Al-Qa'im (Abbasid caliph at Baghdad)

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For other uses, see Al-Qa'im.
Al-Qa'im bi-amri 'llah
القائم بأمر الله
Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad
Reign29 November 1031 – 2 April 1075
PredecessorAl-Qadir
SuccessorAl-Muqtadi
Born8 November 1001
Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate (now Iraq)
Died3 April 1076(1076-04-03) (aged 74)
Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
ConsortKhadija Arslan Khatun
Al-Jiha al- Qa'mya
Issue
Names
Abu Ja'far Abdallah ibn Ahmad al-Qadir Al-Qa'im bi-amri 'llah
Era name and dates
Later Abbasid era: 11th century
DynastyAbbasid
Fatheral-Qadir
MotherQatr al-Nada
ReligionSunni Islam

Abū Ja'far Abdallah ibn Aḥmad al-Qādir (

Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 1031 to 1075. He was the son of the previous caliph, al-Qadir. Al-Qa'im's reign coincided with the end of the Buyid dynasty's dominance of the caliphate and the rise of the Seljuk dynasty.[1]

Early life

Al-Qa'im was born on 8 November 1001. He was the son of Abbasid caliph al-Qadir (r. 991–1031) and his concubine named Qatr al-Nada (died 1060), an Armenian or Greek, also known as Alam.[2]

His father, Al-Qadir had publicly proclaimed his just nine-year-old son Muhammad (elder brother of Al-Qa'im) as heir apparent, with the title of al-Ghalib Bi'llah, in 1001.[3][4] However, Muhammad died before his father and never ascended to the throne.

In 1030, al-Qadir named his son Abu Ja'far, the future Al-Qa'im, as his heir, a decision taken completely independently of the Buyid emirs.[5][6] Al-Qadir died after an illness on 29 November 1031. Initially he was buried in the caliphal palace, but in the next year he was ceremonially moved to al-Rusafa.[7] Al-Qa'im, meanwhile, received "the usual oath of allegiance" on 12 December 1031.[1]

Reign

During the first half of al-Qa'im's long reign, hardly a day passed in the capital without turmoil. Frequently the city was left without a ruler; the

Emir
was often forced to flee the capital.

At this point, the caliph had "very limited personal resources at his command", but he had recovered a bit of power from earlier periods and was able to arbitrate between the Buyid emirs Jalal al-Dawla and Abu Kalijar.[1] In 1032, al-Qa'im sent the jurist al-Mawardi to meet with Abu Kalijar in secret; he was to refuse to grant him any title but "Malik al-Dawla".[1]

While the

Seljuk dynasty's influence grew, Chaghri Beg married his daughter, Khadija Arslan Khatun,[8] to Al-Qa'im in 1056.[9]

The Seljuk ruler

amir, al-Malik al-Rahim
, made his entry into the capital, where he was well received both by chiefs and people.

The Turkic general

Arslan al-Basasiri revolted in 1058 and successfully took Baghdad while Tughril was occupied with his brother's revolt in Iran.[1] Al-Qa'im originally stayed in Baghdad during these events but was later exiled to Anah on al-Basasiri's orders.[1] For about a year, al-Basasiri kept al-Qa'im as his hostage in Anah, as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Tughril.[1] Tughril ended up securing al-Qa'im's freedom by going directly to the amir guarding him, bypassing negotiations with al-Basasiri altogether.[1]

After al-Basasiri died and his revolt came to an end, the Seljuks were left as the single dominant power over al-Qa'im's caliphate.

Hanbalis.[1] Al-Qa'im was reluctant to act without first consulting with the Seljuk sultan and was ultimately unable to control the situation.[1]

Fakhr ad-Dawla Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Jahir[10] was appointed as vizier by al-Qa'im in 1062. Fakhr ad-Dawla arrived and was "showered with gifts, robes of honor, and the title Fakhr ad-Dawla ('glory of the dynasty')."[10] According to Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, he was also given the additional title Sharaf al-wuzarā'.[10]

Fakhr ad-Dawla's first tenure lasted until 1068,

'Adud ad-Dawla's ceremonial robes."[10] In other words, he had been acting above his station.[10] According to the diary of Abu Ali ibn al-Banna, the dismissal was on Tuesday, 9 September 1068.[11] Fakhr ad-Dawla was "despondent and apologetic" and "acquiesced in tears".[10] He was escorted out of Baghdad on Thursday night (11 September) and ended up traveling to the court of the Banu Mazyad ruler Nur ad-Dawla Dubays.[11][note 1] His belongings were later sent to him.[11]

The competition to replace Fakhr ad-Dawla as vizier was fierce.

Hanbali named Abu'l-'Ala', was considered, but he never took office.[12]

Meanwhile, Nur ad-Dawla Dubays had been making "entreaties to the caliph" on Fakhr ad-Dawla's behalf.[10] Eventually, Fakhr ad-Dawla was brought back to serve as vizier.[10] A group of administrative officials went out to meet with him on Sunday, 7 December, in advance of his return to Baghdad.[12] Ibn al-Banna's diary gives the date of his reentry to Baghdad as Wednesday, 10 December 1068.[12] Crowds came to watch and he was "met by the troops, the courtiers, and the leading figures".[12] Vizieral robes of honor were made ready for him on 29 December, and they were bestowed upon him on Wednesday, 31 December.[12] People went to congratulate him the next day.[12] Then on Friday, 2 January 1069, he went on horseback to the Jami al-Mansur in the robes of honor; again, crowds gathered to see him, and in some places they "sprinkled" coins on him.[12]

Al-Qa'im does not seem to have held a grudge against Fakhr ad-Dawla and entrusted him and his son Amid ad-Dawla with a wide range of duties.[10] Sometime around 1071, there was a "diplomatic fracas" between Fakhr ad-Dawla and the Seljuk administration involving a delay in exchanging robes of honor.[10] When Alp Arslan died in 1072, the Banu Jahir were tasked with overseeing the official mourning as well as the ceremonial exchange of loyalty and robes of honor between al-Qa'im and the new Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I.[10] On 26 September 1073, Fakhr ad-Dawla oversaw the signing of the controversial Hanbali scholar Ibn Aqil's public recantation of his beliefs at the caliphal chancery.[13] This document of retraction is the only one of its kind to survive in full from the middle ages to the present day; the episode marked the ascendancy of traditionalism in Baghdad in the 11th century.[13]

During this and the previous caliphs' period, literature, especially Persian literature, flourished under the patronage of the Buwayhids. The famous philosopher al-Farabi died in 950; al-Mutanabbi, acknowledged in the East as the greatest of Arabic poets, and himself an Arab, in 965; and the Persian Abu Ali Husayn ibn Abdallah ibn Sina (Avicenna) in 1037.

In 1058 in

Qarmatian state prompted a revolt led by Abu al-Bahlul al-Awwam that threw off Qarmatian rule and led to the unravelling of the Qarmatian state which finally collapsed in al-Hasa in 1067.[14]

Family

One of Al-Qa'im's wives was the sister of Abu Nasr bin Buwayh also known as Malik Rahim. She died in 1049–50.[15] Another wife was Chaghri Beg's daughter Khadija Arslan Khatun.[16] She had been betrothed to his only son Dhakhirat al-Mulk Abu'al-Abbas Muhammad. However, Muhammad died, and Khadija Arslan married Al-Qa'im in 1056.[17] After Al-Qa'im's death in 1075, she married Ali ibn Faramurz.[18] One of Al-Qa'im's concubines was Al-Jiha al- Qa'mya, an Armenian.[19]

His son Muhammad had a son, Al-Muqtadi, who succeeded his grandfather, born to an Armenian concubine[20] named Urjuwan also known as Qurrut al-Ayn.[2]

Al-Qa'im had a daughter named Sayyida.[21] In 1061, Seljuk Sultan Tughril I sent the qadi of Ray to Baghdad, to ask her hand in marriage to him.[22] The marriage contract was concluded in August–September 1062 outside Tabriz, with a marriage proportion of one hundred thousand dinars.[23] She was brought to the Sultan's palace in March–April 1063.[24] After Tughril's death, his successor Sultan Alp Arslan sent her back to Baghdad in 1064.[24] In 1094, Caliph Al-Mustazhir compelled her to remain in her house lest she should intrigue for his overthrow. She died on 20 October 1102.[25][26]

Death

When al-Qa'im was on his deathbed in 1075, Fakhr ad-Dawla took charge of his personal care - al-Qa'im did not want bloodletting but Fakhr ad-Dawla had it done anyway.[10] Before he died, al-Qa'im advised his grandson and successor al-Muqtadi to keep the Banu Jahir in their position: "I have not seen better persons for the dawla than Ibn Jahir and his son; do not turn away from them."[10]

Al-Qa'im died on 3 April 1074 at the age of 73.[2] He was succeeded by his grandson Al-Muqtadi as the twenty-seventh Abbasid Caliph.

See also

Notes

  1. al-Hillah, while Ibn al-Athir and al-Bundari say it was at Fallujah instead.[10][11]
  2. ^ The sources don't specify if this was sexual violence or just plain violence.

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 90-04-05745-5
    . Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-317-83255-3
    .
  3. ^ Sourdel 1978b, p. 378.
  4. ^ Busse 2004, p. 70.
  5. ^ Sourdel 1978b, p. 379.
  6. ^ Busse 2004, p. 72.
  7. ^ Küçükaşcı 2001, p. 127.
  8. ^ Bosworth, C. E. (1968). "The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian World". In Boyle, J. A. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 5. Cambridge University Press. p. 48.
  9. JSTOR 4299634
    .
  10. ^
    S2CID 154985025
    . Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  11. ^
    S2CID 166217394
    . Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  12. ^
    S2CID 246637755
    . Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  13. ^
    ISBN 0-7486-0960-1
    . Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  14. ISBN 0-226-46906-9
    .
  15. ISBN 978-0-691-65721-9
    .
  16. ISBN 978-0-691-65721-9
    .
  17. ^ Lambton 1988, p. 264.
  18. ^ Lambton 1988, p. 271.
  19. ^ Rudainy, Al; Saud, Reem (June 12, 2015). "The Role of Women in the Būyid and Saljūq Periods of the Abbasid Caliphate (339-447/9501055&447-547/1055-1152): The Case of Iraq". University of Exeter. p. 117. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  20. ISBN 0300167989
  21. ^ Rudainy, Al; Saud, Reem (June 12, 2015). "The Role of Women in the Būyid and Saljūq Periods of the Abbasid Caliphate (339-447/9501055&447-547/1055-1152): The Case of Iraq". University of Exeter. p. 63. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  22. ^ Lambton 1988, p. 265.
  23. ^ Lambton 1988, pp. 265–66.
  24. ^ a b Lambton 1988, p. 266.
  25. ^ Lambton 1988, pp. 266–67.
  26. ISBN 978-0-7546-4077-6
    .

Sources
Al-Qa'im (Abbasid caliph at Baghdad)
Born: 1001 Died: 2 April 1075
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate
29 November 1031 – 2 April 1075 		Succeeded by
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