance with the patronage of Yazīd b. ʿUmar b. Hubayra (see ibn hubayra], the last Umayyad governor of ʿIrāḳ. He fought against the advancing ʿAbbāsid armies when they reached ʿIrāḳ in 132/749, and was said to have killed the enemy commander, kahtaba b. S̲h̲abīb [ q.v.]. He joined his master Ibn Hubayra in the defence of Wāsiṭ and was one of the few leaders not to be executed, apparently because …

, Abū D̲j̲aʿfar ʿAbd Allāh b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī , the second ʿAbbāsid caliph, ¶ reigned 136-58/754-75. He was born in ca. 90-4/709-13 at al-Ḥumayma [ q.v.] to the east of the Jordan, where the ʿAbbāsid family were living. His mother, Sallāma, was a Berber slave girl. In 127-9/744-6 he joined the unsuccessful revolt of the Ṭālibid ʿAbd Allāh b. Muʿāwiya [ q.v.] against the Umayyads in western Iran. He then returned to al-Ḥumayma and took no part in the early stages of the ʿAbbāsid revolution, coming to al-Kūfa with his brother Abu ’l-ʿAbbās (soon to be the c…

, Abū ʿabd Allāh Muḥammad , the third ʿAbbāsid caliph. The son of the caliph al-Manṣur, he was born, probably in 126 or 127/743-5 in Īd̲h̲ad̲j̲ in K̲h̲ūzistān when his father was involved in the ill-fated rebellion of ʿAbd Allāh b. Muʿāwiya [ q.v.] against the Umayyads in that area. As soon as he was of age, his father began to train him in political affairs. In 141/758-9 he was sent to Rayy as governor of K̲h̲urāsān. He did not settle in Marw himself or take an active part in the campaigns against the various rebels in the area, but rem…

b. ʿAbd Allāh b. al-ʿAbbās , member of the ʿAbbāsid family (92-152/711-69) who played an important part in the success of the ʿAbbāsid revolution in Syria, assisting his brother ʿAbd Allāh in the assault on Damascus and, with Abū ʿAwn ʿAbd al-Malik b. Yazīd al-ʿAtakī leading the pursuit of the last Umayyad caliph, Marwān b. Muḥammad to Egypt. He was appointed governor of Egypt on 1 Muḥarram, 133/9 August 750 and remained there for a year, establishing ʿAbbāsid power. On 1 S̲h̲aʿbān 1, 133/4 March 751 he was moved to Palestine and in the same year sent Saʿīd b. ʿAbd Allāh to lead the first ṣāʾifa [ q.…

, Egypt A. The eponym of Egypt B. The early Islamic settlements developing out of the armed camps and the metropolises of the conquered provinces C. The land of Egypt: the name in early Islamic times 1. Miṣr as the capital of Egypt: the name in early Islamic times 2. The historical development of the capital of Egypt i. The first three centuries, [see al-fusṭāṭ ] ii. The Nile banks, the island of Rawḍa and the adjacent settlement of D̲j̲īza (Gīza) iii. The Fāṭimid city, Miṣr al-Ḳāhira, and the development of Cairo till the end of the 18t…