al-Saffah

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as-Saffāḥ السفّاح
Amir al-Mu'minin Khalifat Rasul Allah
Abbasid Caliph
Reign	25 January 750 – 8 June 754
Predecessor	Dynasty established Marwan II as Umayyad caliph
Successor	al-Mansur
Born	c. 721 al-Humayma, Jordan
Died	8 June 754 (aged 33) al-Anbar, Iraq
Burial	Anbar
Spouse	Umm Salama bint Ya'qub al-Makhzumi
Issue	Muhammad al-Abbas Rayta
Names Laqab: al-Saffah Nasab: Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim
Dynasty	Abbasid
Father	Muhammad ibn Ali
Mother	Rayta bint Ubayd Allah
Religion	Sunni Islam

Abu al-Abbas Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah (

.

His

al-Saffāḥ (السفّاح) means "the Blood-Shedder". It may refer to his ruthless tactics, or perhaps it was used to instill fear in his enemies.

Family origins and earlier history

As-Saffāḥ, born in

, an uncle of Muhammad, hence the title "Abbasid" for his descendants' caliphate. This indirect link to Muhammad's larger clan formed sufficient basis for as-Saffah's claim to the title caliph.

As-Saffah was the son of Muhammad ibn Ali and his mother was named Rayta was the daughter of a certain Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah.^[2]

As narrated in many

had failed to quell unrest among these minorities.

During the reign of late Umayyad Caliph

and another member of the Banu Hashim. Zayd's rebellion was put down by Umayyad armies in 740. The revolt in Kufa indicated both the strength of the Umayyads and the growing unrest in the Muslim world.

During the last days of the Umayyad caliphate, Abu al-‘Abbās and his clan chose to begin their rebellion in

as a sign of mourning.

Family tree

Hashim ibn Abd-Manaf

Abd al-Muttalib

al-Abbas (Prophet's uncle)

Abdallah ibn Abbas

Ali ibn Abdallah

Muhammad ibn Ali

Ibrahim

as-Saffah

al-Mansur

Caliphate

In early October 749 (132 AH), Abu al-'Abbās as-Saffāh's rebel army entered

As-Saffah would go on to become the first Abbasid caliph, but he did not come forward to receive the pledge of allegiance from the people until after the Umayyad caliph[5] and a large number of his princes were already killed.^[5]

In one far-reaching, historic decision, as-Saffāh established

power for many centuries.

Later tales recount that, concerned that there would be a return of rival Umayyad power, as-Saffāh invited all of the remaining members of the Umayyad family to a dinner party where he had them clubbed to death before the first course, which was then served to the hosts.

As-Saffāh's four-year reign was marked with efforts to consolidate and rebuild the caliphate. His supporters were represented in the new government, but apart from his policy toward the Umayyad family, as-Saffāh is widely viewed by historians as having been a mild victor.

]

Equally revolutionary was as-Saffāh's reform of the army, which came to include non-Muslims and non-Arabs in sharp contrast to the Umayyads who refused any soldiers of either type. As-Saffāh selected the gifted Abu Muslim as his military commander, an officer who would serve until 755 in the Abbasid army.^{[citation needed]}

Not all Muslims accept the legitimacy of his caliphate, however. According to later

]

Caliph Abu al-`Abbās `Abdu’llāh as-Saffāḥ died of smallpox on 8 June 754 (13 Dhu al-Hijja 136 AH), only four years after taking the title of caliph. Before he died, as-Saffah appointed his brother Abu Ja'far al-Mansur^[1] and, following him, the caliph's nephew Isa ibn Musa as his successors; ibn Musa, however, never filled the position.^{[citation needed]}

Abbasid Military Activities

During his reign a great battle took place in 751 known as the Battle of Talas or Battle of Artlakh was a military engagement between the Abbasid Caliphate along with their ally the Tibetan Empire against the Chinese Tang dynasty. In July 751 AD, Tang and Abbasid forces met in the valley of the Talas River to vie for control over the Syr Darya region of central Asia. After several days of stalemate, the Karluk Turks originally allied to the Tang defected to the Abbasids and tipped the balance of power, resulting in a Tang rout.

The defeat marked the end of Tang westward expansion and resulted in Muslim control of Transoxiana for the next 400 years. Control of this region was economically beneficial for the Abbasids because it was on the Silk Road. Historians debate whether or not Chinese prisoners captured in the aftermath of the battle brought paper-making technology to the Middle East, where it eventually spread to Europe.^[8]

The numbers of combatants involved in the Battle of Talas are not known with certainty; however, various estimates exist. The Abbasid army (200,000 Muslim troops according to Chinese estimates, though these numbers may be greatly exaggerated) which included contingents from their Tibetan ally met the combined army of 10,000 Tang Chinese and 20,000 Karluk mercenaries (Arab records put the Chinese forces at 100,000 which also may be greatly exaggerated).^[9]

In the month of July 751, the Abbasid forces joined in combat with the Tang Chinese force (the combined army of Tang Chinese and Karluk mercenaries) on the banks of the Talas river.

The Tang army was subjected to a devastating defeat. The Tang dynasty's defeat was due to the defection of

Also in 751, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine V led an invasion across the frontier of the Caliphate. The Byzantines captured Theodosiopolis (Erzurum) and Melitene (Malatya), which was demolished. There was no serious attempt to retain control of the captured cities, except for Camachum (modern Kemah, Erzincan), which was garrisoned.^[11][12]

Succession

As-Saffah died after a five-year reign and

Legacy

Al-Saffah was the First Arab caliph from the Caliphal Abbasid dynasty. He nominated his brother Abu Ja'far Abdallah as heir, because his own son was too young to succeeded to the Caliphate. His brother nominated his son (al-Saffah's nephew) as heir. Al-Saffah's nephew nominated his two sons as heir. Even though al-Saffah's son never ascended to Caliphate, his children remained influential. In 761, his nephew Muhammad (future caliph al-Mahdi) married Rayta as his first wife after his return from Khurasan.^[17] She gave birth to two sons, Ubaydallah and Ali.^[17][18] His elder grandson, Ubaydallah was appointed as governor of Arminiyah and the northwestern provinces in 788/9.^[19] He was later appointed to two brief stints as governor of Egypt, in 795 and 796.^[20] His second grandson, Ali was the uncle and father-in-law of sixth Abbasid caliph al-Amin through his daughter Lubana.

See also

• al-Mahdi, nephew and son-in-law of as-Saffah.
• Ubaydallah ibn al-Mahdi an Abbasid Prince and Grandson of as-Saffah.
• Sulayman ibn Ali al-Hashimi an Abbasid governor of Basra from 750 to 755.
• Battle of the Zab a battle that took place on 25 January 750. It spelled the end of the Umayyads and the rise of the Abbasids
• Abbasid Revolution was the overthrow of the Caliph Marwan II by as-Saffah.

References

Bibliography

• Bonner, M.D. (2004) Arab-Byzantine Relations in Early Islamic Times, Ashgate/Variorum, Farnham
  ISBN 9780860787167
• Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). ""Abbasid Dynasty"". Encyclopedia Britannica. I: A-Ak – Bayes (15th ed.).
  ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8
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• Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. 1. Brill.
  ISBN 9789004097872
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• ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7
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• Williams, John Alden, ed. (1985). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXVII: The ʿAbbāsid Revolution, A.D. 743–750/A.H. 126–132. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.
  ISBN 978-0-87395-884-4
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• The Oxford History of Islam, p. 25. Ed. John Esposito. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Jabir (1916). The Origins of the Islamic State, Part I. Trans. Philip Khuri Hitti. New York: Columbia University.
• ISBN 978-0-88706-564-4
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• Bates, Michael L. (7 August 2019), Names and Titles on Islamic Coins, retrieved 23 February 2020
• Khalifah ibn Khayyat
  (1985). al-Umari, Akram Diya' (ed.). Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed (in Arabic). Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah.
• Al-Kindi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf (1912). Guest, Rhuvon (ed.). The Governors and Judges of Egypt (in Arabic). Leyden and London: E. J. Brill.
• Ibn Hazm, Abu Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Sa'id al-Andalusi (1982). Harun, 'Abd al-Salam Muhammad (ed.). Jamharat Ansab al-'Arab (in Arabic) (5th ed.). Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif.
• Ibn Qutaybah, Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Muslim (n.d.). Ukashah, Tharwat (ed.). Al-Ma'arif (4th ed.). Cairo: al-Dar Ma'arif.
• Abbott, Nabia (1946). Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn Al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press.
  ISBN 978-0-86356-031-6
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• Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali (2011). Mustafa 'Abd al-Qadir 'Ata (ed.). Tarikh Baghdad/Madinat al-Salam (in Arabic). Vol. 10. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya.
• Bedrosian, Robert (2006), Ghewond's History, Translated from Classical Armenian, retrieved 23 February 2020
• Bonner, Michael (January–March 1988). "Al-Khalīfa Al-Marḍī: The Accession of Hārūn Al-Rashīd". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 108 (1): 79–91.
  JSTOR 603247
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• Gordon, Matthew S.; Robinson, Chase F.; Rowson, Everett K.; et al., eds. (2018). The Works of Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi: An English Translation. Vol. 3. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
  ISBN 978-90-04-35621-4
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• Ibn Taghribirdi, Jamal al-Din Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf (1930). Nujum al-zahira fi muluk Misr wa'l-Qahira, Volume II (in Arabic). Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya.

External links

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• Works by or about As-Saffah at Wikisource

as-Saffah Banu Quraish Born: c. 721 CE Died: c. 8 June 754 CE
Shia Islam titles
Preceded by Ibrahim "al-Imām" ibn Muhammad	Eighth Hashimiyya ? – 8 June 754	Succeeded by Abu Ja'far Abdallah
Preceded by Marwan II as caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate	Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate 25 January 750 – 8 June 754	Succeeded by al-Mansur