The Basrans' Cry to Abdallah ibn Ali

صياح أهل البصرة بعبد الله بن علي

After al-Mughitha, al-Mansur meant to carve an estate from the batiha and ordered al-Subaytiyya — hateful to Sulayman and the Basrans, who massed at the door of Abdallah ibn Ali, then a fugitive from al-Mansur at his brother Sulayman's, crying 'Commander of the Faithful, come down, we give you bay'a'. Sulayman dispersed them and sent al-Mansur a delegation — Suwayd ibn Abdallah al-Tamimi, al-Anazi, Dawud ibn Abi Hind, Ali ibn Bashir, Sa'id ibn Abi Aruba — with a picture of the batiha, warning the water would turn brackish; al-Mansur held 'I see it otherwise' — then came to Basra and had al-Subaytiyya extracted.

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Early Abbasid Caliphate
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In space

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

al-Baladhuri relates that Sulayman ibn Ali built al-Mughitha, and that al-Mansur wanted to extract an estate from the marshes (al-Bitiha) and ordered the making of al-Subaytiyya. Sulayman and the people of Basra disliked this. ¹

The shouting

The people of Basra gathered at the gate of Abd Allah ibn Ali, who was with his brother Sulayman, fleeing from al-Mansur. They shouted: "Come down to us, and we will pledge allegiance to you." Sulayman held them back and dispersed them. ¹

The delegation from Basra

Sulayman sent to al-Mansur a delegation that included Suwayd ibn Abd Allah, Dawud ibn Abi Hind, Ali ibn Bashir and Sa'id ibn Abi Urwuba, carrying a drawing of the marsh. They told him of their fear that their water would turn salty, and he ordered the work to be halted. Then he came to Basra and ordered al-Subaytiyya to be extracted. ¹

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant: Abdallah ibn Ali· Sulayman ibn Ali al-Abbasi
Occurred at: Basra

People and things also explored

Building of al-Mughitha· Sulayman ibn Ali al-Abbasi· Basra· Great Mosque of Basra· Qasr Qubadh / the Hajjaj palace at Basra· The Asawira's Settlement at Basra· The Basra Bathhouse Permissions· The Bukharans' Settlement at Basra

Sources

Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Basrans' Cry to Abdallah ibn Ali”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/basra-crowd-abdallah-ibn-ali/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Building of al-Mughitha

Basra's water came in a thin trickle, the batiha's mass draining to Nahr al-Dayr while folk drank from Ubulla — till Sulayman ibn Ali came, built al-Mughitha with its masnaniyyat on the batiha, dammed the water from Nahr al-Dayr into Nahr Ibn Umar and spent a million dirhams; and when the sea's intrusion brackened their water he dammed al-Qandal and it ran sweet.