The Caliphs Browser

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq

Close companion of the Prophet and the first caliph (r. 632–634 CE); his succession is understood differently in Sunni and Shia tradition. Usd al-Ghaba's entry on him (no. 3067) describes him as one of Quraysh's leaders in the Jahiliyya who held their bloodwits, companion of the Prophet in the cave and the Hijra, and caliph after him. Abu Nu'aym's Ma'rifat entry on his lineage, birth and death has al-Zuhri give his name as Abd Allah ibn Uthman ibn Amir ibn Amr ibn Ka'b, and Aisha report that Abu Quhafa had three sons of whom one he named Atiq, Mu'tiq and Mu'taq.

Umar ibn al-Khattab

Second caliph (634–644); under his rule the early community conquered Syria, Egypt and much of the Sasanian Empire. Remembered in Sunni tradition as al-Faruq, the model of just rule. ومن مناقبه في الصحيح القصر الذي رآه له النبي في الجنة فأخلى النظر إليه حياءً لغيرته ، ولبن الرؤيا الذي أوله النبي بالعلم فناوله إياه. ويروي هو صعوده إلى مشربة النبي حين اعتزل أزواجه فرأى أثر الحصير في جنبه فبكى فقال له «أما ترضى أن تكون لهم الدنيا ولنا الآخرة». ورأى حلة سيراء عند باب المسجد فعرضها على النبي ليلبسها يوم الجمعة وللوفد فقال «إنما يلبسها من لا خلاق له في الآخرة» ثم أهداها إليه بعد فكساها أخاً له مشركاً بمكة. Usd al-Ghaba's entry on him (no. 3831) calls him one of Quraysh's noblest who bore their envoy in the Jahiliyya, once hostile to the Muslims until he heard Surat al-Haqqah recited in Dar al-Arqam and Islam settled in his heart. Abu Nu'aym's Ma'rifat entry on his lineage traces him through al-Zuhri to Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Ma'add ibn Adnan, and reports that the people of Najran saw a black birthmark on his thigh when it was bared as he rode, saying 'this is the one we find in our book that will drive us from our land'. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition, describes him as stern, strong-willed and devoted to Muhammad, the Qur'an and Islam, reports that Sunni tradition reveres him as the paradigmatic just ruler while Shi'i tradition has never concealed its antipathy to him, and records modern disagreement over whether the early elite was united or divided.

Uthman ibn Affan

Third rightly guided caliph (644 to 656), of the Banu Umayya, who married two of the Prophet's daughters in succession. The Encyclopaedia of Islam article reports that the council arranged by Umar chose him, and that his reign saw conquests, grievances over his appointment of relatives and his fiscal policy, two sieges of his house in Medina and a killing in June 656 that opened the age of civil wars. Under him the Qur'an was standardized into a single recension. Abu Nu'aym's Ma'rifat entry gives his lineage as Uthman ibn Affan ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf, his mother being Arwa bint Kurayz.

Ali ibn Abi Talib

Cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet and the fourth caliph (r. 656–661 CE); the first Imam in Shia tradition. The Encyclopaedia of Islam says he was one of the first to believe, took part in almost all the expeditions of Muhammad's lifetime, and was chosen caliph in Medina on 18 Dhu al-Hijja 35 AH after the killing of Uthman. His reign saw the Battle of the Camel, the fighting at Siffin, the arbitration and the break with the Kharijites at al-Nahrawan. A Kharijite struck him at the door of the mosque of Kufa in 40 AH, and he died about two days later.

Hasan ibn Ali

Elder grandson of the Prophet through Fatima and Ali; briefly caliph in 661 CE before abdicating in favor of Muawiya, an act understood differently across the traditions. The Encyclopaedia of Islam reports that after Ali was killed he received allegiance in Kufa, that his army weakened through defections near al-Mada'in, and that he renounced the office on terms the sources report differently. It also records that Shi'is count him their second imam, and that he died in Medina around 49 AH, by illness or by poisoning according to the sources.

Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan

A Qurashi of the Umayyad clan, son of Abu Sufyan and Hind bint Utba, who accompanied the Prophet and served as one of his scribes. Umar put him in charge in Syria after his brother Yazid, and he later refused allegiance to Ali, fought him at Siffin, and was recognised as caliph in the year of the community, 41/661, when al-Hasan stood down. He ruled until 60/680, held the Byzantine front by land and sea, governed through tribal leaders, and had the oath taken to his son Yazid; the Encyclopaedia of Islam reports that later writers judged him in sharply different ways.

Yazid ibn Mu'awiya

Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, second Umayyad caliph, reigned 60 to 64 AH, 680 to 683 CE, after his father Mu'awiya named him successor. His mother Maysun was a sister of the Kalbi leader Ibn Bahdal. His reign opened the crisis called the fitna: al-Husayn ibn Ali was killed at Karbala, the people of Medina withdrew their allegiance and a Syrian army fought at al-Harra, and Ibn al-Zubayr was then besieged in Mecca, where the Ka'ba was damaged by fire. The Encyclopaedia of Islam says the traditional narrative is generally hostile to him, that modern scholars read it differently, and that the evidence may not allow a judgement of his ability or character.

معاوية بن يزيد بن معاوية

Third Umayyad caliph, succeeded by his father's testament in Rabi' I 64 — a righteous youth whose forty-day (or three-month) caliphate passed in illness without public appearance; he refused to name a successor, saying 'I tasted none of its sweetness — why should I shoulder its bitterness?', and died about twenty-one.

Marwan ibn al-Hakam

Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya; he rode in Abdallah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh's reinforced army to Ifriqiya in Uthman's raid with his brother al-Harith ibn al-Hakam; his rule came later, after Mu'awiya ibn Yazid's death amid Ibn al-Zubayr's fitna.

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan

Fifth caliph of the Umayyad line, reigning 65-86/685-705. He restored the unity of the state after the defeat of Musab ibn al-Zubayr and the killing of Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr at Mecca, relied on al-Hajjaj to govern Iraq, made Arabic the language of the financial offices, issued an Islamic gold dinar, and, according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, built the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem. He died in Shawwal 86/October 705 and was succeeded by his son al-Walid.

al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik

Umayyad caliph who ruled 86 to 96 AH/705 to 715 CE and succeeded his father Abd al-Malik without opposition after the death of his uncle Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan. The Encyclopaedia of Islam describes his reign as a time of internal peace and outward expansion into al-Andalus, Transoxania and Sind, and him as a great patron of architecture, with the Great Mosque of Damascus given its present form and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina rebuilt. The article asks how far he contributed personally, and suggests his main achievement was preserving balance among the factions of the ruling family.

سليمان بن عبد الملك

Seventh Umayyad caliph (96-99 AH/715-717 CE), son of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, he was probably born in Medina about 55 AH, governed the district of Filastin under al-Walid, and acceded unchallenged in 96 AH. His reign saw the great campaign against Constantinople, which ended in an unsuccessful siege, and he died at Dabiq in 99 AH.

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz

Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, called Abu Hafs, was the fifth caliph of the Marwanid branch of the Umayyads and reigned from 99/717 to 101/720. Probably born in Medina around 60/680, he governed Medina from 87/706, was named heir by Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, and died at Dayr Sim'an near Ma'arrat al-Nu'man. The Encyclopaedia of Islam says his fiscal policies remain unclear and his later image is complex.

يزيد بن عبد الملك

The ninth Umayyad caliph, Abu Khalid, born in year 71; he took the caliphate after Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz by his brother Sulayman's designation. On accession he declared 'follow the sira of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz' — forty elders testified there is no reckoning or torment upon caliphs — yet per Ibn al-Majishun he kept Umar's ways forty days then turned aside. In year two Yazid ibn al-Muhallab rose and was routed by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik at al-Aqr. He died in late Sha'ban 105.

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik

Umayyad caliph who succeeded Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik and died at al-Rusafa; al-Tabari and al-Mas'udi record his reign and death.

al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik

The eleventh Umayyad caliph, who succeeded Hisham in 126 by his designation; Ahmad's Musnad carries the hadith that a man called al-Walid would be harder on this umma than Pharaoh on his people, and Ibn Fadlallah in al-Masalik calls him the obstinate tyrant who shot the Mushaf with arrows. His cousin Yazid ibn al-Walid rose against him, killed him and took power, his caliphate lasting six months less a fraction at age thirty-five, or forty-six.

إبراهيم بن الوليد بن عبد الملك

Abu Ishaq, sworn in after his brother Yazid al-Naqis died — some say designated, others not; per Burd ibn Sinan, Qatan forged a deed of succession on Yazid's lips and had men witness it though Yazid had designated nothing. He held the caliphate seventy nights, then was deposed Monday 14 Safar 127 when Marwan ibn Muhammad marched on him; al-Mada'ini says his authority never settled — some greeted him as caliph, some as amir, some refused the bay'a. His seal read 'Ibrahim trusts in God'. He lived until 132, then was killed among the Banu Umayya in al-Saffah's massacre.

Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan

Al-Tabari records Marwan ibn Muhammad's caliphate, his defeat at the Zab in 132 AH and his subsequent killing.

يزيد بن الوليد بن عبد الملك

هشام المؤيد بالله

The Umayyad caliph of al-Andalus acclaimed at nine years old; the hajib Ibn Abi Amir murdered his uncle al-Mughira, isolated him from his wazirs, and reduced his caliphate to the pulpit prayer and the mint legend.

Muhammad II al-Mahdi

Muhammad II al-Mahdi, the caliph of the Umayyad of Cordoba caliphate, ruling 1009–1009 CE.

Sulayman al-Mustain

Sulayman al-Mustain, the caliph of the Umayyad of Cordoba caliphate, ruling 1009–1016 CE.

Abd al-Rahman IV al-Murtada

Abd al-Rahman IV al-Murtada, the caliph of the Umayyad of Cordoba caliphate, ruling 1018–1018 CE.

Abd al-Rahman V al-Mustazhir

Draft card for Abd al-Rahman V al-Mustazhir bi-llah, the Umayyad caliph of Cordoba in 1023–1024 during the Andalusi fitna; the source entry is not yet checked on the page.

Muhammad III al-Mustakfi

Muhammad III al-Mustakfi, the caliph of the Umayyad of Cordoba caliphate, ruling 1024–1025 CE.

Hisham III al-Mutadd

Hisham III al-Mutadd, the caliph of the Umayyad of Cordoba caliphate, ruling 1027–1031 CE.

Abd al-Rahman al-Nasir li-Din Allah al-Umawi

The Andalusian amir Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad the Umayyad; as the umma weakened he grew resolute — 'I am the worthiest of the caliphate' — styled amir al-mu'minin al-Nasir li-Din Allah, mastered most of al-Andalus, rooted out the usurpers and took seventy fortresses.

al-Hakam II al-Mustansir

al-Hakam II al-Mustansir, the caliph of the Umayyad of Cordoba caliphate, ruling 961–976 CE.

al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah Abd Allah ibn al-Qadir

Abbasid caliph [422–467], Abu Ja'far Abd Allah ibn al-Qadir, born 391 to an Armenian mother; Ibn al-Athir praises his beauty, piety, learning and unstinted answers. Al-Basasiri seized him in 450 and jailed him at Ana — his letter to God was hung on the Ka'ba. Restored, he slept only on his prayer-mat, kept fasting and night-prayer, forgave all who wronged him, bought back his looted goods at price saying 'we have counted them with God', never again laid head on pillow; no instrument of amusement was found in his sacked palace.

al-Muqtadi bi-Amr Allah Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qa'im

Abbasid caliph [467–487], posthumous son of the Qa'im's son Muhammad, born six months after his father's death and hailed at nineteen before Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi. His reign saw the caliphate's footing splendid again: he expelled the singing-girls and prostitutes, required the izar in the baths and razed their towers. His vizier Abu Shuja' was titled Zahir al-Din — Suyuti thinks the first din-compound title. He died suddenly, his slave-girl Shams al-Nahar suspected of poison.

al-Mustazhir bi'llah Ahmad ibn al-Muqtadi

Abbasid caliph [487–512], Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Muqtadi, born Shawwal 470, hailed at sixteen; Ibn al-Athir praises his mildness, noble hand and fine rescripts — 'his caliphate never knew calm: his days were turbulent, full of wars'.

al-Mustarshid bi'llah al-Fadl ibn al-Mustazhir

Abbasid caliph [512–529], Abu Mansur al-Fadl ibn al-Mustazhir, born Rabi' I 485. Of soaring resolve and dread presence he revived the caliphate's dignity and campaigned in person till his last expedition broke near Hamadan. A calligrapher without peer among caliphs, he corrected slips in his books; al-Shashi wrote his fiqh al-Umda for him — 'Umdat al-Dunya wa'l-Din. He was killed by Batiniyya at Maragha, Thursday 16 Dhu'l-Qa'da 529.

al-Rashid bi-llah Mansur ibn al-Mustarshid

Abbasid caliph [529–530], hailed on his father's murder; deposed by Mas'ud's judicial instrument in 530, he ravaged Azerbaijan till his own attendants killed him in 532 — 'Joseph's beauty and Hatim's bounty'.

al-Muqtafi li-Amr Allah Muhammad ibn al-Mustazhir

Abbasid caliph [530–555], hailed at forty when his nephew was deposed — his laqab from a dream of the Prophet bidding him 'follow my steps'. Stripped by Mas'ud, his famous answer won his estates back; with the sultans broken his word rose — 'the beginning of the Abbasid state's recovery'. Dhahabi: among the noblest caliphs, nothing ran without his rescript. He deeded Egypt to Nur al-Din, renewed the Ka'ba's door, and died Sunday 2 Rabi' I 555.

al-Mustanjid bi'llah Yusuf ibn al-Muqtafi

Abbasid caliph [555–566]; he lifted Iraq's tolls and was hard on mischief-makers — to the man offering ten thousand dinars for a prisoner he answered 'take them, and show me another like him to jail'. Ibn al-Najjar praises his piercing mind and his craft of astrolabes and spheres. In his first year al-Adid, last of the Ubaydids, rose in Egypt; he died 8 Rabi' II 566.

al-Mustadi bi-Amr Allah al-Hasan ibn al-Mustanjid

Abbasid caliph [566–575], born 536 to an Armenian umm walad; Ibn al-Jawzi: 'he proclaimed the lifting of tolls and the righting of wrongs, showed a justice and largesse we never saw in our days' — 1,300 silk robes cut in his first khil'a. In his reign the Ubaydid state ended and the khutba ran his name from Yemen to Aswan; he died at Shawwal's end, 575.

al-Nasir li-Din Allah Ahmad ibn al-Mustadi'

Abbasid caliph [575–622], longest reign of any — forty-seven years. His web of correspondents reached every court till men said he was served by jinn; al-Muwaffaq: 'he revived the caliphate's awe that died with al-Mu'tasim'. Ibn Wasil's counter-verdict: an unjust sira, lands taken, Imami leanings — Ibn al-Jawzi's diplomatic 'best after the Prophet: he whose daughter lay beneath him'. Mid-reign he took up hadith, a seventy-hadith booklet heard as far as Aleppo; blind at the end, a slave-girl he taught wrote his rescripts. Khwarazmshah's march broke in snow without a battle; he died Sunday at Ramadan's end, 622.

al-Zahir bi-Amr Allah Muhammad ibn al-Nasir

Abbasid caliph [622–623], fifty-two at accession — 'who opens a shop after asr, what does he earn?' Ibn al-Athir: 'he showed a justice that revived the way of the two Umars; had it been said none ruled after Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz like him, it were true' — confiscated estates returned, tolls lifted, Ba'quba's eighty thousand back to ten, the treasury's heavy weight denounced with 'Woe to the defrauders', a hundred thousand of wronged money restored. 'Treasuries are not made to fill but to be spent in God's way'. Nine months, dying 13 Rajab 623.

al-Mustansir bi'llah Mansur ibn al-Zahir

Abbasid caliph [623–640], hailed Rajab 623; builder of the Mustansiriyya — four madhhab chairs, bimaristan, kitchen, hammam, 70,000-mithqal waqf. His host once routed the Tatars; in 632 he struck silver dirhams to spare people usurious gold-cutting. His fierce brother al-Khafaji was passed over for his mild son Ahmad.

al-Musta'sim bi'llah Abdullah ibn al-Mustansir, last caliph of Baghdad

Abbasid caliph [640–656], the last of Baghdad — raised over his fierce uncle al-Khafaji for his softness, that the duwaydar and sharabi might rule. Empty of counsel, he cut most of the host his father had mustered on al-Alqami's advice, while the vizier wrote secretly to the Tatars meaning to move the caliphate to the Alids — 'and al-Musta'sim wandered in his pleasures'.

Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah

Acclaimed caliph in Rabi' II 132. Al-Tabari mentions his coming to Abu Muslim and his death in 136. According to al-Suyuti, he was born in 108, or as some say in 104, at al-Humayma in the district of al-Balqa', where he grew up; his mother was Ra'ita al-Harithiyya. The motto on his seal was: God is the trust of the servant of God, and by Him he is kept safe. He was the most generous of men: he never promised a sum without delaying it past its due time. Al-Dhahabi said that in his reign the community split and obedience was abandoned from Tahert and Tubna to the lands of the Sudan and the whole realm of al-Andalus. According to al-Mas'udi, describing al-Saffah through a report from al-Qahir's informant, he was quick to shed blood, and his governors in East and West followed him in this, such as Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath in the Maghrib, Salih ibn Ali in Egypt, Khazim ibn Khuzayma and Humayd ibn Qahtaba; yet he was also a generous, open-handed man who gave much money. According to al-Mas'udi, when Ibrahim knew there was no escape for him, he made al-Saffah his heir and charged him not to remain at al-Humayma until he had set out for Kufa. A Bedouin woman met them on the road and said: 'I have never seen faces like these, between one caliph, another caliph and a rebel: this one will hold it, you will succeed him, and that one will rise against you.' Dawud ibn Ali, in awe of him at Dumat al-Jandal, said: 'Whoever loves life is humbled,' and turned his mount to go with him. Abu Hamid al-Tusi discovered his affair at the Kunasa market and gave him the oath of allegiance on Friday, twelve nights into Rabi' II 132. He gave the sermon standing, unlike the practice of the Umayyads, and the people cried out: 'You have revived the sunna!' His caliphate lasted four years, nine months and twenty days, and he died at al-Anbar, in the city he had built. No caliph loved conversing with men as he did. When two of his intimates fell out, he would not accept the testimony of either against the other, saying that old grudges breed bitter enmity. When he was present, his face was at its most open. Al-Abdi, according to al-Mas'udi, said that he was quick to shed blood and his governors in East and West followed his example, such as Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath in the Maghrib, Salih ibn Ali in Egypt, Khazim ibn Khuzayma and Humayd ibn Qahtaba; yet he was also a generous, open-handed man who gave much money

Abu Ja'far al-Mansur

Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn al-Abbas, second Abbasid caliph; in al-Baladhuri: the thousand dinars Abd al-Malik had added to the Cypriots' tribute ran until his caliphate, when he said 'we are worthier of being just to them, and did not profit by wronging them', restoring them to Mu'awiya's ancient treaty; he it was who granted his brother Sulayman ibn Ali Balis and its villages after the confiscation of Umayyad wealth.

Muhammad al-Mahdi

Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Mansur, al-Mahdi, third Abbasid caliph; in al-Baladhuri: he sent his son Harun raiding Byzantine lands in year 163, besieging Damalu — its people by some reports settled at Baghdad on his ruling, spared and named for their town — and he completed what remained of the march-cities' and fortresses' works after his father al-Mansur, adding to their garrisons, ordered al-Hadath built and bequeathed the building of Tarsus on al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba's description; in his caliphate a body of Qinnasrin's hadir converted and he had the khadra written at their hands.

al-Hadi (Musa)

Draft card for Musa al-Hadi, fourth Abbasid caliph, named from an open reference description (Wikidata); his entries in Tarikh al-Khulafa and Ibn al-Athir's al-Kamil are not yet checked on the page, so no dates are given.

Harun al-Rashid

Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi, fifth Abbasid caliph; in al-Baladhuri: as prince he led the summer raid of year 163 for his father, besieging Damalu and granting its people aman — settled at Baghdad's Samalu quarter — and in year 165 descending on the Gulf, repairing Masisa and its mosque, increasing its garrison and building the Adhana-bridge palace on the Sayhan; as caliph he learned in year 171 that the Byzantines had conspired to fortify Tarsus and forestalled them through Harthama ibn A'yan and Faraj ibn Sulaym, settling the two levies, ordered Ayn Zarba built and fortified in year 180 and the city of the Black Church likewise, named the march cities the 'Awasim, returned the Cypriot captives taken by Hayy ibn Ma'yuf, restored Filastin's deserted estates to their people through Harthama with the takhafif and rudud, disbursed funds through the marches and coasts, and carried the craft of raiding, in Mu'awiya ibn Amr's words, to a pitch unmatched before him. Tarikh Baghdad (#7347): born at Rayy three nights short of Dhu'l-Hijja 150 (another report 149), given the bay'a at Baghdad on Friday 14 Rabi' I 170 — the very day al-Hadi died — aged nineteen years, two months and thirteen days, with al-Ma'mun born that same night; he kept al-Khuld, alternated a year of hajj with a year of ghazw, took a hundred scholars and their sons on pilgrimage, loved fiqh and fuqaha' and loathed kalam disputation; he wept convulsively at Abu Mu'awiya al-Darir's hadith 'I would love to be killed in God's path then live again' yet was told his place in Islam was too great to go raiding in person. He died at Tus on Saturday night, four days into Jumada II 193, buried at Sanabadh with his son Salih praying over him — forty-five years old after twenty-three years, two months and sixteen days of rule. Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi, fifth Abbasid caliph, born at Rayy in 149 AH/766 CE in the account of the Encyclopaedia of Islam and acclaimed caliph on 15 Rabi' I 170 AH/786 CE. The article says the vizier Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki and his sons held power for about seventeen years until their fall in 187 AH, that he organised the frontier zone as the Awasim and led campaigns against the Byzantines himself in 187 and 190 AH, and that his reign saw revolts in Syria, Egypt, Ifriqiya, Yemen and Khurasan. The article judges that his division of the empire among his sons began its decline; he died at Tus on 3 Jumada II 193 AH/809 CE.

al-Amin (Muhammad)

Draft card for Muhammad al-Amin, sixth Abbasid caliph and al-Ma'mun's rival in the civil war, named from an open reference description (Wikidata); his entries in Tarikh al-Khulafa and Ibn al-Athir's al-Kamil are not yet checked on the page, so no dates are given.

Abd Allah al-Ma'mun ibn Harun al-Rashid

Seventh Abbasid caliph, born in 170 AH, 786 CE, a son of Harun al-Rashid. He governed Khurasan as heir, then won a civil war against his brother al-Amin, who was killed in 198 AH, 813 CE. He designated Ali al-Rida as his successor, returned to Baghdad in 204 AH, 819 CE, and, according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, encouraged translation, founded the Bayt al-Hikma, favoured the Mu'tazila and instituted the mihna in 218 AH, 833 CE. He died near Tarsus in Rajab 218 AH, August 833 CE, and was succeeded by his brother al-Mu'tasim.

al-Mu'tasim

Draft card for al-Mu'tasim, eighth Abbasid caliph and founder of Samarra, named from an open reference description (Wikidata); his entries in Tarikh al-Khulafa and Ibn al-Athir's al-Kamil are not yet checked on the page, so no dates are given.

al-Wathiq

Harun al-Wathiq bi'llah ibn al-Mu'tasim, ninth Abbasid caliph; in al-Baladhuri: certain officials had laid head-jizya on the Jarajima at Antioch — they being a service-treaty people, not jizya-payers — and they appealed it to him as caliph, whereupon he ordered it remitted; al-Mutawakkil afterwards ordered it taken of them while paying them stipends. Tarikh Baghdad (#7351): born 186 on the Mecca road to an umm walad named Qaratis; bay'a at Samarra on his father's death in Rabi' I 227 aged twenty-nine, his letter read to Baghdad by Ishaq b. Ibrahim; died Wednesday six days short of Dhu'l-Hijja 232 at Qasr al-Haruni aged thirty-two (his son Ahmad said thirty-eight), his brother Ja'far praying over him — Di'bil's famous lines 'a caliph died unwept, another rose unblessed' are here too.

al-Mutawakkil ala Allah

Abbasid caliph, killed in 247; al-Tabari mentions some of his affairs and conduct. According to al-Suyuti he was known for enmity to Ali (nasb), immersed in pleasures and wine, had four thousand concubines and had relations with all of them. He was generous and much praised; it was said that no caliph gave a poet what he gave. Eight men, each the son of a caliph, greeted him as caliph: Mansur ibn al-Mahdi, al-Abbas ibn al-Hadi, Abu Ahmad ibn al-Rashid, Abd Allah ibn al-Amin, Musa ibn al-Ma'mun, Ahmad ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muhammad ibn al-Wathiq, and his son al-Muntasir. According to al-Suyuti he was the first caliph to adopt a madhhab, following that of al-Shafi'i. He said to al-Fath ibn Khaqan, when the latter described to him the finest life, a man with a spacious house, a righteous wife and a settled livelihood, who does not know us so that we might harm him, nor needs us so that we might despise him. He said to Yazid al-Muhallabi, 'The caliphs used to be harsh with the subjects so that they would obey; I am gentle with them so that they love and obey me'. According to al-Mas'udi, the days of Abu al-Wazir in the vizierate were few; he employed Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Jarjara'i, then 'Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya in 233, until the latter was killed. When someone informed on 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-'Alawi to him, he raided him at night, found him wearing a wool shirt and chanting verses of promise and threat, honoured him, seated him, and excused him from his cup. According to al-Mas'udi he took oaths of succession for his three sons, set down in documents and conditions: he made his heir al-Muntasir, then al-Mu'tazz, then Ibrahim al-Mu'ayyad. The oath was taken from the people accordingly, and he distributed money.

al-Muntasir bi-Allah

Abbasid caliph, pledged allegiance after his father al-Mutawakkil was killed in 247, and he died in 248. According to al-Suyuti, he was first pledged heir apparent; then al-Mutawakkil wanted to advance al-Mu'tazz over him and asked him to step down, and when he refused, al-Mutawakkil kept lowering his standing. The Turks agreed with him to kill his father; five men entered upon the caliph and killed him on 5 Shawwal 247. According to al-Suyuti, he was handsome and dignified, of full intellect, eager for good and little given to injustice. Among his sayings: 'The pleasure of pardon is sweeter than the pleasure of vengeance, and the ugliest of al-Muqtadir's deeds was retaliation.' Yazid al-Muhallabi said of him: 'You were generous to the Talibiyyun after they had blamed the age, time after time, and you restored the kinship of Hashim, so that I see them, after enmity between them, as brothers'. According to al-Mas'udi, Bugha al-Saghir plotted his father's murder. He put Bugha to the test through his son Faris, then through his brother Wasif, then through Bugha himself, and Bugha said: 'He kills the son while the father remains; let us begin with the father first'. According to al-Mas'udi, he was proclaimed on the morning of the night his father was killed at al-Ja'fari, aged twenty-five. His mother was an umm walad called Habashiyya Rumiyya. He stayed seven days in the al-Makhura pavilion where his father was killed, the place where Shiruyah had killed his father Khusraw Parviz. Muhammad ibn Sahl the scribe saw in its carpet the figure of Shiruyah, who killed his father and ruled six months, and the figure of Yazid ibn al-Walid, who killed his cousin and ruled six months; he said: 'I do not see his rule lasting longer than six months', and so it was. He died in 248.

al-Musta'in bi'llah

Abbasid caliph. Al-Tabari reports that Ibn Tahir resolved to depose him in 251; he was then deposed and killed in 252. According to al-Suyuti he was Ahmad ibn al-Mu'tasim, brother of al-Mutawakkil, whose mother was Mukhariq. When al-Muntasir died the commanders gathered and said, 'If you make any of al-Mutawakkil's sons caliph, not one of us will be left', so they pledged allegiance to Ahmad, who was twenty-eight. In 251, when Wasif and Bugha Baghr the Turk were killed, the Turks turned against him; he was called 'a caliph in a cage, who says what the two of them tell him, as the parrot does'. Afraid, he went down to Baghdad. They brought out al-Mu'tazz, pledged allegiance to him, and deposed him. Al-Mu'tazz sent an army against him, and the people of Baghdad prepared to fight; the clashes went on for months, killing increased and prices rose. He deposed himself at the beginning of 252 and was sent down to Wasit, held in custody for nine months. He was the first to introduce wide sleeves, about three spans across, and to make caps smaller. According to al-Mas'udi he knew well the days and reports of people and loved the accounts of the past. One anecdote: he told his boon-companion that he craved food; when a loaf, vinegar and salt were brought, on the second night he said he was hungry, and explained to him the difference between the two statements. He asked him to describe food, drink, perfume, women and horses. The best food, he answered, is what meets hunger with a taste that suits desire, and the most desirable woman is the one you leave unwillingly and return to besotted; so the caliph gave him two hundred dinars. According to al-Mas'udi he was taken down to the house of al-Hasan ibn Wahb in Baghdad, then to Wasit; Sa'id al-Hajib killed him near al-Qatul on Wednesday, six nights into Shawwal 252, aged thirty-five. Nine months and a day lay between his deposition and his killing. According to al-Mas'udi he was the first to introduce wide sleeves.

al-Mu'tazz bi-llah

Abbasid caliph, given the oath in Muharram 252 after al-Musta'in was deposed; he was deposed in Rajab 255 and died in Sha'ban. According to al-Suyuti he was second in succession after al-Muntasir and before al-Mu'ayyad; al-Mutawakkil wished to advance him, out of love for his mother Qabiha, without whom he could not be patient. According to al-Suyuti he was given the oath when al-Musta'in was deposed in 252, at nineteen; no caliph before him had come to the throne younger. In the first year of his reign Ashnas died leaving five hundred thousand dinars, which he took. He was the first caliph to ride with gold trappings; the caliphs before him had ridden with light silver trappings. He conferred the robe of rule on Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Tahir, then dismissed him; then on his brother Abu Ahmad, who was crowned with a crown, two sashes and two swords; then he dismissed him and exiled him to Wasit; then he conferred it on Baga al-Sharabi, who rose against him a year later and was killed. In Rajab he deposed his brother al-Mu'ayyad, beat him and shackled him, and he died. According to al-Mas'udi, al-Mutawakkil had made him second in succession after al-Muntasir, and al-Muntasir and his brother Ibrahim deposed him in 248. According to al-Mas'udi he is al-Zubayr ibn Ja'far al-Mutawakkil, and his mother was a slave-mother called Qabiha. He was given the oath on Thursday, two nights into Muharram 252, at eighteen; he deposed himself on Monday, three nights before the end of Rajab 255, and died six days later at twenty-four and was buried at Samarra. Al-Buhturi, on the deposition of al-Musta'in, composed a jibe sending him off to Wasit: 'Let claws grow in the flesh of chickens, as far as Wasit, behind the chicken'. According to al-Mas'udi, all the Turks came to him on four nights before the end of Rajab 255, led by Salih ibn Wasif, rebuking him for his sins and demanding money; he agreed to abdicate on terms of safe-conduct, and was killed in his confinement six days after his deposition. He was the first caliph to display riding with gold trappings, when the caliphs before him had ridden with light silver trappings.

al-Muhtadi bi-Allah

Abbasid caliph, pledged allegiance in Rajab 255 after al-Mu'tazz was deposed; he was deposed in Rajab 256 and died. According to al-Suyuti, he was tawny-skinned, slender, pious, devout, just, firm in God's cause and a brave man, but he found neither helper nor supporter. He fasted continually from his accession until he was killed, and a woollen shirt and the cloak he wore at night in prayer were found in his chest. He abolished entertainments and banned singing, restrained the powerful from injustice, and kept close watch over the bureaus, never missing his sitting on Mondays and Thursdays. When Hashim ibn al-Qasim fed him bread, salt, vinegar and oil, he said that among the Umayyads there had been Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, so he was jealous on behalf of the Banu Hashim; and when Ja'far ibn Abd al-Wahid mentioned Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he said: 'If it were lawful for me to disown my father, I would have disowned him'. According to al-Mas'udi, he was Muhammad ibn al-Wathiq. When the Turks besieged al-Mu'tazz they sent for him to Madinat al-Salam, and he was brought to Samarra within a day and a night; he refused to sit on the throne or accept the oath until he had seen al-Mu'tazz, and when they met they embraced and sat together on the throne. Al-Mu'tazz released him from his pledge, and the people accepted it; al-Mu'tazz had exiled and imprisoned him. According to al-Mas'udi, he took the path of moderation and piety, drew near to the scholars and raised the standing of the jurists, and said: 'O Banu Hashim, leave me to follow the path of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.' He ordered the gold and silver vessels brought out of the treasuries to be smashed and struck into dinars and dirhams, images were erased from the assembly halls, butting rams were slaughtered and captive beasts of prey killed, and brocade hangings were taken down. The caliphs' tables had cost ten thousand dirhams a day, but he set his table and provisions at about one hundred dirhams, and he kept up continual fasting. After his death a woollen shirt and a shackle, which he used to wear to bind himself at night while he bowed and prostrated until morning, were found in his chest. He was killed leaving seventeen sons and six daughters. He had the two secretaries Ahmad ibn Isra'il and Abu Nuh brought out to the public gate; each was given five hundred lashes, and both died.

al-Mu'tamid ala Allah

Abbasid caliph, given the oath in Rajab 256 under the name al-Mu'tamid ala Allah after the death of al-Muhtadi. According to al-Suyuti he was Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil, his mother Fatyan. When al-Muhtadi was killed he had been confined in al-Jawsaq; they brought him out and gave him the oath. He made his brother al-Muwaffaq governor of the East, made his son Ja'far his heir with the title al-Mufawwad ila Allah, and became absorbed in pleasure and neglected his subjects, so people disliked him and loved his brother Talha. According to al-Mas'udi he was Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Mutawakkil, kunya Abu al-Abbas, and his mother was a slave-mother from Kufa called Fatyan. He was given the oath on Tuesday, fourteen nights before the end of Rajab 256, aged twenty-five, and died in Rajab 279 aged forty-eight, so his caliphate lasted twenty-three years. He appointed as viziers 'Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan, then al-Hasan ibn Makhlad, then Sulayman ibn Wahb, then Sa'id. According to al-Mas'udi he was passionately fond of music; drinking and all kinds of pleasures and entertainments dominated him, and he asked 'Ubayd Allah ibn Khurradadhbih who first took up the 'ud. According to Ibn Khaldun, Yusuf ibn Tashfin seized him, led him captive to Marrakesh, and kept him in confinement there. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, in 271 he cursed 'Amr ibn al-Layth in the presence of the pilgrims of Khurasan and ordered him cursed from the pulpits, after dismissing him from the post he had given him and granting Khurasan to Muhammad ibn Tahir. He came to Baghdad five nights before the end of Shawwal 272 and alighted at al-Za'faraniyya, with 'Abd Allah ibn Tahir going before him with the spear.

al-Mu'tadid bi-llah

Abbasid caliph; he was given the designation as heir in Safar 278. Al-Tabari records that in 279 Ja'far al-Mufawwad was removed from the succession, and his investiture followed in Muharram of that year. In 280 he marched against the Banu Shayban; in 281 a battle took place between him and the Kurds and the Bedouin. According to al-Suyuti, when Ibn Tulun died in 270 al-Muwaffaq entrusted him with his father's offices and sent him to Egypt with Iraqi troops; a great battle took place between him and Khumarawayh, so that the ground ran with blood, and victory went to the Egyptians. According to al-Suyuti he was born in Dhu al-Qa'da 242; his mother was a slave-mother named Sawab, or, some say, Hirz. He was a brave and awe-inspiring king, of open arrogance, who would face a lion alone; when he was angry with a commander he had him thrown into a pit and covered over. He was called al-Saffah the Second, because he renewed the rule of the Abbasids, which had grown old and weak and nearly vanished, and had been in turmoil since al-Mutawakkil was killed. He abolished the tolls and spread justice; unrest subsided in his days through the excess of his awe, and his days were good, full of security and plenty. He said to the judge Isma'il, 'By God, I have never untied my trousers over anything unlawful.' He ordered a book burned, compiled for him, which gathered the lenient rulings drawn from the lapses of scholars, when he was told that whoever follows every lapse of the scholars loses his religion. According to al-Mas'udi he was Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Talha, al-Muwaffaq; his mother was a Byzantine slave-mother called Dirar. He was given the oath on the day his uncle al-Mu'tamid died, on Tuesday, twelve nights before the end of Rajab 279, and Ja'far al-Mufawwad was removed from the heir-apparency. When the caliphate came to him, unrest subsided, the lands were set right, wars ceased and prices fell; every dissenter made peace with him, and he defeated Harun al-Shari. He died on Sunday, seven nights before the end of Rabi' II 289, after a caliphate of nine years, nine months and two days. He left in the treasuries nine thousand thousand dinars, forty thousand thousand dirhams and twelve thousand head of livestock; yet he was stingy, and scrutinised matters that ordinary people do not examine. According to al-Mas'udi, people of Basra came to him in white naval boats greased with fat and lime, complaining of drought and the injustice of the agents. He sat for them behind a screen and admitted them, and Abu Khalifa al-Jumahi addressed them in rhymed prose: 'This is a devil the sea cast up, and his like should be sent as envoy to kings.' He granted what they asked. In 286 he came down upon Amid and besieged it, deploying his armies around it until Muhammad ibn Ahmad came down on terms of safe-conduct. Al-Mas'udi also relates the affair of the 'ten budr' (al-'ashr al-budr), when a breach was made in the house of the officer responsible for the troops' stipends. Mu'nis al-'Ujali pursued it through the tawwabin, elders among the thieves who had grown old and repented, and they pointed to a slender man. Mu'nis beat him until he nearly died, but he denied it. Al-Mu'tadid ordered him treated and fed until he recovered, then had thirty black servants take turns guarding him, not letting him lean or sleep, until he nearly perished. He lay back, and the caliph ordered him woken and said, 'Tell me how you did it.' He confessed that he had hidden the money under a heap of thorns in a bath opposite the house. When the money was brought and he denied it, the cover was lifted from it before him and he was dismayed. The caliph ordered him inflated with a bellows until he nearly burst; then he was struck in two veins above his eyebrows, and the wind came out with the blood until he perished. According to al-Mas'udi, the people of Baghdad rose up against the sultan because they shouted at the black servants, 'O 'Aqiq, pour water and scatter flour!'; he had a group of commoners whipped, and the commoners rioted. A figure appeared to him in his house in various forms: at times a bearded monk in white, at times a young man, at times an old man in merchant's dress, and at times with a drawn sword, with which he struck one of the servants and killed him. People said much about it. Some said it was a rebellious devil; some said it was a jinn believer who warns; and some said it was the servant of a slave-girl's passion, who contrived it with philosophical drugs that cannot be perceived by sight. He summoned the enchanters, and a group of his servants and slave-girls were killed and drowned. According to al-Mas'udi, money came from Muhammad ibn Zayd of Tabaristan to be distributed secretly among the Family of Abu Talib; he was informed on, the man was brought, and he rebuked him for concealing it and ordered it made public. He drew close to the Family of Abu Talib, the reason being kinship. He saw in his father's prison an old man sitting by the Tigris, reaching his hand into its water; the water came into his hand and the Tigris dried up, and then he returned it. It was said, 'This is Ali ibn Abi Talib,' and he said to him, 'O Ahmad, this matter will come to you, so do not harm my sons or hurt them'. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, his campaign against the Banu Shayban in Safar 280 was accompanied by the ode of al-Nawbadh and his verse that no one is spared the vicissitudes of time; he ordered the Hulwan pass made easy at a cost of twenty thousand dinars; he extended the mosque of al-Mansur, opening seventeen arches between it and the palace at a cost of twenty thousand dinars; and he ordered al-Qasr al-Hasani made a residence of the caliphate, the first caliphal residence there. A letter from Dabil about an earthquake there in that year came in connection with this campaign. In Rabi' II 286 he besieged Amid and set up catapults against it until its chief sought safe-conduct from him; he granted it, bestowed a robe of honour on him, and then ordered its walls demolished.

al-Muktafi bi-Allah

Abbasid caliph whose caliphate lasted six years and nineteen days; he died in 295 and was buried in the house of Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Tahir. According to al-Suyuti, he was born on 1 Rabi' II 264; his mother was a Turkish woman called Jijak, and his beauty was proverbial. His father named him heir, and he was pledged allegiance on the Friday eleven days before the end of Rabi' II 289, while he was at Raqqa. The vizier al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah took up the burden of the oath, and he reached Baghdad on 7 Jumada I. He demolished the dungeons his father had built and turned them into mosques, returned the gardens and shops his father had seized to their owners, and governed well, so the people loved him. In his last illness he said: 'I regret nothing but the seven hundred thousand dinars I spent of the Muslims' money on buildings I did not need.' He died young, on the night of Sunday, twelve days into Dhu al-Qa'da 295. According to al-Mas'udi, he left eight million dinars and twenty-five million dirhams in the treasuries, and nine thousand head of livestock, yet he was stingy and close-fisted. His daily table had ten dishes, and a kid every Friday; someone was set to count the leftover bread, sound loaves were returned the next day and broken pieces went into crumbled bread. He ordered a palace built at al-Shammasiyya opposite Qatrabbul and took estates and farms without payment, so many prayed against him, and he died before the building was finished. According to al-Mas'udi, when his illness grew severe with dysentery he summoned the judge Muhammad ibn Yusuf and Abd Allah ibn Ali ibn Abi al-Shawarib and had them witness his bequest of the succession to his brother Ja'far. He used to recite Ibn al-Rumi's line on the lauzinaj sweet, 'when it appears, you are amazed or wonder', and among his own verses is 'Life is only the hour you are in, and what has passed'. Ibn al-Nadim reports that the queen of the Franks wrote to him on white silk, seeking his friendship and asking to marry him, and sent the letter with a servant named Ali, one of Ibn al-Aghlab's servants, who had reached her land from the Maghrib. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, when he came to the caliphate (dated 295 in this account) he went down to the palace and ordered the dungeons demolished and the site made a congregational mosque, so that prayer was established in the three great mosques. On the day he entered the Hasani palace, al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah was given a kunya by word of mouth, put into six robes of honour, given a sword, and mounted on a horse whose bridle and saddle were gold. Also according to Ibn al-Jawzi, the oath of allegiance to him after his father was taken from the people of Baghdad on the Friday evening eleven nights before the end of Rabi' II 289, four days before al-Mu'tadid died; he was at Raqqa, took the oath from those there, then came down to Baghdad, arriving on Monday, eight days into Jumada I. He put al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah in charge of the soldiers' stipends and took the oath from them. The treasury held ten million dinars and jewels worth ten million dinars, apart from equipment and horses. He was twenty-five years, six months and twenty days old when he was pledged allegiance.

al-Muqtadir bi'llah

Abbasid caliph, hailed in 295 and deposed in 296, restored to the caliphate in 317 and killed in 320. According to al-Suyuti he was born in Ramadan 282 to a Byzantine mother named Shaghab, and no caliph before him had been younger, since he took office at thirteen. He was deposed twice: for a single day in 296, in favour of Ibn al-Mu'tazz, and in 317, when Mu'nis moved to put al-Qahir in his place until the troops restored him; command and prohibition then passed to his womenfolk because of his frailty. Al-Dhahabi says order was greatly disrupted in his days because of his youth. According to al-Mas'udi he was Ja'far ibn Ahmad al-Muktafi, known as Abu'l-Fadl, whose mother was an umm walad called Shaghab. He was hailed on the day his brother died, on the thirteenth night of Dhu'l-Qa'da 295, at thirteen years old, and was killed in Baghdad after the afternoon prayer on Wednesday, three nights before the end of Shawwal 320. His caliphate lasted twenty-four years, eleven months and sixteen days, and he was thirty-eight years old. Also according to al-Mas'udi, after al-Abbas ibn al-Hasan was killed he appointed Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Furat as vizier three times: first in 299, then in 304, and the third time when his son Muhsin was the dominant force in affairs. He also appointed as vizier Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan; Ali ibn Isa ibn Dawud ibn al-Jarrah, twice; Hamid ibn al-Abbas; Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ubayd Allah al-Khaqani; Ahmad ibn Ubayd Allah al-Khusaybi; Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muqla; Sulayman ibn al-Hasan ibn Makhlad; Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Kalwadhani; al-Husayn ibn al-Qasim, who was killed at Raqqa; and last of them al-Fadl ibn Ja'far ibn al-Furat. According to Ibn al-Athir, in 317 they removed him from the palace, with his mother, his maternal aunt, his favourite concubines and his sons, to the house of Mu'nis. Ibn Hamdan came to rebuke him while he was weeping, and so did al-Muqtadir. They deposited the document of his deposition with Judge Abu Amr, who concealed it; this was approved of him after he returned, and he appointed him to the judgeship. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, in 302 he ordered that Jews and Christians not be employed; they were confined to their houses, obliged to wear caps and patches, and their stirrups were made of wood. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, the death of Ibn al-Mu'tazz became known in the sultan's house two nights into Rabi' II 296; Mu'nis took him out to his home wrapped up and handed him to his family, who buried him in a ruin facing their house. Al-Muqtadir ordered the ledgers thrown into the Tigris, and many gave thanks to him for it. No caliph is known to have been deposed and then restored except two: al-Amin and al-Muqtadir bi'llah.

Muhammad al-Qahir bi-llah

Given the oath of the caliphate in 320, after al-Muqtadir was killed, and titled al-Qahir bi-llah. According to al-Suyuti he was Muhammad ibn al-Mu'tadid. Mu'nis and the amirs gave him their oath when they deposed al-Muqtadir on the night of 14 Muharram 317 and titled him al-Qahir bi-llah; he sat on the Sunday and held the procession on the Monday, when the troops came seeking al-Muqtadir to restore him. Al-Qahir was seized and brought in weeping, crying 'God, God, for my own sake!', and al-Muqtadir embraced him, saying: 'By God, you are blameless; take heart'. When al-Muqtadir was killed, al-Qahir and Muhammad ibn al-Muktafi were brought together. Ibn al-Muktafi was asked to take office and said he had no need of it and that this uncle of his had the better claim, so al-Qahir was given the oath. His first act was to confiscate the property of al-Muqtadir's family and torture them, beating al-Muqtadir's mother until she died under torture. He schemed against those who had risen against him, Mu'nis and Ibn Muqla, until he seized and slaughtered them; he walled up Ibn al-Muktafi between two walls, added to his titles 'the avenger of the enemies of God's religion', and had it struck on the coinage. He was rash, a shedder of blood, of bad conduct and addicted to wine. He made a great spear that he would not set down until he had killed a man with it. Then he was deposed and blinded. Al-Mas'udi says that he denied having money and was tortured, and then told al-Radi that the money was buried in the garden. They dug up the garden and the palace and found nothing, and he said: 'Is there money with me? My regret was only your sitting in it, and I wanted to grieve you there.' After his release he stood at the Mansur mosque, where people gave him alms, in the days of al-Mustakfi; he was prevented from leaving until he died in Jumada I 339, aged fifty-three. When he heard that al-Muttaqi had been blinded he said: 'We are two now and need a third', and so al-Mustakfi was blinded. Al-Mas'udi says he carried a great spear in his hand when he walked about his house, set it down before him when he sat, and struck with it whomever he meant to kill. He destroyed a number of men of the state, among them Mu'nis al-Khadim, Baliq and Ali ibn Baliq. Alone with Muhammad ibn Ali al-Abdi al-Khurasani, who was describing to him the caliphs of the Abbasid house, he lunged at him with the spear and missed. Al-Mas'udi also says that when he was pressed for the money he had hidden, he denied it and was harassed and tortured; al-Radi seized him, drew him near and honoured him, and swore that he would not seek his death. When he asked a favour, al-Radi granted it, and he said: 'I have no money except in the citron garden.' Al-Radi dug up the garden and uprooted its trees and found nothing, and said to him: 'Is there any money with me? My regret was your sitting in this place and enjoying it, and I grieved that others would be kept from it after me.' Al-Radi repented and sent him away, fearing that he would take some of its produce. Al-Qahir used to drink much in that garden, al-Jarib, which he had planted with citron brought from Basra and Oman; in it were turtle-doves and parrots. Ibn al-Athir says that at his deposition in 322, the Sajiyya and the Hajariyya found him asleep, having drunk most of the night; a young servant guided them to him with a sword in his hand, and he fought them with it until they softened their speech to him. It was also said that the cause of his deposition was that he cut the pay of the Sajiyya and the Hajariyya as far as possible, refused the requests of their chiefs, delayed their stipends, and treated harshly whoever addressed him among them. Ibn al-Athir also says that in 321 he seized Mu'nis, Baliq and Baliq's son Ali by a stratagem and slaughtered them in Sha'ban, and their heads were carried in trays from one to another. He sought Ahmad ibn al-Muktafi, found him and walled him up alive, and he died. He appointed Salama al-Tulunī chamberlain and Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Khaqan chief of police, and made Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah his vizier. The people saw from his severity that none of them would escape his hand, and everyone who had helped him regretted it. Ibn al-Jawzi says that his kunya was Abu Mansur and that his mother, a muwallada named Qabul, died before his caliphate; he tortured al-Muqtadir's mother with every kind of torment, until it was said that he hung her head-down while her urine ran. Ibn al-Jawzi also says that he died in 339.

al-Radi bi-llah Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn al-Muqtadir

Abbasid caliph [322–329], Abu'l-Abbas Muhammad ibn al-Muqtadir, born 297 to a Roman slave Zulum, hailed the day al-Qahir was deposed — Ibn Muqla wrote up the deposed caliph's faults to be read to the people.

al-Muttaqi li-llah Ibrahim ibn al-Muqtadir

Abbasid caliph [329–333], Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-Muqtadir, hailed at thirty-four; he altered nothing, never touched a slave-girl or wine, fasted much — 'I want no companion but the Mushaf'. Tuzun blinded him in 333; jailed opposite al-Sindiyya twenty-five years, he died in Sha'ban 357.

al-Mustakfi bi'llah Sulayman ibn al-Hakim

Third Cairo caliph [701–740], hailed by his father's will; moved with the Abbasids from Kabsh to a citadel house, and rode out with the sultan to the Tatar victory of 702.

al-Muti li-llah al-Fadl ibn al-Muqtadir

Abbasid caliph [334–363], Abu'l-Qasim al-Fadl ibn al-Muqtadir, born 301 to the slave Mashghala, hailed on al-Mustakfi's deposition with a stipend of only a hundred dinars a day fixed by Mu'izz al-Dawla.

al-Ta'i' li-Llah Abd al-Karim ibn al-Muti'

Abbasid caliph [363–381], al-Mu'ti's son, hailed when his father suffered paralysis at Subuktakin's counsel — the deed done Wednesday 13 Dhu'l-Qa'da 363; al-Dhahabi says father and son were alike helpless among the Buyids.

al-Qadir bi-llah Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir

Abbasid caliph [381–422], Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn al-Muqtadir, born 336; hailed after al-Ta'i's deposition, arriving 10 Ramadan. Al-Khatib: famed for piety and night-prayer, he studied fiqh under Abu Bishr al-Harawi and wrote an usul book — Companions' virtues and takfir of the Mu'tazila — read every Friday at al-Mahdi's mosque; in Shawwal he and Baha' al-Dawla swore mutual fidelity, the caliph granting him all beyond his gate.

al-Mustansir bi'llah II Ahmad ibn al-Zahir

First of the Cairo Abbasids; freed from Baghdad's prison, he was hailed at Cairo 13 Rajab 659, then vanished against the Tatars beyond Hit on 3 Muharram 660 — most say killed.

al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah Ahmad al-Qabi

Second Cairo caliph [661–701], of al-Mustarshid's line — he escaped the sack to the Arabs, fought the Tatars at Ana, Haditha, Hit and Anbar, reigned first at Aleppo where Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyya swore him, then ruled Cairo forty years, first Abbasid buried by Sayyida Nafisa. At his Cairo bay'a on 8 Muharram 661 Baybars extended his hand and swore first, then the notables, and al-Hakim invested Baybars with the sultanate; next day's khutba opened 'Praise God who raised for the Abbasid house a pillar and a backer' — and the caliph was sequestered at the Citadel of the Mountain in 663.

al-Mustakfi I

al-Mustakfi I, the caliph of the Abbasid of Cairo caliphate, ruling 1303–1340 CE.

al-Wathiq bi-Llah Ibrahim ibn al-Mustamsik

Pretender-caliph at Cairo [740–741]; passed over by his grandfather for profligacy, he sowed the sultan's breach with al-Mustakfi and was hailed on his death — the commons calling him 'al-Musta'ti'. Ibn Fadl Allah's portrait: ram-butting rams, fighting cocks, long-eared goats, unpaid goods — 'the caliphate's name stepped down from the minbars'. The dying sultan repented and deposed him.

al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah II Ahmad ibn al-Mustakfi

Cairo caliph [741–753]; his father's deed — witnessed by forty just men of Qus — was read in al-Mansur Abu Bakr's council of 11 Dhu'l-Hijja 741, Ibrahim deposed and Ahmad hailed as al-Hakim II. Ibn Fadl Allah: 'imam of our age, cloud of our Egypt — he revived the caliphate's rites and reunited his scattered house'.

al-Mu'tadid bi'llah Abu'l-Fath Abu Bakr ibn al-Mustakfi

Cairo caliph [753–763], hailed by his brother's deed — 'good, humble, loving the people of knowledge'.

al-Mutawakkil ala Allah Muhammad ibn al-Mu'tadid

Sixth Cairo caliph [763–808] — 'father of the age's caliphs': of his hundred children five reigned (al-Musta'in, al-Mu'tadid II, al-Mustakfi II, al-Qa'im, al-Mustanjid), a thing without parallel, and all living Abbasids descend from him. Deposed fifteen days in 779, imprisoned and deposed by Barquq 785–791, he refused the amirs' offer of the sultanate itself in 778; died Tuesday 18 Rajab 808.

al-Musta'sim bi'llah Zakariya ibn Ibrahim

Twice-set Cairo caliph: fifteen days under Aynbak in 779 'without bay'a or consensus', then under Barquq till 791 when the repenting sultan restored al-Mutawakkil; died deposed at home.

al-Wathiq bi-Llah Umar ibn Ibrahim

Cairo caliph [785–788] under Barquq's deposition of al-Mutawakkil; died Wednesday 19 Shawwal 788.

al-Musta'in (Cairo)

al-Musta'in (Cairo), the caliph of the Abbasid of Cairo caliphate, ruling 1406–1414 CE.

al-Mu'tadid bi-llah Dawud ibn al-Mutawakkil

Cairo caliph [815–845] — 'of the caliphs' elite: noble, bright, alert; scholars sat with him and he shared their pursuits; generous to a fault' — investing five sultans across thirty years; died Sunday 4 Rabi' I 845 near seventy.

al-Mustakfi bi'llah II Sulayman ibn al-Mutawakkil

Cairo caliph [845–854] — the author's own father wrote his deed of appointment and served as his imam: 'we grew up in none but his house and bounty; I doubt the earth bore a caliph's house more devout since Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz's'. He died Friday, last day of Dhu'l-Hijja 854; the sultan walked his funeral and bore the bier himself, and Suyuti's father died forty days later.

al-Qa'im (Cairo)

al-Qa'im (Cairo), the caliph of the Abbasid of Cairo caliphate, ruling 1451–1455 CE.

al-Mustanjid bi'llah Yusuf ibn al-Mutawakkil

The author's own reigning caliph [859–884], investing five sultans ending with Qaytbay; confined to the citadel by Khushqadam after Janim's bid, he died there Saturday 14 Muharram 884 near ninety, and was buried in the Abbasid cemetery by the Nafisa shrine.

al-Mutawakkil ala Allah II, Abd al-Aziz ibn Ya'qub

Cairo caliph [884–903] — a Hashimi between Hashimis, who read hadith with the author's father; hailed in the sultan's presence 16 Muharram 884. In his reign Qaytbay made the hajj no sultan had made for over a century; he died Wednesday, last of Muharram 903, naming his son Ya'qub al-Mustamsik.

al-Mustamsik

al-Mustamsik, the caliph of the Abbasid of Cairo caliphate, ruling 1497–1517 CE.

al-Mutawakkil III

al-Mutawakkil III, the caliph of the Abbasid of Cairo caliphate, ruling 1508–1517 CE.

al-Zahir li-I'zaz Din Allah Ali ibn al-Hakim

Ali ibn al-Hakim, seventh Ubaydid caliph as al-Zahir li-I'zaz Din Allah; his rule weakened — Aleppo and most of Syria lost — and he died in 428, succeeded by his seven-year-old son al-Mustansir.

al-Mustansir bi'llah Ma'add ibn al-Zahir

Ma'add ibn al-Zahir, eighth Ubaydid caliph, enthroned at seven in 428 and reigning sixty years and four months — al-Dhahabi knows none in Islam who lasted so. In his days came the seven-year famine unmatched since Joseph; his khutba sounded at Baghdad's Mansur mosque when al-Basasiri held the city on his money.

al-Musta'li bi'llah Ahmad ibn al-Mustansir

Ahmad ibn al-Mustansir, ninth Ubaydid caliph as al-Musta'li bi'llah, succeeding on his father's death in 487.

al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah Mansur ibn al-Musta'li

Mansur ibn al-Musta'li, tenth Ubaydid caliph as al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah, raised at five years old on his father's death in 495.

al-Hafiz li-Din Allah Abd al-Majid ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mustansir

Eleventh Ubaydid caliph, raised when his nephew al-Amir was killed heirless in 524; died 544, succeeded by his son al-Zafir.

al-Zafir bi-Llah Isma'il ibn al-Hafiz

Twelfth Ubaydid caliph, succeeding his father in 544; killed in 549, his boy al-Fa'iz raised as Egypt's power failed.

al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah Isa ibn al-Zafir

Isa ibn al-Zafir, thirteenth Ubaydid caliph as al-Fa'iz bi-Nasr Allah — a small boy raised in 549 as Egypt's power failed.

al-Adid li-Din Allah, last Ubaydid caliph

Fourteenth and last Ubaydid caliph; Shirkuh then Salah al-Din viziered under him till the Abbasid khutba was raised in Muharram 567 while he lay dying — he passed on Ashura, his palace's hoards selling for ten years.

عبيد الله المهدي

Forefather of the Ubaydid caliphs of Egypt; his da'wa appeared in Yemen in 270 and held till 278, when he hajj'd and met a band of Kutama — they liked his state, he went with them to the Maghreb, the Mahdi's first affair.

al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah Muhammad ibn al-Mahdi

Abu'l-Qasim Muhammad, the Ubaydid Mahdi's son and second ruler of the dynasty, succeeding on his father's death under al-Radi; earlier he had taken most of Upper Egypt and his armies held Fustat's riverine quarter.

al-Mansur bi-Allah Isma'il ibn al-Qa'im

Isma'il ibn al-Qa'im, third Ubaydid ruler; he founded al-Mansuriyya and died there, the best-conducted of the line after his grandfather al-Mahdi, abolishing the exactions — and his son Ma'add succeeded as al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah.

al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah Ma'add ibn al-Mansur

Ma'add ibn al-Mansur, fourth Ubaydid ruler, titled al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah; his mawla Jawhar took Egypt with a hundred thousand horse, laid out Cairo and built the Two Palaces; al-Mu'izz entered Egypt in Ramadan 362 carrying his fathers' coffins — the builder of Cairo.

al-Aziz bi'llah Nizar ibn al-Mu'izz

Nizar ibn al-Mu'izz, fifth Ubaydid caliph as al-Aziz bi'llah; his envoy reached Baghdad in 369, and per al-Dhahabi Hims, Hama and Aleppo were opened for him beyond his forebears' gains, he was preached at Mosul and Yemen, his name on their coinage and banners — succeeded by his son al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah Mansur ibn al-Aziz

Mansur ibn al-Aziz, sixth Ubaydid caliph, titled al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. Al-Maqrizi says he disappeared in Shawwal 411 AH, and prefers the account of a man who confessed to killing him in 415 AH.

Abd al-Mu'min ibn Ali al-Qumi

Abd al-Mu'min ibn Ali, of the Berber Kumiya tribe, met Ibn Tumart at Malala near Bougie, became one of his closest followers, and then succeeded him as leader of the Almohad movement, founding the Mu'minid dynasty. He ruled from 527/1133 to 558/1163, ended Almoravid power with the capture of Marrakesh, and added Ifriqiya and Almohad al-Andalus to Morocco.

Abu Ya'qub Yusuf ibn Abd al-Mu'min

Abu Ya'qub Yusuf ibn Abd al-Mu'min, second Almohad caliph — deposed the designated heir, his brother Muhammad, in Sha'ban 558, posted his brother Abu Hafs 'Umar over al-Andalus, and grew up between the cavalry and the scholars: a firm jurist whose bent ran to wisdom and philosophy, his dinars the 'Yusufis' of the Maghreb. He crossed in 566 with a hundred thousand horse, and at Seville the death of Ibn Mardanish (Rajab 567 — his mother was said to have poisoned him) brought the sons to surrender all the east of al-Andalus; Yusuf raided to the gates of Toledo, took Gafsa in 575, and died of illness (some said a Frankish arrow) at the month-long siege of Santarém in Rabi' I 580, carried home in a coffin while the Almohad commanders settled the succession on his son Ya'qub without a written will.

يعقوب المنصور الموحدي

The Almohad caliph al-Mansur, victor of Alarcos — dark, tall, handsome and sonorous, versed in usul, furu', chancery, history, geometry and medicine; when the truce with Alfonso of Castile lapsed at the end of 590 he fell deathly ill at Salé on the eve of the campaign, then rose and broke the Franks.

محمد الناصر بن المنصور الموحدي

The Almohad caliph Muhammad al-Nasir b. al-Mansur; fought Ibn Ghaniya in Ifriqiya, received Mahdiyya 603, marched to Seville 609 and was broken at al-Uqab at the end of Safar, dying at Marrakesh months later.

al-Mustansir Yusuf al-Muwahhidi

Abu Ya'qub Yusuf ibn Muhammad ibn Amir Ya'qub al-Mansur al-Muwahhidi, called al-Mustansir. He succeeded his father al-Nasir; he was a young man fond of his ease. At his death, because his uncle was of advanced age, the state gave its allegiance to his uncle Abd al-Wahid ibn Yusuf ibn Abd al-Mu'min.

Abd al-Wahid al-Makhlu (the Deposed), Almohad

Abd al-Wahid ibn Yusuf ibn Abd al-Mu'min, an uncle of the caliph al-Nasir, known as al-Makhlu (the Deposed). After al-Mustansir the state gave him the oath of allegiance, for his advanced age and sound judgement; but he did not manage affairs well and did not placate the people of his state, so they deposed him and strangled him after a nine-month reign.

al-Adil Abdallah al-Muwahhidi

Abu Muhammad Abd Allah, son of the amir Ya'qub al-Mansur al-Muwahhidi, known as al-Adil. When Abd al-Wahid took power at Marrakesh he was in al-Andalus and held out at Murcia, believing himself more entitled to the command; he marched toward the Maghrib, endured hardships on the way, and fought his brother Abu al-Ala Idris, who had seized the command and styled himself al-Ma'mun.

al-Mu'tadid Yahya al-Muwahhidi

Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Muwahhidi, titled al-Mu'tadid. The people of Marrakesh chose him as caliph after Abd al-Wahid al-Makhlu' had been deposed. Within a few days Abu al-'Ala Idris claimed the caliphate at Seville and the people of al-Andalus pledged allegiance to him; Yahya besieged him in Marrakesh, but then his companions were routed, and the people of the city, regarding him as ill-omened, expelled him. He sought protection among a people in a fort in the direction of Tlemcen, and a young man of theirs, who held a vendetta against him over his father, stabbed him and killed him.

al-Ma'mun ibn al-Mansur al-Muwahhidi

The Almohad caliph (624-630 AH) who revolted against his own dynasty's doctrine: acclaimed at Seville, he entered Marrakesh in 626 AH with a Christian army, reproached the Almohad shaykhs and killed a hundred of their notables, ordered Ibn Tumart's name erased from coinage and khutba and cursed in the Berber adhan, licensed a church in Marrakesh, lost Ifriqiya to Abu Zakariya al-Hafsi in 627 AH, and died at Wadi Umm al-Rabi' in 630 AH.

al-Rashid ibn al-Ma'mun al-Muwahhidi

Abd al-Wahid ibn al-Ma'mun, titled al-Rashid; acclaimed after his father's death in 630 AH, he defeated Yahya ibn al-Nasir and entered Marrakesh, restoring at the Almohad shaykhs' condition the Mahdi rites his father had erased, and contrived the killing of the Arab commander Mas'ud ibn Humaydan, ruling until his death in 640 AH.

al-Said al-Mu'tadid, Almohad caliph

Draft card for Abu al-Hasan al-Said al-Mu'tadid, the Almohad caliph raised in Seville in 1242 and deposed in 1248; the dynastic handbook entry is not yet checked on the page.

al-Murtada Umar al-Muwahhidi

The Almohad caliph al-Murtada, who fled Marrakesh for Azemmour when Abu Dabus entered in 665, was seized by his own governor and killed at Kutama in the last ten days of Rabi' II.

Abd al-Wahid II al-Ma'mun, Almohad

Abd al-Wahid II b. Yusuf b. Abd al-Mu'min — the Almohad caliph deserted by his Berber amirs and strangled in Sha'ban 621 after a nine-month reign; in his days the Maghribi al-Adil's Andalus venture collapsed and Ibn Hud al-Judhami rose calling to the Abbasids.

Selim I Yavuz

Selim I Yavuz, the caliph of the Ottoman caliphate, ruling 1512–1520 CE.

سليمان القانوني

The tenth and most illustrious Ottoman sultan, who reigned 926–974 AH / 1520–1566 CE, the longest reign in Ottoman history. Born in Trabzon, he came to the throne without a rival and led thirteen imperial campaigns in person, ten of them in Europe, taking Belgrade and Rhodes, defeating the Hungarians at Mohács and besieging Vienna. Turkish tradition remembers him as Kanuni, the lawgiver, for ordering the sultanic kanun beside the shari'a with the help of the mufti Abu al-Su'ud, while the West called him the Magnificent; the architect Sinan built the Süleymaniye complex for him. He died in his tent during the siege of Szigetvár in 974 AH / 1566 CE.

Selim II

Selim II (r. 974–982/1566–1574) — succeeded Sulayman; his reign ran on Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha's hand: the Austrian peace of 1567, the conquest of Cyprus, Lepanto, the recovery of Tunis and the Don–Volga canal project.

مراد الثالث

Murad III (r. 982–1003/1574–1595) — trilingual poet-sultan; saw Poland placed under Ottoman protection, Tiflis and Tabriz taken from the Safavids, and in two Rajab 988/September 1580 letters offered the Sa'dids 300 sultanic galleys and an army to recover al-Andalus — then, facing al-Mansur's readiness and his near-agreement with Spain, ordered Uluj Ali to stand down. Sokollu's assassination in his reign opened the era of palace-made grand viziers. Buried in Hagia Sophia's courtyard.

محمد الثالث

Mehmed III (r. 1003–1012/1595–1603) — the last Ottoman sultan to take the field in person, reviving the custom his father and grandfather had let lapse; at Eger he held firm when his troops scattered and the victory came within the hour. A poet-sultan inclined to tasawwuf; died 18 Rajab 1012 aged 38.

Ahmed I

Ahmed I, the fourteenth Ottoman sultan and son of Mehmed III, born at Manisa in 998/1590 and succeeded in 1012/1603. He built the Sultan Ahmed mosque at the Atmeydani in Istanbul, and died in 1026/1617 after a two-month illness.

Mustafa I

Mustafa I, Ottoman sultan who succeeded his brother Ahmad I in 1026 AH, was deposed after three months, restored after Osman II's murder in 1031, then deposed again for Murad IV; in his reign the government became a Janissary plaything.

Osman II

Osman II, Ottoman sultan (1026-1031 AH) at thirteen; fought Poland then resolved to abolish the Janissaries, who mutinied first, deposed and killed him in 1031; some of his verse survives.

Murad IV

Murad IV b. Ahmad I, Ottoman sultan (1032-1049 AH); reformed the interior and crushed the military tyrants, personally led the recovery of Baghdad from the Safavids in 1048, called 'second founder of the state' by historians; died 1640 leaving a full treasury.

إبراهيم الأول

Ibrahim I (r. 1640–1648) — opened the long Cretan war against Venice in 1645 by seizing Venetian goods and shipping a fleet to Crete; deposed and killed in the Istanbul mutiny that enthroned his seven-year-old son Mehmed IV.

محمد الرابع

Mehmed IV, the nineteenth Ottoman sultan, reigned 1058 to 1099 AH, 1648 to 1687 CE, and came to the throne at seven. His reign saw the Köprülü viziers, the conquest of Crete, the failed second siege of Vienna in 1683 and the loss of most of Hungary. He was deposed on 2 Muharram 1099, 8 November 1687, after a troop revolt following the defeat at Mohács, and died at Edirne in 1693.

سليمان الثاني

Sulayman II (r. 1099–1102/1687–1691) — reign of retreat: Belgrade lost to Austria, Dalmatia and Greece to Venice; his vizier Mustafa Köprülü's protection of Istanbul's Christians prompted the Morean Greeks to expel the Venetians and choose Ottoman rule.

Sultan Ahmed II

Sultan Ahmed II (r. 1691–1694): a four-year reign of skirmishes in which the great Köprülü vizier Mustafa fell in battle and Venice seized Aegean islands.

مصطفى الثاني

Mustafa II (r. 1106–1115/1694–1703) — the sultan of Karlowitz: Hungary and Transylvania lost, the tributary powers stopped paying, and the Ottoman retreat from Europe began. Deposed by the Janissaries, dead within four months at 39.

Ahmed III

Ahmed III, the twenty-third Ottoman sultan, was born in 1084/1673 and reigned from 1115/1703 to 1143/1730. His reign brought wars with Russia, Venice and Austria: the Morea was regained from Venice, and Belgrade was lost under the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718. The later years, the Age of Tulips, were marked by court pleasure, the arts and the first printing press in Istanbul, until a rising in Istanbul in 1730 forced his abdication; he died in 1149/1736.

محمود الأول

Mahmud I (r. 1143–1168/1730–1754) — brought in the first European military adviser (the Comte de Bonneval), yet won the war that produced the Treaty of Belgrade 1739: Austria ceded Belgrade, Serbia and Wallachia back, and Russia pledged no Black Sea fleet.

Osman III

Osman III, Ottoman sultan (1168-1171 AH); enthroned at fifty-eight with the oath in Abu Ayyub's mosque, ruled three war-free years devoted to internal reform and suppressing revolts, said to inspect his subjects' condition in disguise at night.

مصطفى الثالث

Mustafa III (r. 1171–1187/1757–1773) — a mujahid sultan who beat the Russians several times yet foresaw the decline and wrote it in verse; the 1768–1774 war that ended at Küçük Kaynarca broke him — he fell ill with grief and died at 57.

Abd al-Hamid I

Abd al-Hamid I (r. 1187–1203/1773–1788) — came from the palace seclusion to sign away the Black Sea: Küçük Kaynarca (1774) freed Crimea, opened Ottoman waters to Russian ships and gave Russia a protected church in Galata.

سليم الثالث

Selim III (r. 1203–1222/1788–1807) — refused the powers' peace overtures, blamed the late defeats on estrangement from religion, and when France took Egypt in 1798 proclaimed jihad, answered from the Hijaz to North Africa.

Mustafa IV

Mustafa IV, the caliph of the Ottoman caliphate, ruling 1807–1808 CE.

محمود الثاني

Mahmud II, son of Abd al-Hamid I, was Ottoman sultan from 1223/1808 to 1255/1839, coming to the throne after the Bayrakdar coup and the killing of Selim III. The Encyclopaedia of Islam reports that he restored the centre's authority over the provinces, abolished the Janissaries in 1826, built a new Western-style army and reorganised the administration into ministries and councils, while the empire lost ground to Russia, Greece and Muhammad Ali, and that he died on 1 July 1839 after the defeat at Nizib. Its author judges that his reforms set Ottoman society irrevocably on the road to modernisation, while al-Salabi says he followed Western civilisation in dress.

Abd al-Majid I

Abdülmecid I — Mahmud II's son, 'of slight build, sharp mind, realistic and merciful'; under Mustafa Rashid Pasha's hand the Tanzimat ran on three tracks: Western military and administrative models, secularising the social order, and centralising Istanbul's power over the provinces.

Abd al-Aziz (Ottoman)

Abdülaziz (r. 1277–1293/1861–1876) — deposed and then killed in the 1876 palace coup, 'a matter known to history and recorded in the documents'.

Abd al-Hamid II

Abd al-Hamid II (r. 1293–1327/1876–1909) — ruled under a constitution hostage to his person: ministers, treaties, war and law all his alone. His pan-Islamic counterweight: the Shaykhs' Council, the Arab Tribal School for sons of chiefs, and correspondence with the Arab amirs — against British approaches to the Sharif of Mecca and the imams of Yemen and Asir.

مراد الخامس

Murad V (r. 1293/1876) — sultan for ninety-three days: cultured, Francophile and constitutionalist, he broke down under the shock of his uncle's midnight deposition and was himself deposed by a shaykh al-Islam fatwa on incurable madness — the text of which the source quotes — then recovered and lived out his days in Çırağan palace.

Mehmed V Resad

Mehmed V Resad, the caliph of the Ottoman caliphate, ruling 1909–1918 CE.

السلطان وحيد الدين ⁦(محمد السادس)⁩

Mehmed VI Vahdeddin — the last Ottoman sultan, in occupied Istanbul issuing the death warrant on Mustafa Kemal while the national resistance grew.

Caliph Abd al-Majid II

Abdülmecid II — the last Ottoman caliph, who wore Mehmed the Conqueror's turban and Sulayman's sword to the Friday crowds until Mustafa Kemal barred him, halved his stipend and had the caliphate abolished and him exiled in March 1924.

Usman dan Fodio

Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817), a Fulani scholar of Gobir in Hausaland, founder of the Sokoto Caliphate and its first caliph. A Qadiri Sufi and a Maliki jurist, he wrote more than a hundred books on the Islamic sciences and from 1804 led the jihad that overthrew the Hausa kingdoms and raised the largest Muslim state in West Africa of its age, then left the state's administration to his son Muhammad Bello and his brother Abdullahi and returned to teaching and writing.

Muhammad Bello

Muhammad Bello (1781–1837), second caliph of Sokoto (1817–1837), son of its founder Usman dan Fodio and his father's chief aide. He founded the city of Sokoto in 1809, consolidated the caliphate's administration, courts and schooling, and wrote hundreds of texts on history, Islamic law and poetry, among them the Infaq al-Maysur, the standard history of the Fulani wars; he died at Wurno in 1837.

Abubakar Atiku

Abubakar Atiku, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1837–1842 CE.

Aliyu Babba ibn Bello

Aliyu Babba ibn Bello, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1842–1859 CE.

Ahmadu Atiku

Ahmadu Atiku, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1859–1866 CE.

Aliyu Karami

Aliyu Karami, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1866–1867 CE.

Ahmadu Rufai

Ahmadu Rufai, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1867–1873 CE.

Abubakar II

Abubakar II, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1873–1877 CE.

Mu'azu

Mu'azu, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1877–1881 CE.

Umaru ibn Ali

Umaru ibn Ali, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1881–1891 CE.

Abd al-Rahman

Abd al-Rahman, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1891–1902 CE.

Muhammadu Attahiru I

The twelfth Sultan of the Sokoto Caliphate in West Africa, reigning from October 1902 to March 1903, and the last independent Sultan of Sokoto before the British takeover. He refused submission, left Sokoto on what he called a hijra to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi, and was killed at the battle of Mbormi in July 1903.

Muhammadu Attahiru II

The thirteenth Sultan of the Sokoto Caliphate in West Africa, reigning from 1903 to 1915 after the British appointed him on their conquest of Sokoto; he was the first Sultan to rule under colonial authority. He was a great-grandson of the Caliphate's founder Usman dan Fodio and a son of the fourth Sultan, Ali Babba bin Bello.

Muhammadu Mai Turare

Muhammadu Mai Turare, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1915–1931 CE.

Muhammadu Tambari

Muhammadu Tambari, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1931–1938 CE.

Hasan dan Mu'azu

Hasan dan Mu'azu, Sultan of Sokoto (1931–1938) under British colonial rule; appointed after Muhammadu Tambari's deposition and exile, holding the seat until his death, when Siddiq Abubakar III succeeded.

Siddiq Abubakar III

Siddiq Abubakar III, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1938–1988 CE.

Ibrahim Dasuki

Ibrahim Dasuki, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1988–1996 CE.

Muhammadu Maccido

Muhammadu Maccido, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 1996–2006 CE.

Sa'adu Abubakar III

Sa'adu Abubakar III, the caliph of the Sokoto caliphate, ruling 2006–the present CE.

'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr

Son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma bint Abi Bakr, born at Medina about 624. The people of Mecca and Iraq gave him allegiance as caliph, and al-Hajjaj besieged him at Mecca until he was killed in 73/692; al-Mas'udi gives fifty nights from Dhu al-Qa'da 72, while the Encyclopaedia of Islam gives more than six months. 'Uthman placed him on the commission that copied the codices, with Zayd ibn Thabit, Sa'id ibn al-'As and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith.

علي بن حمود الناصر لدين الله

First Hammudid caliph of Cordoba, bay'a'd the day Sulayman al-Musta'in fell; his eight months of justice — beheading a Berber for a bunch of grapes and parading the head — turned to oppression when al-Murtada rose in the east, until Slav pages killed him in the bath on 1 Dhu'l-Qa'da 408.

al-Qasim ibn Hammud al-Ma'mun

al-Qasim ibn Hammud ibn Maymun al-Idrisi, brother of Ali ibn Hammud al-Nasir; the two stood by Sulayman ibn al-Hakam al-Musta'in when the Berbers set him up as caliph in al-Andalus and served him well, al-Qasim receiving Algeciras — after Ali's death he took the caliphate as al-Ma'mun, contested by his nephew Yahya ibn Ali who prevailed over him, one of the last Hammudid caliphs of Cordoba.

Yahya al-Mu'tali al-Hammudi

Yahya al-Mu'tali ibn Idris, the third Hammudid caliph in Cordoba; acclaimed twice (1021–1023 and 1025–1026) amid the fitna of Cordoba, then abdicated and ruled Malaga until 1035.

إدريس بن يحيى الحمودي

The Hammudid claimant at Malaga who received panegyric from behind a curtain until Ibn Muqana's nuniyya moved him to raise the veil and welcome the poet.

Ali ibn Husayn (King of the Hejaz)

Ali ibn Husayn, last King of the Hejaz; his father abdicated the throne and the caliphate claim to him in October 1924; he held Jeddah until it fell to Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud in December 1925, then fled to Iraq.

Husayn ibn Ali (Sharif of Mecca)

Husayn ibn Ali (Sharif of Mecca), a claimant to the caliphate of the Sharifian caliphate, ruling 1924–1925 CE.