At a glance
- Era
- The Early Abbasid Caliphate
- Region
- Persia & Central Asia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Sides
Commanders: عمرو بن الليث الصفار
Commanders: Rafi' ibn Harthama
Summary
In the year 283 AH Amr ibn al-Layth left Nishapur, and Rafi ibn Harthama got there ahead of him and entered it. The khutba was given there for Muhammad ibn Zayd al-Talibi and for his father, and someone said, "O God, set right the one who calls to the truth." Amr then returned to Nishapur, the two sides met in battle, and Rafi was defeated; news of his death followed. On Thursday, with four days left in Muharram of the year 284 AH, Amr ibn al-Layth's envoy brought Rafi's head to al-Muʿtadid billah, who ordered it displayed on the eastern side until noon, then moved to the western side and displayed there until nightfall. 1
The scene
That the khutba was given in Nishapur for Muhammad ibn Zayd al-Talibi through Rafi's hand meant that at that moment Khurasan turned from the name of the caliph to the name of the Alid summoner. Rafi's defeat, his death and the display of his head on both sides of Baghdad were the last episodes of that passing khutba. 1
Connections
- Occurred at
- Nishapur
- Had participant
- محمد بن زيد العلوي
People and things also explored
The Bayhaqiyya Madrasa of Nishapur· The Sa'diyya Madrasa of Nishapur· Qasr al-Shadiyakh· Battle of Nishapur (1038)· The Conquest of Naysabur· Jaʿda ibn Hubayra's Khurāsān mission and Naysābūr's defiance (37 AH)· Khayyam's algebra treatise· The Nizamiyya of Nishapur
Sources
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , p. 162, 171
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The defeat and killing of Rafi' ibn Harthama”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/rafi-ibn-harthama-defeat-283/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.