Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat
Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Furat (
He played an important role in the selection of al-Muqtadir as caliph in 908, going on to serve as vizier in 908–912, during which time he succeeded in re-incorporating
Life
Ali's family had been of some prominence at
The Ibn al-Furat brothers and their supporters came to form one of the two major groups that would dominate the Abbasid bureaucracy over the next decades, the Banu'l-Furat or Furatids. Their main rivals were another group of secretarial families, the Banu'l-Jarrah or Jarrahids, headed by Muhammad ibn Dawud and his nephew
The two brothers continued to serve as heads of the fiscal departments in the caliphate of
His first tenure as vizier was one of near absolute authority, with only a small group of palace officials, the caliph's mother and some court eunuchs, providing some checks to his authority, and this only from a distance.
Soon, however, Ali began to abuse his power and embezzle large sums from the treasury, which led to his dismissal and arrest on 21 July 912.
Ali's last tenure, from August 923 to June 924 is unanimously condemned by Arab historians as a dark period, the "year of destruction". Instead of treating his deposed rivals with clemency, as he had during his previous two tenures, Ali, assisted by his son al-Muhassin, seized the opportunity to avenge himself on anyone who had wronged him, and liberally employed violence to extort large sums from those appointed to office under Hamid.
Of the mighty Banu'l-Furat, Ali's nephew
Character and assessment
Ali ibn al-Furat was a complex personality. Well-educated and highly cultured, he was very intelligent and remarkably eloquent. He distinguished himself as an extremely able fiscal administrator, "committed to the reform of abuse and the raising of state revenues without oppression" (Hugh Kennedy) and able to "solve rapidly what appeared to be the most complicated problems" (
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sourdel 1971, p. 767.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 174–175.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 175, 180.
- ^ Bonner 2010, pp. 333–334, 350.
- ^ Bonner 2010, p. 334.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 185–186.
- ^ Bonner 2010, p. 349.
- ^ van Berkel et al. 2013, p. ix.
- ^ a b Kennedy 2004, p. 190.
- ^ Bosworth 1975, p. 123.
- ^ Madelung 1975, p. 230.
- ^ a b c van Berkel et al. 2013, p. x.
- ^ Madelung 1975, p. 231.
- ^ van Berkel et al. 2013, pp. 74–75.
- ^ van Berkel et al. 2013, p. xi.
- ^ a b van Berkel et al. 2013, p. 72.
- ^ a b Kennedy 2004, p. 191.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 191–192.
- ^ Sourdel 1971, pp. 767–768.
- ^ van Berkel et al. 2013, pp. xi, 72.
- ^ a b Sourdel 1971, p. 768.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 186.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-521-83823-8.
- Bowen, Harold (1928). The Life and Times of ʿAlí Ibn ʿÍsà, ‘The Good Vizier’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 386849.
- ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
- ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7.
- ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
- OCLC 495469525.
- van Berkel, Maaike; El Cheikh, Nadia Maria; Kennedy, Hugh; Osti, Letizia (2013). Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court: Formal and Informal Politics in the Caliphate of al-Muqtadir (295-320/908-32). Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-25271-4.