Mahdi’s Administration, Indian Expedition, Hadi’s Succession, Hajj, and Spanish Conflicts

Change, Deposition and Appointment of Administrators

In 155 A.H. Mahdi deposed his uncle Ismail from the government of Kufa and appointed Ishaq bin Sabah Kindi Ash-athi. He removed Sayeed, Da'laj and Obaidullah bin Hasan from the government of Basra and appointed Abdul Malik bin Dhubyan Numairi. Similarly the same year he deposed Qasam bin Abbas from the government of Yamama and appointed Fadal bin Saleh, deposed (Mansoor's liberated slave) from the government of Egypt and appointed Abu Hamza Mohammad bin Sulaiman, removed Abdus Samad bin Ali from the government of Madinah and appointed Mohammad bin Abdullah Kasiri.

Soon after Mohammad bin Abdullah was also removed and replaced by Zafar bin Asim Hilali. The same year Mahdi sent Mabad bin Khalil as the governor of Sindh. When Humaid bin Qahtaba who was the governor of Qahistan died the same year, that is 159 A.H. its government was handed over to Abu Aun Abdul Malik bin Yazid. At the end of the same year Sayeed bin Khalil died and the government of Sindh was taken over by Ruh bin Hatim.

In 160 A.H., Abu Aun Abdul Malik was deposed as a punishment. His place was taken by Mu'az bin Muslim. Sistan was assigned to Hamza bin Yahya and Samarkand to Jibrail bin Yahya. During his regime, Jibrail built the fort and erected fencing in Khorasan. The same year Sindh was taken over by Bustam bin Amr. In 161 A.H., Mahdi gave the governorship of Sindh to Nasr bin Mohammad bin Ash-ath. The same year Abdus Samad bin Ali was sent to Jazirah. Isa bin Luqman to Egypt and Bustam bin Amr to Azerbaijan after being deposed from the governorship of Sindh. The same year he appointed Yahya bin Khalid Barmk as the tutor of his son, Haroon and he sent Sulaiman bin Raja to Egypt as governor in place of Mohammad bin Sulaiman.

The expedition of Barbad

It was during the regime of caliph Mahdi that a naval expedition was sent to India. Abdul Malik bin Shahab Masmai with an army boarded the ships in the Persian Gulf and moved along the Indian coast. They landed in Barbad and waged a battle and many Barbad men were killed. Only 20 Muslims lost their lives but an epidemic broke out among the Muslim soldiers leading to the death of 1000 of them. They then turned their boats towards Persia. They met with a violent storm near the Persian coast that shattered several boats and many soldiers were downed.

Hadi bin Mahdi as Crown Prince

As has previously been mentioned, Isa bin Musa lived at Rahbah adjacent to Kufa, visited Kufa to perform his Friday and Eid prayers and spent all his time at his village quietly and without involving himself with the affairs of others. It has also been recorded that Abdullah Saffah had made Isa heir apparent after Mansoor and Mansoor made his son Mahdi supersede Isa. Isa bin Musa was the rightful heir apparent after Mahdi but in the first year of his caliphate Mahdi's advisers and supporters advised him to nominate his son Hadi as his heir-apparent in place of Musa. Mahdi requested Isa to visit Baghdad but Isa refused. Mahdi issued standing orders to the governor of Kufa to harass him but as Isa had already been leading a secluded life, the governor did not get an opportunity to carry out his orders. Then Mahdi wrote a strict letter to Isa but he did not reply.

Then Mahdi sent his uncle Abbas to him to bring him into his presence. Even then, Isa refused. At last, Mahdi deputed two commanders to go and bring him. Compelled in this way, Isa came to Baghdad and lodged with Mohammad bin Sulaiman. He visited Mahdi's court from time to time but he went there silently, kept silent while there and returned silently from there. At last, they started torturing him and Mohammad bin Sulaiman himself wanted to compel him to abdicate. Isa made excuses about the pledge, which he had taken at the time of succession. Mahdi called the legal scholars.

They gave a religious verdict that Isa might retire from the succession after paying compensation for breaking his oath. Mahdi gave him 10,000 dirhams and estates at Zab and Kaskar in lieu thereof. Isa retired from the succession on 26 Muharram 160 A.H. and took the oath for Hadi as the heir apparent. The next day Mahdi held an open court, took the oath from the officials of the government, went to the Central Mosque and delivered a sermon informing the people of Isa's abdication and Hadi's succession. Isa admitted his retirement from the succession and the people took oath for Hadi as the heir apparent.

Mahdi's Hajj

In Dhul Qada 160 A.H., Mahdi made preparations for Hajj and left his son Hadi as his deputy in Baghdad. He had Hadi's maternal uncle Yazid bin Mansoor live with Hadi and arranged for his second son, Haroon and a few relatives, to live in Hadi's company. He himself left for Makkah along with his minister Yaqub bin Dawood. After arriving in Makkah, he had all the old covers of the Ka'bah removed and covered it with a new and expensive cover (Arabic: Kiswah). He distributed clothes to 150,000 paupers and extended the Prophet's Mosque. On his return journey, he brought 500 families from the Ansars to Iraq with him, settled them there, gave them estates, fixed salaries for them and deployed them as his bodyguards. He had rest houses constructed along the roads to Makkah. Every house was fitted with a cistern and a well. He entrusted the supervision of all this work to Yaqteen bin Musa. He issued orders for the extension of the Basra mosque and reconstruction of its pulpit.

Skirmishes in Undulus (Spain)

The governor of North Africa representing Mahdi was Abdur Rahman bin Habib Fahri. He took a group of Berbers, landed at Murcia, on the southeastern portion of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Abdul Rahman Fahri invited the governor of the province, Sulaiman bin Yaqtan, to follow the Abbasid caliphate, he did not reply to the letter of invitation. Abdur Rahman Fahri attacked Sulaiman's territory but was defeated and pushed back. In the meantime, Amir Abdur Rahman the Umayyah ruler of Spain arrived with an army. First, he burned Abdur Rahman Fahri's boats on the coast so he could not get away. Then he turned his army to face him. Abdur Rahman Fahri became nervous and climbed up Mount Valencia. Amir Abdur Rahman announced that whosoever brought Abdur Rahman Fahri's head to him he would be given 1000 dinars. The news reached the ears of one of Abdur Rahman Fahri's Berbers. He cut off his head in a state of greed, took it to Amir Abdur Rahman and received the reward. Amir Abdur Rahman was agitated at the invasion of the Abbasids. He decided to retaliate by invading the Syrian coast and punish the Abbasid caliph for his intrusion into Spain. But during that same time Hasan bin Yahya bin Sayeed bin Sad bin Uthman Ansari revolted in Spain and as a result Amir Abdur Rahman had to turn his attention to him and postpone his plan to attack Syria. The dynasty of Banu Umayyah ruled in Spain from the time of Caliph Mansoor Abbasi and it was the second headquarters of the Islamic authority. The period of Abbasids has been begun in our narrative and we will finish recording the details of the rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate as they continued to rule over the entire Islamic world except for Spain. The political conditions of Spain will be narrated separately from its beginning in a following section.