Miscellaneous
Events
After getting free from the killing
of Mohammad Mahdi and his brother, Mansoor assigned the governorship of Basra
to Salim bin Qutaiba Bahli and that of Mousil to his own son Jafar. He sent
Harith as Commander of the armed forces with him.
Imam Malik (رضي الله عنه), who had induced people to take the oath
for Mohammad Mahdi, was lashed. Imam Abu Hanifa (رضي
الله عنه), who gave a fatwah (religious judgment) in favor of Ibrahim
bin Abdullah was arrested and brought before Mansoor who imprisoned him in Baghdad
where construction work on the city was still in progress. It is said that
Mansoor wanted to appoint him to the post of chief justice. When he refused, he
was assigned to count and keep the records of the bricks used in the
construction. In that state of captivity he died in 150 A.H. Besides these
famous scholars other scholars like Ibn Ajlan, Abdul Humaid bin Jafar and
others who gave religious judgments to take the oath for Mohammad Mahdi and his
brother Ibrahim were persecuted like wise.
In 146 A.H., the Turks in Khazar
revolted and marched from Babul Abwab to Armenia killing and slaughtering
Muslims. That same year the Muslims launched a naval attack on Cyprus. When the
Khwarij rebelled in Sistan, Mansoor transferred Ma'an bin Zaidah from the governorship
of Yemen to Sistan where he ended the disorder and fighting. He remained there
until 151 A.H. until he was eventually murdered treacherously by the Khwarij.
Abdullah
Ushtar Ibn Mohammad Mahdi
When Mohammad Mahdi revolted, the
governor of Sindh was Mansoor's man Omar bin Hafs bin Uthman bin Qabisah bin
Abi Sufrah. After the revolt, Mohammad Mahdi had sent his son Abdullah alias
Ushtar to his uncle Ibrahim in Basra. From there Ushtar at the instance of his
uncle, took a swift-paced she-camel and set out for Sindh because sympathy and
possible reinforcements were expected from the governor. Abdullah Ushtar
reached Sindh, invited Omar bin Hafs to their cause and he accepted, recognized
Mohammad Mahdi's caliphate, defaced the symbols of the Abbasids and
incorporated Mohammad Mahdi's name into the Friday sermon. During the same
period, news of Mohammad Mahdi's death reached the governor. He informed
Abdullah Ushtar of the incident and offered his condolences. Ushtar said,
"Now my life is in danger. Where should I go and what should I do?"
There were many kings in Sindh who had converted to Islam during Omar bin Abdul
Aziz's regime and who ruled according to their directives in their
jurisdictions. They recognized the reigning caliphs but followed all the supporters
of Islam and stuck to the rights of their rule. Omar bin Hafs told Ushtar to go
to a certain state of a Sindhi King. He loves the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and is known for the fulfillment of his
commitments. He will surely treat you kindly, affectionately and respectfully.
Abdullah Ushtar expressed his willingness. Omar received a written pledge from
that king for Ushtar through correspondence and sent Ushtar to him. The Sindhi
king married his daughter to him. He lived there until 151 A.H. and during that
period about 400 Arabs drawn from the adjoining areas collected at Ushtar's
place. By chance, Mansoor came to know that Abdullah Ushtar was living with the
King of Sindh and a small group of Arabs were with him. Mansoor recalled Omar bin
Hafs from the governorship of Sindh and sent him to Egypt in the same capacity.
He dispatched Hisham bin 'Amr Taghlibi to Sindh as governor. At the time of
departure, he ordered him to arrest Ushtar at any cost. If the Sindhi King
refused to hand him over, he should attack him. Hisham bin 'Amr tried his best
to recover Abdullah Ushtar but the Sindhi King would not give him up. At last,
they prepared to fight. The part of the country where Ushtar was staying was
attacked by Safih, Hisham bin 'Amr's brother. One day it so happened that
Ushtar in the company of 10 horsemen went along the Sindh River for
sightseeing. They came across Safih's army. Safih tried to arrest him. Ushtar
and his men fought. At last, Ushtar and his men were killed. Hisham bin 'Amr informed
Mansoor of the incident. He wrote back to him that the country of that king
must be destroyed. So a chain of battles began. Hisham eventually captured his
whole country. Ushtar's wife along with her son were caught and sent to
Mansoor. He sent them to Madinah to be under the guardianship of the deceased's
family.
Mahdi
bin Mansoor's Succession
At the time of his death, Abdullah
Saffah had made Mansoor his heir-apparent to be followed by Isa bin Musa after
him. Now according to the will Isa bin Musa was to be the caliph after Mansoor.
However, when Mansoor was relieved from the dangers of Mohammad Mahdi and
Ibrahim and no longer needed Isa bin Musa's help, he wished to make his own son
Mahdi his successor. First, he mentioned it to Isa but Isa refused to accept
it. Mansoor then manipulated to allow Khalid bin Barmak and some other non-Arab
chiefs participate in the consultations and support his stand and then he
deposed Isa bin Musa from the governorship of Kufa, in which capacity he had
been serving since Saffah's time and sent Mohammad bin Sulaiman as governor in
his place. The dismissal from the governorship of Kufa led to the liquidation
of his power and he realized his mistake of disagreeing with Mansoor.
In short, by rendering Isa powerless
Mansoor, by virtue of his cunningness, deceit, allurement and hypocrisy took
from the people the oath for the succession of Mahdi. He tried to console Isa
bin Musa too by making him the successor after Mahdi. Khalid bin Barmak gave
publicity to the statement that Isa abdicated in his presence and so the Amir
Al-Muminin made his son his successor. For this act, Mansoor had spent money
lavishly and pleased the people by giving away gifts and rewards to them on the
occasion. Isa bin Musa had contributed most to strengthening and saving
Mansoor's government. It was Isa who defeated and killed Mohammad Mahdi and
Ibrahim and relieved him of a great danger. In exchange for these services he
rendered he was rewarded with dismissal from the succession and Mahdi bin Mansoor
superseded him. After the deposition from the governorship of Kufa, he went to
Rahba in Kufa, settled down there and began to pass a quiet life.
Slowly and gradually all the
obstacles in Mansoor's way were cleared except Spain, his government was firmly
established in all the Islamic countries by 148 A.H. In 149 A.H., the
construction of Baghdad was also completed. Because of the above situations and
incidents, the Muslims did not have time to declare Jihad on the Romans. In 149
A.H., Abbas bin Mohammad, Hasan bin Qahtaba and Mohammad bin Ash'ath invaded
the Romans and scored many victories against them.
Ustad
Sees's revolt
In 150 A.H. Ustad Sees claimed to be
a prophet in Khorasan. Thousands of people accepted his prophethood at once.
The inhabitants of Herat, Badghais, and Sistan assembled under his flag and the
greater part of Khorasan fell to him. Mansoor was extremely concerned and
pensive on hearing this. The ruler of Mardrood named Jasm, observed the
situation and attacked him with all his might. Jasm was defeated and killed.
Then Khazim bin Khuzaima used strategy and surrounded Ustad Sees's army and
attacked him on two flanks. 70,000 men of Ustad Sees were killed. He was
besieged along with 14,000 remaining men in a mountain. After a prolonged siege,
he surrendered along with his men to Khuzaima and Mansoor was informed of Ustad
Sees's capture.
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