The Zanj Enter Basra and Lay It Waste

In the days of al-Mu'tamid the Zanj entered Basra and its districts. Al-Suyuti describes what happened as devastation, burning and the taking of captives. The Zanj were led by the Sahib al-Zanj, and Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq was the commander of the army. ²

Al-Suyuti relates from al-Suli very large figures for the dead, and that a pestilence and then earthquakes followed. ² Al-Mas'udi says that the conquest of Basra was in 257 AH. ³

Al-Mas'udi also says that people differed on the number of the dead: some who exaggerate say it cannot be counted, and some who minimise say five hundred thousand. ⁴

Al-Mas'udi describes the hunger of the people of Basra, until they ate dogs, mice and cats. He says that slave-girls descended from al-Hasan, al-Husayn and al-Abbas were sold for small sums by public auction according to their lineage. He relates from a sermon that was delivered for the Sahib al-Zanj, with its praise and its curses of some Companions and others. All of this is from the reports of al-Mas'udi and al-Suyuti. ⁴