Ziyadat Allah I Ibn Ibrahim
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Abu Muhammad Ziyadat Allah I ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab (
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 ...
: زيادة الله الأول) (d. 10 June 838) was the
Aghlabid The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...
ruler (''
amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...
'') of
Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...
from 817 until his death in 838. His reign marked a shift towards greater control and stability for the emirs in Ifriqiya.


Reign

Despite being an independent ruler of
Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...
, Ziyadat Allah was faced with many of the same issues that his predecessors encountered as governors under 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 ...
. While Ziyadat Allah had to deal with what was possibly the largest jund revolt in Ifriqiya, it was the last to ever occur. The revolt broke out in 824 and saw most of Ifriqiya conquered by the jund. Usually emirs had to deal with the jund and
Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
problem simultaneously, each group exacerbating the issue of the other. However, it seems that Ziyadat Allah had established a working relationship with the Berbers. With this relationship he employed the Berbers to defeat the rebelling jund. This alliance allowed him to avoid ruin and strengthen his control. To some extent this resembles the relationship that Idrīs b. ʿAbdallāh b. Ḥasan had with the Berbers which allowed the
Idrisid The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids ( ') were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid dynasty descended from Mu ...
state to become a powerful player in the region that sometimes-threatened Aghlabid territory. In the context of North Africa an alliance with the local Berbers lessened an emir's reliance on a strong occupying force like the jund while strengthening the state. With Ziyadat, a positive relationship with the Berbers allowed him not only to avoid losing control but to quash the rebellion and turn Aghlabid energies towards conquest. Some have argued that Ziyadat Allah opened the conquest in Sicily to attract the jihad members of the jund. Another version has Ziyadat already in control of the rebellion and opening the conquest to prevent further revolts and acquire resources to further stabilize his rule. However, this assertion is criticized for its reliance on a source that was written far after the events occurred. The conquest marked a new era for the Aghlabids which is why Ziyadat is sometimes described as the second founder of the Aghlabid regime. His solving of the jund and Berber issue that had faced all emirs preceding him set the region on a new path of a more stable ruling family. The conquest saw Sicily under Aghlabid rule until the Fatimids overthrew the Aghlabids in the early 9th century.


Context

Ifriqiya under the Abbasids was known to be a difficult region to rule. Nasr b. Habiib, the advisor to the emir at the time, wrote of his concerns with governing the region to the caliph saying "...Ifriqiya is a large frontier zone which would not be safe without a strong ruler." There were many reasons for this. Two of the most pressing were the jund and the Berbers. At the start of Ziyadat Allah's rule in 817, the Abbasid Caliphate was still in a state of strife and uncertainty with no caliph in Baghdad. This caused many of the outer provinces, like Ifriqiya, to their own devices. The Aghlabids, now on their own, had to maintain control of the region as independent rulers. The biggest threat posed was the maintenance of the jund, a military force in Ifriqiya that likely numbered over 100,000. The jund had engaged in multiple insurrections since 765 and were a constant threat to governors of Ifriqiya. When Ifriqiya was under control of the Abbasid Caliphate other provinces like
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
would sometimes provide support. This helped to decrease the frequency that the jund went unpaid which was likely the cause of their rebellions. However, with the Aghlabid governor Ziyadat Allah now independent of the caliphate and independent of the financial support of the empire. This jund were not the only cause for concern in Ifriqiya. The indigenous Berber tribes had been another source of rebellion and undermined Abbasid authority in the region. During the Abbasid reconquest of Ifriqiya in 763 many of the towns recaptured had to be wrestled from the control of
Ibadi Ibadism (, ) is a school of Islam concentrated in Oman established from within the Kharijites. The followers of the Ibadi sect are known as the Ibadis or, as they call themselves, The People of Truth and Integrity (). Ibadism emerged around 6 ...
militants, a sect now largely subscribed to by the Berbers. The Berbers were such a threat to the control of emirs in the region that by 770 the emir of Ifriqiya recognized the authority of the Berber-Ibadis over the hinterlands of Ifriqiya. In other regions of
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
, like Northern
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
which was ruled by the Idrisids starting in 789 through the time of Ziyadat Allah, the rulers were able to maintain control more consistently and effectively due to strong relationships with the local Berber populations. It would seem that the lack of this relationship in Ifriqiya may have resulted from the Abbasid's enslavement of Berbers which continued to some extent even under the Aghlabids. Another cause is the nature of the Berbers when compared to other conquered groups. They were largely armed and accustomed to warfare and therefore more inclined to wage it. Regardless of the cause, it undermined the ability of emirs to maintain a positive relationship with the group. Ziyadat Allah inherited these issues upon the passing of his brother ' Abd Allah in 817. Unlike his predecessors he was able to rely on an improved relationship with the Berbers and external exploits to solve the issue of the jund once and for all leading to a more stable rule.


Historiography

One of the major issues confronting modern study of the Aghlabids and Ziyadat Allah is the sources from which the knowledge originates. One of the chief sources utilized in studying the Aghlabids is the works of the Islamic historian al-Tabari. Al-Tabari is primarily concerned with the Abbasid empire and its development. This is due to his close connections with the caliph al-Mu’tazz 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 ...
as a close friend of his and as tutor of his son. The geographical bias stemming from this has infiltrated modern scholarship as scholars will assume the geographical bias of the original source. Scholars adopting views more similar to al-Tabari tend to emphasize the role of the civil war that began in 809 in giving the Aghlabids autonomy. Other scholars acknowledge the existence of a degree of agency on the part of the Aghlabids in becoming autonomous. Scholars adopting the latter approach may be less likely to credit or note the achievements of individuals like Ziyadat Allah or to record them at all which is part of the reason the sourcing for Ziyadat Alllah is so sparse. Primary sources such as al-Tabari or
al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...
can also raise questions due to not being written by individuals personally familiar with much of what they write about. Al-Baladhuri, for example, wrote about the Aghlabids over a hundred years after their demise. Another reliability question is raised due to the long chains of oral sources Islamic historians cite. Because the intermediary sources are not always verifiable, the degree to which the information that has been given can be trusted is difficult to determine. One such example is an anecdote stemming from al-Bakri over two-hundred years after Ziyadat's death. It claims Ziyadat Allah sent 1,0000 gold
dinar The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...
s minted by the Idrisids to the caliph al-Ma’mun for the purpose of expressing the threat they posed to the caliphate. Scholars doubt this claim and it shows the tendency of later sources to overemphasize the caliph's presence in Ifriqiya. However, the jund rebellion faced by Ziyidat Allah and his response to it shows the lack of an external presence in the region. Another pervasive issue in studying Islamic history, which Ifriqiya is a part of, is the lack of a common framework specific to the field. Much of the framework used to conceptualize Islamic history comes from European contexts especially when studying regional elites such as Ziyadat. This is an issue because elites of European origin did not necessarily function in the same way those of Islamic origin did. As a result, applying a European framework to Islamic elites can lead to misinterpretation of the reciprocal nature of caliph and emir relationships. While Ziyadat was ostensibly the ruler of an autonomous state, the dynamics at play in Abbasid politics help to contextualize his rule.


Portrayal

Ziyadat Allah, a character played by
Kal Naga Kal-El Naga, is an Egyptian American actor, director and producer. He is recognized primarily for his work in Egypt and the Middle East, but has increasingly ventured into American and British film and television roles since 2006. He starte ...
, in the 5th season of the
historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic (fantasy), magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those c ...
television series ''
Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9 ...
'' is loosely based on Ziyadat Allah I.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * {{s-end 838 deaths Aghlabid emirs of Ifriqiya Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Year of birth unknown Mu'tazilism