Motamid
Alallah
Motamid Alallah bin Motawakkil
Alallah bin Motasim Billah bin Haroon Rasheed was born of a Roman slave girl
named Fatyan. Caliph Motamid made Obaidullah bin Yahya bin Khaqan his minister.
Obaidullah fell off his horse and died in 263 A.H. Then Mohammad bin Mukhallad
was made the minister.
The
Revolt of the Alawiites
In 256 A.H. Ibrahim bin Mohammad bin
Yahya bin Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Hanafia bin Ali bin Abi Talib alias Ibn
Sufi and Ali bin Zaid Alawi revolted against the Abbasid Caliphate in Egypt and
Kufa respectively. Ibn Sufi suffered defeat in several battles and fled from
Egypt and went to Makkah where the governor of Makkah arrested him and sent him
to Ahmad bin Tuloon in Egypt. He imprisoned him and later released him. After
his release, he went to Madinah where he died. Ali bin Zaid revolted in Kufa
and expelled the governor and took it over. Caliph Motamid sent a commander
named Shah bin Michael to Kufa but he was defeated by Ali bin Zaid. Then the
Caliph sent another commander named Kajoor who defeated Ali bin Zaid. In 256
A.H. he re-attacked Ali bin Zaid which resulted in his defeat and arrest.
Kajoor went to the Caliph with him. Husain bin Zaid Alawi captured Rayy and
Musa bin Bagha set out to fight against him.
A man named Ali posing as an
Alawiite previously drew the people's attention to himself in Bahrain and then
went to Ahsa. There he posed as an Alawiite but with a different lineage. As
the Alawiites were revolting in different places, he had a strong craving for
power and kept drawing people's attention to himself by posing as an Alawiite
but his lineage continued to be questioned everywhere proving that he was not
an Alawiite. At last, in coalition with a few slaves in Baghdad he went to
Basra and announced to the slaves that whoever came over to him would be freed.
It attracted many of them and they rallied around him. When the masters of the
slaves came to him and wanted to talk about them, he had them arrested and
later Ali released them.
The number of slaves continued
multiplying under Ali's flag and with fiery speeches coaxed and induced them to
conquer territory with the power of their swords. He looted Qadsiya and its
adjoining areas and returned to Basra. The people of Basra fought but were
defeated. Following that, they fought with him several times but were defeated
each time.
The slave army captured Basra. The
Caliph deputed the Turk Abu Bilal with a 4,000 man army under his command to
confront them. The confrontation took place near the river Riyan. The slaves
defeated and chased them away. They captured not only Basra but also, Ahwaz and
other places. The Turk leaders brought armies from the Caliph's court
repeatedly but always returned defeated. Finally, it was Sayeed bin Saleh who
crushed them and expelled them from Basra. However, on 15 Shawwal 257 A.H. they
recaptured Basra and burnt it to the ground. The beautiful buildings of Basra
were reduced to ashes and rubble.
Assessing the situation Caliph
Motamid sent Mohammad Maroof alias Molid with a large army. The slaves came out
of Basra and fought with him at the Maqul River. They put Molid's army to rout,
looted their goods and killed the fleeing soldiers. Then they returned to the
Maqul River. Then the Caliph deputed Mansoor bin Jafar Khayyat to tackle the
problem. They came to fight under the command of their chief Ali bin Aban.
There was a fierce battle. Swords dazzled until noon finally, Mansoor bin Jafar
was defeated and killed.
Hearing the news, Caliph Motamid
Billah recalled his brother Abu Ahmad Muwaffaq, whom he had deputed as the
governor of Makkah, gave him the governorship of Egypt, Qansareen and Awasim
and ordered him to fight against the slaves. Then he gave another army to
Mufleh and sent him to fight them also. These two armies marched to face the
slave army.
In the battle that followed, Mufleh
was killed and his men began to flee. This caused anxiety and disintegration
among Muwaffaq's men. At last, Muwaffaq dodged the enemy and saved his army,
reorganized them, came to the Abu Khaseeb River and fought with the slaves,
defeated them and captured many of them he also freed many of his men from
their captivity and returned to Samarra. That defeat did not crush them
completely. They rallied again and started looting, killing and plundering.
They continued on their looting and killing spree in Basra and Iraq until 270
A.H.
Yaqub
bin Laith's Governorship
In 256 A.H., the very first year of
Motamid's accession Mohammad bin Wasil bin Ibrahim Tamimi, an Iraqi Arab living
in Iran for many years, conspired with some Kurds and killed the governor of
Iran, Harith bin Seema and captured it. When Yaqub bin Laith Saffar found out,
he invaded Iran. Muwaffaq thought it wise to save Iran from going under Yaqub
Saffar's control so he had the letters of governorship for Takharistan and
Balkh in Yaqub's name written by Motamid and sent to Yaqub bin Laith with the
message: "Give up the thought of Iran and establish your government in
Balkh and Takharistan." Yaqub bin Laith liked the idea and he made proper
arrangements for Balkh and Takharistan, reached Kabul and arrested Ratbeel.
Then he dispatched gifts to the Caliph.
He visited Sajistan and began to
take control of the cities of Herat and Khorasan. In 259 A.H., he captured
Khorasan and expelled all the members of the Tahir family. Caliph Motamid wrote
him a threatening letter saying, "Be content with the cities and the
governorship of that which has been given to you. Don't capture Khorasan."
But Yaqub did not pay any heed to this warning. In 260 A.H., Hasan bin Zaid
Alawi took an army from Delam and invaded Yaqub. In a fierce battle Hasan bin
Zaid suffered defeat and returned to Delam and Yaqub conquered Sarya and Amul
then he turned to Sajistan.
The
Rebellion in Mousil
Motamid deputed the Turk commander
Satgeen as the governor of Mousil. The Turks started perpetrating atrocities on
the inhabitants of Mousil. As a consequence of this abuse, they made Yahya bin
Sulaiman their leader, beat the Turks and expelled them.
The Caliph was informed of the
rebellion. Turk armies were sent. Bloody battles were waged but the result was
disastrous. The Caliph's army of Turks lost and Sulaiman bin Yahya's government
was established in Mousil. This happened in 260-61 A.H.
Ibn
Mufleh, Ibn Wasil, Ibn Laith Saffar
When Yaqub bin Laith invaded Iran to
snatch it from Mohammad bin Wasil in 256 A.H. the Caliph bestowed on him the
governorship of Balkh and Takharistan and sent him back. Then he sent Abdur
Rahman bin Mufleh with an army to win the province of Iran from Mohammad bin
Wasil. Abdur Rahman and Mohammad began to fight.
The Caliph deputed the Turk
commander Tashtamar to reinforce Abdur Rahman bin Mufleh. Tashtamar was killed
and in 262 A.H. Mohammad bin Wasil captured Abdur Rahman bin Mufleh. Caliph
Motamid began to correspond with Mohammad bin Wasil and initiated a move to
liberate Abdur Rahman bin Mufleh. Mohammad bin Wasil did not reply to his
letters but killed Abdur Rahman bin Mufleh and began to prepare to invade the
city of Wasit where Musa bin Bagha was stationed with his army. When Mohammad
bin Wasil proceeded towards Wasit, Ibrahim bin Seema blocked his way.
From the opposite side Abu Saj who
was made governor of Iran by the Caliph sent his son-in-law Abdur Rahman to
fight against
Muhammad bin Wasil and conquer Iran.
Abu Saj was engaged in dealing with the slaves who had made more trouble in
Basra and the surrounding area. When Abu Saj's son-in-law Abdur Rahman set out
with the army, he came across the slaves' leader Ali bin Aban on the way. Ali
bin Aban defeated and killed Abdur Rahman. Mohammad bin Wasil and his army were
ready to confront Ibrahim bin Seema at Ahwaz. In the meantime, news arrived
that Yaqub bin Laith Saffar invaded Faras, so Muhammad Wasil Tamimi, ended the
confrontation with Ibrahim bin Seema and returned to Iran. Finally, Saffar and
Mohammad bin Wasil fought. Ibn Wasil lost and escaped and Yaqub Saffar captured
Iran. Khorasan had already come under his rule and in 261 A.H., he brought all
of Iran under his control.
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