The Banu al-Munajjim ( ar, بنو المنجم), was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

family of

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttal ...

officials attested in the 9th and 10th centuries. They claimed descent from the

Sasanian dynasty The Sasanian dynasty was the house that founded the Sasanian Empire, ruling this empire from 224 to 651 AD in Persia (modern-day Iran). It began with Ardashir I, who named the dynasty as ''Sasanian'' in honour of his grandfather (or father), Sa ...

, and were closely related to the Abbasid

caliphs A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

by marriage.

History

According to

Ibn al-Nadim Abū al-Faraj Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Nadīm ( ar, ابو الفرج محمد بن إسحاق النديم), also ibn Abī Ya'qūb Isḥāq ibn Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Warrāq, and commonly known by the '' nasab'' (patronymic) Ibn al-Nadīm ...

, the Banu al-Munajjim were descended from Mihr-Gushnasp, a son of the last Sasanian king

Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at th ...

(r. 632–651). The family is first mentioned in the 9th century, when the eponymous ancestor of the family, Abu Mansur al-Munajjim (originally named Aban-Gushnasp), worked at the court of the second Abbasid caliph,

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) ...

(r. 754–775) as an astrologer (''al-munajjim''). His son, Yahya, worked at the Abbasid court under

al-Ma'mun Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'm ...

(r. 813–833), and later converted from

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ont ...

to Islam. Yahya had four sons named

Ali ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...

, Sa'id,

Abdallah Abd Allah ( ar, عبدالله, translit=ʻAbd Allāh), also spelled Abdallah, Abdellah, Abdollah, Abdullah and many others, is an Arabic name meaning "Servant of God". It is built from the Arabic words '' abd'' () and ''Allāh'' (). Although the ...

, and Hasan. These four sons would, like their father, work at the Abbasid court. Ali even befriended the caliph

al-Mutawakkil Abū al-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿtaṣim bi-ʾllāh ( ar, جعفر بن محمد المعتصم بالله; March 822 – 11 December 861), better known by his regnal name Al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allāh (, "He who relies on God") was ...

(r. 847–861), and his son Yahya did the same with

al-Muwaffaq Abu Ahmad Talha ibn Ja'far ( ar, أبو أحمد طلحة بن جعفر}; 29 November 843 – 2 June 891), better known by his as Al-Muwaffaq Billah (), was an Abbasid prince and military leader, who acted as the ''de facto'' regent of the Abba ...

, the ''de facto'' regent for his brother

al-Mu'tamid Abu’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن جعفر; – 14 October 892), better known by his regnal name Al-Muʿtamid ʿalā ’llāh (, "Dependent on God"), was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 870 t ...

(r. 870–892). One of Ali's other sons,

Harun Harun, also transliterated as Haroon or Haroun ( ar, هارون, ) is a common male given name of Arabic origin, related to the Hebrew name of the Prophet Aaron. Both are most likely of Ancient Egyptian origin, from ''aha rw'', meaning "warrior li ...

, also worked at the Abbasid court. Harun had a son named

, who eventually served under the

Buyids The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coup ...

when they became the new rulers of Baghdad. He is the last known member of the family.

Sources

*D. Pingree.
Banu Monajjem
. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica.'' Ed. Ehsan Yarshater. Columbia University. Retrieved 14 February 2014. * {{Sasanian Empire Iranian families Officials of the Abbasid Caliphate