Mansoor’s Campaigns in Sindh and the Arrest of Alawite Leaders

Uyainah bin Musa bin Kâb

Musa bin Kâb was the administrator of Sindh and after him his son Uyainah succeeded him as the governor of Sindh. He revolted against Mansoor. When Mansoor found out, he left the capital and went to Basra, and from there he gave the certificate of the governorship of Sindh and India to Omar bin Hafs bin Abi Safwah Atki and appointed him for the expedition against Uyainah. Omar bin Hafs arrived in Sindh and declared war against Uyainah and ultimately captured Sindh in 142 A.H. In the meantime, the administrator of Tabristan also rebelled. Khazim bin Khuzaima and Ruh bin Hâtim were sent there. They conquered it and its administrator, a new Iranian Muslim, committed suicide.

The arrest and captivity of the Alawiites

It has already been mentioned that during the end of the caliphate of Banu Umayyah an assembly was held in Makkah which discussed the nomination and election of the new caliph. Mansoor who was also present there voted for Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan bin Ali. All were unanimous on this point and took the oath at Mohammad bin Abdullah's hands. Mansoor also took the oath for him. Saffah kept the Alawiites quiet during his reign by giving them gifts and cash and thus preventing them from revolting. When Mansoor took over as caliph, he did not let the generosity of Saffah's times continue and constantly thought of Mohammad bin Abdullah. Mohammad bin Abdullah's father Abdullah bin Hasan has also fund mention above. He visited Saffah who gave him a large sum of money and sent him away. When Mansoor became caliph, Abdullah bin Hasan hid his sons Mohammad and Ibrahim so that Mansoor would not kill them. Mohammad bin Abdullah who Mansoor took the oath for was also known as Mohammad Mahdi. He will be referred to in the following as Mohammad Mahdi. When Mansoor went on Hajj in 136 A.H. and heard the news of Saffah's death, he first made queries about Mohammad Mahdi. He was not present there at the time. The people were suspicious of him and so he and his brother Ibrahim went into hiding. After becoming caliph, Mansoor always was trying to find out where he was. He made so many inquiries about him that everybody knew that he wanted Mohammad Mahdi badly. When Abdullah bin Hasan Muthanna was pressurized to make his sons appear, he consulted Mansoor's uncle Sulaiman bin Ali. Sulaiman said that if Mansoor had been accustomed to granting forgiveness, he would have forgiven his uncle and he would not have let atrocities be perpetrated upon him. Hearing this Abdullah bin Hasan became all the more careful in keeping his sons in hiding. At last, Mansoor spread his spies throughout the Hijaz and Iraq and had fake letters sent to Abdullah bin Hasan in order to find out Mohammad Mahdi's whereabouts. Mohammad Mahdi and his brother Ibrahim continued to remain in hiding in the Hijaz. Mansoor went for Hajj but was actually looking for them. Both brothers left the Hijaz and went to Basra and stayed with Banu Rahib and Banu Murrah. When Mansoor found out about that, he went to Basra immediately. However, they had left Basra before he arrived there. From Basra, they went to Aden and Mansoor left for the capital. When the two brothers could not find peace even in Aden, they went to Sindh. After living for a short time in Sindh, they went to Kufa and started hiding again. Afterwards, they went to Madinah. Mansoor again went to Hajj in 140 A.H. The two brothers also visited Makkah for Hajj. Ibrahim wanted to kill Mansoor but his brother Mohammad Mahdi forbade him to do so. This time Mansoor failed to find them again. He called their father to him and forced him to bring them into his presence. When he expressed his ignorance of where they were, Mansoor wanted to imprison him but on the guarantee of the administrator of Madinah, Zeyad, he was let off. Because Zeyad made the guarantee for him, Mansoor came to harbor ill feelings against him also. After coming to the capital he appointed Mohammad bin Khalid bin Abdullah Qasri as the administrator of Madinah and brought Zeyad and his friends back to the capital and arrested them and put them into prison. After taking over as the administrator of Madinah, Mohammad bin Khalid tried his best to find Mohammad Mahdi and spent all the money of the treasury on it. Mansoor deposed Mohammad bin Khalid for his extravagance and failure and replaced him with Rabah bin Uthman bin Hayyan Muzani. Rabah reached Madinah and harassed Abdullah bin Hasan and created a great commotion there and arrested and imprisoned the following Alawiites.

1.     Abdullah bin Hasan Muthanna binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's father)

2.     Ibrahim bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's uncle)

3.     Jafar bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's uncle)

4.     Sulaiman bin Dawood bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's cousin)

5.     Abdullah bin Dawood bin Hasan Muthanna bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's cousin)

6.     Mohammad bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's cousin)

7.     Ismail bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's cousin)

8.     Ishaq bin Ibrahim bin Hasan bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's cousin)

9.     Abbas bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's cousin)

10. Musa bin Abdullah bin Hasan bin Hasan binAli (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's brother)

11. Ali bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali (رضي الله عنه) (Mohammad Mahdi's uncle)

When Mansoor was informed of their arrest, he wrote back that along with them Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Amr bin Uthman bin Affan should also be arrested because Abdullah bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali's mother was also from the same line of Fatima bint Husain's children. Rabah complied with this order and imprisoned Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Amr. It was during this period that the Egyptian governor arrested Ali bin Mohammad bin Abdullah bin Hasan bin Hasan bin Ali (Mohammad Mahdi's son) and sent him to Mansoor. Mansoor put him in prison. His father had sent him to Egypt for propagation and informing the people about their ideals and beliefs.