ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent

Middle Eastern The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

historians of his age, he spent most of his life in

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 enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph

al-Mutawakkil Ja'far ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (); March 82211 December 861, commonly known by his laqab, regnal name al-Mutawwakil ala Allah (), was the tenth Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid caliph, rul ...

. He travelled in

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 ...

and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, compiling information for his major works. His full name was Ahmad Bin Yahya Bin Jabir Al-Baladhuri (), Balazry Ahmad Bin Yahya Bin Jabir Abul HasanSalaam Knowledge
/ref> or Abi al-Hassan Baladhuri.

Biography

Al Baladhuri's ethnicity has been described as Persian by his contemporaries including Ibn Nadim, but some scholars have surmised that he was of

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

descent solely since he spent most of his life in

. Baladhuri was a Persian speaker who translated Persian works to

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. Nonetheless, his sympathies seem to have been strongly with the Arabs, for

Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

refers to one of his works in which he rejects Baladhuri's condemnation of non-Arab nationalism

Shu'ubiyya ''Shu'ubiyya'' () was a social, cultural, literary, and political movement within the Muslim world that sought to oppose the privileged status of Arabs and the Arabization of non-Arab civilizations amidst the early Muslim conquests, particularly ...

. He is certainly not the first Persian scholar to have sympathies with the Arabs, scholars of the same era such as Ibn Qutayba were also vocal opponents of Shu'ubiyaa. He lived at the court of the

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

and

Al-Musta'in Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Mustaʿīn bi-ʾllāh (; 836 – 17 October 866), better known by his regnal title al-Mustaʿīn (836 – 17 October 866) was the Abbasid caliph from 862 to 866, during the "Anarchy at ...

and was tutor to the son of

al-Mutazz Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Al-Mutawakkil, Jaʿfar ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muḥammad ibn Harun al-Rashid, Hārūn al-Muʿtazz bi-ʾLlāh (; 847 – 16 July 869), better known by his laqab, regnal title al-Muʿtazz bi-ʾLlāh (, "He who is strength ...

. He died in 892 as the result of a drug called ''

baladhur ''Semecarpus anacardium'', commonly known as the marking nut tree, Malacca bean tree, marany nut, oriental cashew, dhobi nut tree and varnish tree, is a native of India, found in the outer Himalayas to the Coromandel Coast. It is closely related ...

'' (hence his name). (''Baladhur'' is ''Semecarpus anacardium'', known as the "marking nut"; medieval Arabic and Jewish writers describe it as a memory-enhancer).Bos, Gerrit: " 'Baladhur' (Marking-Nut): A Popular Medieval Drug for Strengthening Memory", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol. 59, No. 2 (1996), pp. 229–236
/ref>

Works

His chief extant work a condensation of a longer history, '' Kitab Futuh al-Buldan'' (فتوح البلدان), "Book of the Conquests of Lands", translated by

Phillip Hitti Philip Khuri Hitti (; 22 June 1886 – 24 December 1978) was a Lebanese-American professor and scholar at Princeton and Harvard University, and authority on Arab and Middle Eastern history, Islam, and Semitic languages. He almost single-handedly ...

(1916) and

Francis Clark Murgotten Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

(1924) in ''The Origins of the Islamic State'', tells of the wars and conquests of the Arabs from the 7th century, and the terms made with the residents of the conquered territories. It covers the conquests of lands from Arabia west to Egypt, North Africa, and Spain and east to Iraq, Iran, and Sind. His history, in turn, was much used by later writers. ''

Ansab al-Ashraf Genealogies of the Nobles (; transliterated: Ansab al-Ashraf) is a book on the history and genealogy of Arabs, authored by Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri (d. 892 CE). The book includes stories about pre-Islamic Arabian kings, poets, and warriors, ...

'' (أنساب الأشراف, "Lineage of the Nobles"), also extant, is a biographical work in genealogical order devoted to the Arab aristocracy, from Muhammad and his contemporaries to the Umayyad and Abbāsid caliphs. It contains histories of the reigns of rulers. His discussions of the rise and fall of powerful dynasties provide a political moral. His commentaries on methodology are sparse, other than assertions of accuracy.

References

External links

* *
Al-Balādhurī, ''britannica.com''
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baladhuri, Ahmad Ibn Yahya 892 deaths 9th-century Iranian historians Year of birth unknown 9th-century Arabic-language writers Court scholars Courtiers from the Abbasid Caliphate Iranian historians of Islam 820s births

Biography

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links