Overview

al-Baladhuri relates how Sulayman ibn Ali improved the water of Basra by building al-Mughitha. ¹

The account

The water that came to the people of Basra was scarce, and most of the water of al-Bitiha went down the Nahr al-Dayr. The people used to draw sweet water from al-Ubulla. ¹

When Sulayman ibn Ali came, he built al-Mughitha and made its sluices on al-Bitiha. He held back the water from the Nahr al-Dayr and turned it to the Nahr Ibn Umar, and spent a million dirhams on it. The people of Basra complained of the saltiness of the water and of the entry of sea water, so the sandbank was dammed and their water was made sweet again. ¹

The Basrans' Cry to Abdallah ibn Ali

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.

Building of al-Mughitha

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Overview

The account

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The Basrans' Cry to Abdallah ibn Ali