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The Riot at the New Prison and the Breaking of the Prisons of Madinat al-Mansur

شغب السجن الجديد وكسر حبوس مدينة المنصور

c. 918 CE · 306 AH

Baghdad

In 306 the New Prison's inmates rioted and scaled the wall; the police chief Nazad fought them, killed one and threw his head back at them. In 307 the mob broke the prisons of al-Madina — the escapees were all rounded up, the iron gates left hanging 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq
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In time

910920930 c.
Abbasid Fragmentation

In space

Baghdad

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

Overview

In 306 the New Prison's inmates rioted and scaled the wall; Nazad the police-chief rode out, fought them, killed one and flung his head at them — and they subsided; in 307 the mob broke the prisons at al-Mansur's city and those inside escaped, but the city's iron gates were still there — they were lowered, the police hunted down the fugitives, and not one got away 1.

Connections

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Occurred at
Baghdad

People and things also explored

The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad· Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The 'Adudi Bimaristan· al-Bimaristan al-Muqtadiri· Bimaristan al-Sayyida· Dar al-'Ilm of Baghdad (Sabur's library)· The Jami' al-Qati'a of Baghdad· The mosque of Qati'at Umm Ja'far

Sources

  1. al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , p. 439, 446
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Riot at the New Prison and the Breaking of the Prisons of Madinat al-Mansur”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/prison-riot-306/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad

The Nizamiyya of Baghdad, first and most famous of the madrasas founded by the vizier Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi: building began in 457 and sisters rose at Nishapur, Isfahan, Herat, Basra, Mosul and Amid; the Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni then Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi taught in it, and it mothered the Sunni institutional model that the later madrasas of Baghdad followed — the caliphs prayed there and Nizam al-Mulk himself visited to inspect its library.