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, ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā b. Māhān , governor and military leader of the ʿAbbāsid period, who appears first as commander of the caliph’s guard and secretary to the army during the caliphate of al-Mahdī [ q.v.]. He remained commander of the guard under Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd, who, in 180/796, appointed ¶ him as governor of K̲h̲urāsān, in spite of opposition from Yaḥyā al-Barmakī. It is said that he then followed a policy of oppressing the people, which was probably the cause of the revolt of Rāfiʿ b. al-Layt̲h̲; this obliged the caliph to lead an expedition hi…

or āl barmak (Barmakids), an Iranian family of secretaries and wazīrs of the early ʿAbbāsid Caliphs. 1. Origins. The name Barmak , traditionally borne by the ancestor of the family, was not a propei name, according to certain Arab authors, but a word designating the office of hereditary high priest of the temple of Nawbahār, near Balk̲h̲. This interpretation is confirmed by the etymology which is now accepted, deriving the term from the Sanskrit word parmak — “superior, chief. The term Nawbahār, moreover, likewise derives from Sanskrit ( nōva vihāra —”new monast…

(the cup-bearer), also called al-ṣag̲h̲īr (the younger) a Turkish military leader who bore the title mawlā amīr al-muʾminīn , and who is not to be confused with his contemporary of the same name, Bug̲h̲ā al-Kabīr. After having fought, under al-Mutawakkil, against the rebels of Ād̲h̲arbayd̲j̲ān, he led the plot against this caliph, whom he suspected of wishing to reduce the influence of the Turkish officers, and had him assassinated. With his ally Waṣīf, he subsequently held power under al-Mu…

, a fortress in northern Syria, situated on the right bank of the Euphrates, which in the medieval period commanded the route from Ḥalab to Ḥarrān, in Upper Mesopotamia, via Manbid̲j̲. This fortress stood at a point where the Euphrates was relatively easy to cross, owing to the existence of two small islands which facilitated the construction of pontoon bridges. It is thought that the fortress stands on a Classical site, but the identification of this presents some problems: the most tenable hypothesis appears to be the identification of the site with the Caeciliana of Roman itineraries. In…

or Ḥawwārīn , place in Syria between. Damascus and Palmyra, half way between Ṣadad and al-Ḳaryatayn. On the site of an antique town, Ḥuwwārīn is known mainly for the fact that the Umayyad caliph Yazīd I had his residence, died and was buried there, as is attested by the poets of the period. A building still existing there, and still known today as Ḳaṣr Yazīd, may be considered as the partial remains of the residence of the caliph, who is known to have planned to irrigate the …

, name of a number of persons who held the offices of secretary or vizier under the ʿAbbāsid caliphs or the Ik̲h̲s̲h̲īdid amīr s and who belonged to a S̲h̲īʿī family. The earliest member of the family of whom anything is known is ʿUmar b. al-Furāt, who represented the ʿAlīd ʿAlī al-Riḍā and ¶ was executed in Bag̲h̲dād in 203/818-9, on the orders of Ibrāhīm b. al-Mahdī at the time when the ʿIrāḳīs were in revolt against the S̲h̲īʿī policy of al-Maʾmūn. A certain Muḥammad b. Mūsā seems to have been the first to hold important administrative office, …

, nisba made especially famous by three brothers, sons of a postmaster of al-Baṣra, and called Banu ’l-Barīdī for that reason. They played an important rôle at Bag̲h̲dād and in ʿIrāḳ during the Caliphate of al-Manṣūr and his successors. S̲h̲īʿī tax-farmers and military leaders, they distinguished themselves by their ambition and acts of prevarication and had eventful careers, very characteristic of the period preceding the advent of the Buwayhids. The eldest of the three brothers, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Aḥmad, appeared on the political scene during the second vizierate o…

, a ruined fortress situated on the left bank of the middle ¶ Euphrates, almost opposite Ṣiffīn. Also called Ḳalʿat Dawsar from the name by which this locality was known in the pre-Islamic period and in the early days of Islam (Pauly-Wissowa, iv, 2234: to Dawsarōn , which explains the Arab traditions connecting this name Dawsar with the king of al-Ḥīra, al-Nuʿmān b. al-Mund̲h̲ir), it was described by ancient Arabic authors as a stopping-place on the route leading from al-Raḳḳa to Bālis (Ibn K̲h̲urradād̲h̲bih. 74; al-Ṭa…

, Abū ʿAlī Muḥammad b. ʿAlī , vizier of the ʿAbbāsid period. Born in Bag̲h̲dād in 272/885-6, he began his career as a collector of land-taxes in Fārs, then was given an important post as secretary in the central administration when Ibn al-Furāt [ q.v.] became vizier in 296/908; he was in fact in charge of the opening and the despatch of official letters. He also collaborated closely with Ibn al-Furāt during the latter’s second vizierate (from 304/917 to 306/919), but had no compunction about working against the interests of his master, wh…

, regnal name of the fourth ʿAbbāsid caliph Mūsā, son of al-Mahdī, who had been proclaimed heir in 159/775-6. His accession took place in Muḥarram 169/August 785, but it did not pass off smoothly. Al-Mahdī died when he was actually on the way to D̲j̲urd̲j̲ān intending to force Mūsā, resident in that province, to renounce his rights in favour of his brother Hārūn, who had been appointed second heir in 166/782-3. Although the chamberlain al-Rabīʿ procured that the oath of allegiance to Mūsā was sw…

, “House of Wisdom”, a scientific institution founded in Bag̲h̲dād by the caliph al-Maʾmūn, undoubtedly in imitation of the ancient academy of D̲j̲undaysābūr. Its principal activity was the translation of philosophical and scientific works from the Greek originals which, according to tradition, a delegation sent by the caliph had brought from the country of Rūm. Its directors were Sahl b. Hārūn [ q.v.] and Salm, assisted by Saʿīd b. Hārūn. It included an important staff of translators, of whom the most famous were the Banu ’l-Munad̲j̲d̲j̲im, as well as cop…

, a sovereign State, of the Muslim religion, for the most part Arabic-speaking, situated at the eastern end of the Fertile Crescent. i.—Geography The structure of ʿIrāḳ paradoxically derives its originality from the fact that it forms part of a large geographical block of territory. From the Arabo-Syrian desert tableland which it faces along its south-western flank, it takes its general aspect and its climate. All along its frontiers on the North-East, on the other hand, it shares the orientation and ¶ relief of the folded mountain-chains of western Asia, which give it its t…

, rod, one of the insignia of sovereignty of the caliph. As early as the Umayyad era, the rod ( ḳaḍīb ) or staff ( ʿaṣā ) was already, along with the seal, one of the badges of rank which was conveyed with speed to the new caliph on the death of his predecessor. This custom was adhered to under the first ʿAbbāsid caliphs, notably after the death of al-Manṣūr, who ended his life at Mecca, and after the deaths of al-Mahdī and Hārūn al-Ras̲h̲īd, who perished during an expedition to the eastern provinces; in these cases a special messenger, bearing the ḳaḍīb and the seal, was despatched to the heir …

(the elder), a Turkish military leader who played a political rôle during ¶ a troubled period under the ʿAbbāsid caliphate. Under al-Muʿtaṣim and his successors, he distinguished himself in several expeditions against rebellions tribes in the region of Medina in 230/844-45, in Armenia in 237/851-52, and against the Byzantines in 244/857. Absent at the time of the assassination of al-Mutawakkil in 247/861, he returned subsequently to Sāmarrā and, making common cause with the other Turkish officers, compelled the succession of al-Mustaʿīn in 248/862. He died in the same year. His son,…

, 25th caliph of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty, who reigned from 381/991 to 422/1031. Born in 336/947-8, Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Isḥāḳ was the grandson of the Caliph al-Muḳtadir [ q.v.] and cousin of the Caliph al-Ṭāʾiʿ, who was deposed in 381/991 by the amīr Bahāʾ al-Dawla. Called to assume the caliphate by the latter, Abu ’l-ʿAbbās received the regnal name of al-Ḳādir bi’llāh. The amīr, who had met with some vestiges of resistance in al-Ṭāʾiʿ, hoped to find a more tractable ruler in the person of al-Ḳādir, who had had to flee from …

al-Ḥarrānī , vizier of the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Hādī. The caliph, on his accession, had appointed as vizier and chamberlain the powerful al-Rabīʿ, but he soon replaced him by Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarrānī, who had been his adviser when he was governor of D̲j̲urd̲j̲ān. Some historians however do not give Ibrāhīm the title of vizier, but refer to him only as director of finance. (D. Sourdel) Bibliography D. Sourdel, Vizirat, index.

b. muḥammad b. ʿalī b. ʿabd allāh b. al-ʿabbās . ʿAbbāsid prince, nephew of the first two caliphs of the dynasty. Governor of al-Kūfa in the reign of al-Saffāḥ [ q.v.], he was then designated as the second heir after Abū Ḏj̲aʿfar. and it was he who, at al-Anbār, administered the oath of allegiance on behalf of al-Manṣūr, who was in Mecca at the time when al-Saffāḥ died. ¶ ʿĪsā b. Mūsā kept his post of governor during the reign of al-Manṣūr. He directed military operations against the ʿAlids Muḥammed b. ʿAbd Allāh, and then Ibrāhīm, who were …

, a term designating, in the geographers and in official documents, an administrative unit within a province. It was felt as being a loan ¶ word, certain authors giving it an Iranian origin, although a Greek origin (from χώρα) seems more likely. The exact definition of a kūra varies according to authors. Thus Ibn K̲h̲urradād̲h̲bih enumerates, in the same region, that of Ḥimṣ in Syria, kūras and iḳlīm s at the same time, so that in this case, the two terms seem to be equivalent [see iḳlīm ). But most of the geographers reserve the term iḳlīm for a region or province, call the districts kūras, and di…

, word derived from the Latin veredus/ Greek beredos (of uncertain origin, perhaps Assyrian) “post horse”, usually applied to the official service of the Post and Intelligence in the Islamic states, and likewise to the mount, courier and post “stage”. The institution of the state postal service was known to the Byzantine and Sāsānid Empires, from which it would appear the first Caliphs only required to borrow it, its foreign origin being confirmed by a partly Persian terminology. The barīd operated from the Umayyad period and ʿAbd al-Malik is consider…

, 26th ʿAbbāsid caliph, whose rule lasted from 422/1031 to 467/1075, corresponding with the end of the Buwayhid period and the beginnnig of the Sald̲j̲ūḳ period in ʿIrāḳ. Born in 391/1001, the son of an Armenian concubine, he was named heir shortly before the death of his father, al-Ḳādir [ q.v.] and succeeded to the throne unopposed. The usual oath of allegiance was taken on 13 D̲h̲u ’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 422/12 December 1031. At this period, although the caliph had only very limited personal resources at his command, he had recovered a measure of freedom, to the extent …