Abu'l-Hayja Abdallah ibn Hamdan (; died 929) was an early member of the

Hamdanid dynasty The Hamdanid dynasty () was a Shia Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled modern day Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib tribe of Mesopotamia and Arabia. History Origin The Hamdanids hailed ...

, who served the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

as a military commander and governor of

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

(in 905/06–913/14, 914/15, and again in 925–29). Esteemed for his qualities, he was involved in the court intrigues at

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, and played a leading role in the brief usurpation of

al-Qahir Abū al-Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Qāhir bi'Llāh (), usually known simply by his regnal title al-Qahir bi'Llah (), was the nineteenth caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 932 ...

in February 929, during which he was killed. His sons,

Nasir al-Dawla Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Abi'l-Hayja Abdallah ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi (; died 968 or 969), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Nasir al-Dawla (, ), was the second Hamdanid ruler of the Emirate of Mosul, encompassing most of the Jazira ...

and

Sayf al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū'l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī (, 22 June 916 – 8 February 967), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla (, ), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, ...

, went on to found the Hamdanid emirates of Mosul and

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

Life

Abdallah was a son of the patriarch of the

, the Taghlibi chieftain

Hamdan ibn Hamdun Hamdan ( ') is a name of Arab origin of aristocratic descent and many political ties within the middle east and the Arab World, controlling import/export mandates over port authorities. Among people named Hamdan include: Given name * Hamdan Mo ...

, and a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

woman. After the family entered

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

service at the turn of the 10th century, Abdallah was appointed governor of

in 905/6. From this position, he fought against the local Kurdish tribes. In 908, he was ordered to pursue his brother, Husayn, who had been involved in the failed usurpation of Ibn al-Mu'tazz, but failed to capture him. Instead, their brother Ibrahim negotiated a pardon for Husayn, who was readmitted to Abbasid service. In 913/4 he was removed from office, whereupon he rose in a short-lived revolt; he surrendered to the Abbasid commander-in-chief,

Mu'nis al-Muzaffar Abū'l-Ḥasan Mu'nis al-Qushuri (; 845/6–933), also commonly known by the surnames al-Muẓaffar (; ) and al-Khadim (; 'the Eunuch'), was the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid army from 908 to his death in 933 CE, and virtual dictator and king ...

, and was reinstated as governor in the next year. The reason for his initial dismissal is unknown. In 914–915, his brother Husayn rose in revolt, was defeated by Mu'nis, captured and brought to Baghdad, where he was executed in 918. As a result, Abdallah tool fell under suspicion, and was briefly imprisoned, along with his brother Ibrahim. Hamdanid family tree

Released shortly after, Abdallah joined Mu'nis in a campaign against the rebellious governor of Adharbayjan,

Yusuf ibn Abi'l-Saj Yusuf ibn Abi'l Saj (died, d. 928) was the Sajids, Sajid Emir of Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan from 901 until his death. He was the son of Abi'l-Saj Devdad. War with Armenians and Georgians Yusuf came to power in 901 by overthrowing his nephew, ...

in 919, and in 920 received governorship of the districts of Tariq Khurasan and

Dinawar Dinavar (also spelled Dinawar and Daynavar; ) was a major town between the 7th and 10th centuries, located to the northeast of Kermanshah in western Iran. The ruins of the town is now located near Shir Khan, in Dinavar District, Sahneh County, ...

. In 923/4, he was tasked with protecting the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

routes against the

Qarmatians The Qarmatians (; ) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in Al-Ahsa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adhered to a syncretic branch of Sevener Ismaili ...

. On the return from

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

to Baghdad, the Hajj caravan was attacked by the Qarmatians under Abu Tahir Sulayman. Abdallah was taken prisoner along with many important court personages, but he managed to negotiate his own release and that of the other captives in the next year. Finally, in 925 he was reappointed to Mosul, receiving in addition the regions of Bazabda and Qarda east of the

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

. As a prominent member of the Abbasid court, Abdallah was mostly absent from Mosul, instead entrusting the region to his son al-Hasan as his deputy. During these years, the Hamdanids were allied with Mu'nis; on one occasion, Abdallah and his brothers promised to fight for him "until his beard grew" (Mu'nis was a eunuch). In 927, the Qarmatians invaded Iraq, threatening Baghdad itself, and Abdallah, with his surviving brothers, joined the Abbasid army sent against them. The sources credit Abdallah with playing a major role in the repulse of the Qarmatian attack; especially with the idea of destroying the bridge over the Nahr Zubara, thus preventing the Qarmatians from advancing onto Baghdad. Harun ibn Gharib, a cousin of al-Muqtadir who aimed to supplant Mu'nis as commander-in-chief and succeeded in being named governor of the

Jibal Jibāl (), also al-Jabal (), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' ("mountain, hill"), highlight ...

, dismissed Abdallah from his governorship of Dinawar, which enraged the Hamdanid and caused him to come with his troops to Baghdad, to avenge himself on Harun. This grievance led him to ally with the police chief of Baghdad, Nazuk, and together they began to turn Mu'nis against Harun and the caliph. Al-Muqtadir readily gave into Mu'nis' demands to banish Harun, but the conspirators, driven by Nazuk, now determined to depose the caliph outright. On the morning of 27 February 929, they invaded the palace and deposed al-Muqtadir in favour of his half-brother,

. For his role, Abdallah secured an extensive governorship, but within a few days, opposition to the new regime arose, and al-Qahir and his supporters were besieged in the caliphal palace. Abdallah was killed there, defending al-Qahir, whom he had sworn to protect (and who would actually reign as caliph in 932–934).For a detailed account of his death, cf. His qualities as an honest and generous man and a brave warrior were universally admired, so that even the restored caliph, al-Muqtadir, issued a pardon for him in hopes that he might be taken alive, and then mourned his death.

Descendants

His son al-Hasan, better known as

, managed to secure rule over Mosul and of

Upper Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the regio ...

, and founded a quasi-independent emirate there. Like his father, he involved himself in the court intrigues of Baghdad, and even managed to take control of the city, and of the Abbasid caliph, in 942, but without lasting success. His descendants ruled Mosul until replaced by the

Uqaylids The Uqaylid dynasty () was a Shia Arab dynasty with several lines that ruled in various parts of Al-Jazira, northern Syria and Iraq in the late tenth and eleventh centuries. The main line, centered in Mosul, ruled from 990 to 1096. History Ri ...

in 990. Abdallah's younger son Ali, better known as

, would go on to establish his own emirate in

and northern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in the mid-940s, and became famous as a champion of Islam against the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and as a patron of the arts and letters at his court. The Hamdanids ruled Aleppo until 1002.

References

Sources

* * * * {{Hamdanid dynasty 9th-century births 10th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate 929 deaths Hamdanid dynasty Abbasid governors of Mosul Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate 10th-century Arab people 10th-century Shia Muslims Prisoners of war Prisoners and detainees of the Abbasid Caliphate