The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise of the Fatimids (HANDBOOK OF ORIENTAL STUDIES/HANDBUCH DER ORIENTALISTIK) 9004100563, 9789004100565

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THE EMPIRE OF THE MAHDI

HANDBUCH DER ORIENTALISTIK HANDBOOK OF ORIENTAL STUDIES ERSTE ABTEILUNG

DER NAHE UND MITTLERE OSTEN THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST SECHSUNDZWANZIGSTER BAND

THE EMPIRE OF THE MAHDI THE RISE OF THE FATIMIDS

THE EMPIRE OF THE MAHDI THE RISE OF THE FATIMIDS BY

HEINZ HALM

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY

MICHAEL BONNER

EJ. BRILL LEIDEN· NEW YORK· KOLN

1996

This book was originally published as Heinz Halm, Das Reich des Mahdi. Der Aefstieg der Fatimiden. ©C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Miinchen 1991. Funding for the translation was made possible by Inter Nationes, Bonn, Germany. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Halm, Heinz, 1942[Reich des Mahdi. English] The empire of the Mahdi : the rise of the Fatimids I by Heinz Halm. ; translated from the German by Michael Bonner. p. cm. - (Handbuch der Orientalistik. Erste Abteilung, der Nahe und Mittlere Osten, ISSN 0169-9423; 26. Bd. =Handbook of Oriental studies. The Near and Middle East) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 9004100563 (alk. paper) I. Fatimites-History. 2. Africa, North-History-647-1517. I. Title. II. Series: Handbuch der Orientalistik. Erste Abteilung, Nahe und Mittlere Osten ; 26. Bd. DT173.H2313 1996 961'.02-dc20 95-52275 CIP Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Handbuch der Orientalistik I hrsg. von B. Spuler unter Mitarb. von C. van Dijk ... - Leiden; New York; Koln: Brill. Teilw. hrsg. von H. Altenmiiller. - Literaturangaben. -Teilw. hrsg. von B. Spuler. -Teilw. mit Parallelt.: Handbook of oriental studies

Abt. 1, Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten= The Near and Middle East I hrsg. von H. Altenmiiller ...

NE: Spuler, Bertold [Hrsg.); Altenmiiller, Hartwig [Hrsg.); Handbook of oriental studies

Bd. 26. Halm, Heinz: The empire of the Mahdi. - 1996 Halm, Heinz: The empire of the Mahdi : the rise of the Fatimids I by Heinz Halm. Transl. from the German by Michael Bonner. - Leiden ; New York; Koln : Brill, 1996 (Handbook of oriental studies : Abt. 1, The Near and Middle East ; Bd. 26) ISBN 90-04-10056-3 ISSN ISBN

0169-9423 90 04 10056 3

© Copyright 1996 by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part ef this publication mqy be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in al!}' form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocof!ying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission.from the publisher. Authorization to photocofDi items for internal or personal use is granted by EJ. Brill prouUied thot the appropriate fies are paid directf,y to The Co/D'right Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are sul!Ject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERIANDS

CONTENTS

List of Maps ............................. ................................... ................. List of Illustrations Introduction

ix

Fatimids and lsma'ilis

Chapter One The Secret Order ................................. ............. 'Abdallah the Elder ......................................................... ......... Salamya ..................................................................................... The True Religion ... .... ............................................ .. .............. The Net .................................................................................... The Closed Mouth .................................................................. The Island .. ...... ........................ ................................................ The Place of Exile ...... ................. ............................................

5 5 11 16 22 43 47 51

Chapter Two The Appearance of the Mahdi ........... .. ........... The Mahdi Makes Himself Known ........ ............................... The Schism ............................................................................... The Man with the She-Camel ............................................... The Mahdi's Flight from Salamya ......................................... The Man with the Birthmark ........................... ....... .... ........... Flight to Egypt .... ...... .. .. .. .. ........... ............ .... ..................... ....... The Far West: Sijilmiisa .......... ................................................ Ifriqiya ... .. .. .. ...... .. ....... ................. .................. ........... ...... .. .. ....... The Theocratic State of Tiizriit .............................. .... ............ The Conquest of lfriqiya ............... ...... .. .... ...... .. ........... .......... The Founding of the Empire of the Mahdi ......................... The Mahdi's Triumph .............................................................

58 58 62 66 72 79 88 91 95 101 107 121 128

Chapter Three The Caliph Al-Mahdi Billah (909-934) ........ The Mahdi's Arrival in Raqqiida ........................................... The New Holders of Power ................................................... Family Trees .......... ...... .... .. ........... ...... .. .. .. .. .. .. .... .... .. ................ The Conspiracy of the Da'is ................................................... The Counter-Mahdi and the Qa'im ...................................... Sicily ..........................................................................................

141 141 147 154 159 168 176

CONTENTS

Vl

The Eastern Communities: Iran, Iraq and BaJ:irayn .. .... ...... The Victor of the Yemen .................... .............................. .. ... Al-Qa'im's Egyptian Campaigns ................... ...... .................... Al-Mahdiyya ............................................................................. Ribat and Jihad ................ ........... .. ............................ ............... Resistance and Persecution .................................................. ... The Great Temptation: the Abolition of the Law ............... The Theft of the Black Stone and the Return of Paradise ................................................................................. The Subjugation of the Maghrib .......................... .. ............... Chapter Four

The Collapse of the Empire. Al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah (934-946) .................................................. The Successor ........................................................................... Cordova and Fez ..................................................................... The Sicilian Uprising ............................................................... The End of the Yemenite Dar al-Hijra ................................ The Neoplatonists .................................................................... The Man on the Donkey ..... ............................ ...... .............. ...

Chapter Five

180 192 196 214 221 239 247 250 264 275 275 280 284 286 288 298

New Beginning. Al-Man~ur bi-Na~r Allah (946-953) ............................................................. The Victorious One ..................... ...... ...... .............. .................. The Pursuit of the Dajjiil ..... ........ ...... ...... ...... .......................... Roman Ruins ........... ....... ...... ............................................ ....... Byzantine Diplomacy ............................... ................................ The Man of Sorrows ..... .. .................................... .... ................

310 310 315 325 328 335

Chapter Six The Imam. Al-Mu'

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GURGAN .ros

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Sarakhs

Ke sh Nakhshab•(Nasaf) ~Gubay'i stayed away, and there was not one among the tribes of Kufa which did not have many people who had joined the da'wa .... " Our source lists yet another five tribes; "it was the majority (of the beduin) in the Sawad of Kufa." Meanwhile, the recruiters not only had to disseminate the doctrine in their parishes, but they also had to levy the taxes which the believers owed to the Mahdi. Our informant tells of a series of contributions which f.lamdan Qarmat and 'Abdan imposed upon the new converts: to begin with, a contribution of one silver dirham pro capite, called "the creation" (alfitra), 110 then a contribution of a gold dinar, called "the exile" (al-hy'ra), supposedly due each time one entered a state of great ritual impurity-thus after sexual intercourse, menstruation, and so on; after that "the livelihood" (al-bulgha), a contribution of seven gold dinars, receipt of which was acknowledged by the da'i with a meal of sweets supposed to have originated literally in Paradise, and to have been sent down by the Mahdi himself. The da'i is said, moreover, to have levied a fifth (khums) on all property and earnings, in accordance with the Quranic verse 8:41, which assigns a fifth of all booty to God, his Prophet, and the heirs of the Prophetin other words, to the Mahdi. "Every woman paid a fifth of what she had spun, and every man a fifth of what he had earned." Finally, 'Abdan imposed "the friendship" (al-ulfa) on them; "that meant that they collected everything they had in one single place, and in this way they all became equal, and no one surpassed his comrade and brother through possessions of any kind. . . . It signified to them that they had no need of possessions at all, since the entire earth 109 Town and district between the Euphrates and the Tigris, to the west of Wasi!; Yaqiit, s.v.; Lech, 356f. 110 According to Quran, 30:30, where fa.ra means "the innate nature of men"; cf. EI2, art. "fi!ra."

THE ISLAND

49

was to belong to them alone, and to no one else." Here too, verses from the Quran (3:103 and 8:63), which speak of the brotherhood and friendship which God establishes among men, provided a basis. "He [the da'i] said to them: 'this is the trial which is imposed on you, so that it may be known how you handle yourselves [if you are serious].' Then he commanded them to buy and make ready weapons. All this took place in the year 276 [889 or 890]. In each village the recruiters placed a man whom they had chosen as trustworthy. He collected what the people of his village owned by way of large and small cattle, jewelry, household utensils, and so on. This man clothed the naked and gave them adequate care, so that there were no more poor, needy and weak among them. Everyone devoted himself to his work and his business, and strove to distinguish himself in his field. Women would bring him what they had earned by spinning, and children would bring him their payment for guarding and watching the cattle. No one owned anything other than his sword or his other weapons." Thus far we may well trust lbn Rizam's report, all the more so since several details are confirmed by the sources for the community in North Africa. However, doubts arise about what lbn Rizam says next, concerning the supposed orgies conducted by the lsma'ilis. When dealing with sects which shut themselves off from the outside, polemicists were always ready to come up with accusations of sexual misconduct, such as promiscuity, incest, pederasty and sodomy. Our informant wishes us to believe, moreover, that 'Abdan burdened his gullible flock, little by little, with ever higher contributions, so that by the end he had taken away all that they owned. This too is certainly a polemical distortion of the true state of affuirs. In reality these were contributions of quite different types. The communistic mode of communal ownership of goods will have been binding only on the members of the closest inner circles, those who "went into exile," in other words, who abandoned house and home so as to gather around the da'i in the middle of the "island." These had been expressly told to gather together at one "single place." The contribution of the Quranic fifth (khums) for God and his earthly representative, the Imam or Mahdi, corresponds to traditional Shi'ite law, and may well have been the da'i's principal source of income. The bulgha of seven gold dinars-a considerable sum!-may, both because it was so extraordinarily high, and because it was connected with the distribution of a heavenly meal, have been a one-time contribution,

50

CHAPTER ONE

paid upon initiation. Our informant cites a man from al-Qadisiyya near Kufa, who tasted one of the sweets which were as big as hazelnuts, and found it delicious beyond all measure, but failed to determine its ingredients. An initiation rite of this kind is not known from other "islands" of the da 'wa, but both the dirham al-:fitra and the diniir al-hijra were levied among the Kutama Berbers in the Maghrib, 111 even if we do not have any more precise information on the meaning of these contributions. Money which was not transported to Salamya was hoarded or buried at the da'i's seat. 112 lbn Rizam, our informant, emphasizes that all contributions were raised in the name of the awaited Mahdi Mul:tammad b. lsma'il; the da'is "said that he was the Imam and Mahdi, who would appear at the end of the ages, and who would establish justice; the tribute is due to him, and the recruiter takes it from people for him; all the goods which people collected would be kept for him until he should appear." 113 Only a portion of the contributions raised in the name of the Mahdi remains in the "island"; the rest goes to central headquarters in Salamya. The da'is of the communities in Iraq, the Yemen and the Maghrib, as well as those in Bal:trayn, Iran, Egypt and Sind, remain in continual contact with the Grandmaster (~zdja). A carrier pigeon post is established for the swift transmission of news, 114 and disguised couriers travel back and forth between the central headquarters and the "islands." This is attested for 'Abdan as well as for lbn l:lawshab: the latter sends money, textiles, and all sorts of curiosities and exotica, such as myrobalan, musk, amber, gems, and weapons ornamented with carnelian. 115 Messengers go back and forth between Salamya and Egypt, and Abii 'Abdallah al-Shi'i also maintains contact with the Master by letter from the land of the Kutama. There is frequent mention of regular consignments of money from the "islands" to Salamya, and so we are not at all surprised to learn that considerable sums were amassed in the l:tujja's house in Salamya. The eunuch, and later the chamberlain Ja'far, who grew up as a slave in the Master's household, and who was closely acquainted with 111 Nu'man, lftitiif,t, p. 289, I. 5 (Q 172). There is an appeal to u!fa in al-Mahdi's proclamation, ibid., p. 297 (Q 252). 112 Nu'man, lftitiif,t, p. 289 (Q 246). 113 Ibn al-Dawadari, 6: 5 lff. 114 Sirat Ja'Jar, 110. 115 Sirat Ibn lfawshab, cited by Nu'man, lftitiif,t, p. 17 (Q 45f.); lbn Malik, 207£; Idris, 5: 39£

THE PLACE OF EXILE

51

all the inner goings-on and intimate secrets of the house in Salamya, reports in his autobiography (Sirat Ja'far al-~ajib) how the da'is sent the fifth (khums) of their "islands" to Salamya, together with gifts. He describes the depot constructed by his lord, the l:mjja Abu l-Shalaghlagh: "The chief had ordered an underground vault (sirdiib) to be hewn out of the cliff, which reached as far as the inside of his house in Salamya, and which was twelve miles long. [Sometimes Ja'far likes to embellish his account with exaggeration.] The money and valuables were brought on camels, for which the gate of the chamber were opened at night, so they could go down into it with their loads, and be unloaded inside the house. They also went out only at night; the gate of the chamber was closed up with earth, so that no one knew anything about it." Ja'far tells further of another cleverly hidden treasure which had been built in the house in Salamya: "The chief had caused an elaborate water basin to be dug out, stripped bare, and then filled with money. Then he had provided it with a fixed roof, over which he had placed another basin of the same size, into which water was led, so that it was filled in winter as in summer. He used to sit mostly at this basin." 116

The Hace

ef Exile

In the year 881 the da'i Ibn ij:awshab had come to the Yemen and, disguised as a cotton merchant, entered Aden. Two years later he had been able to move to the village of 'Adan Ll'a, in the Wadi La'a to the northwest of ~an'a', where the clan of the Banu Musa took him in and joined the da'wa (see above, pp. 36-38). "The da'wa spread in the Yemen, and openly emerged (?ahara amruhii). Abu 1Qasim (lbn I:Iawshab) requested permission to wage war, and it was granted to him. Thereupon he built a fortress in the La'a mountains, prepared troops, and conquered cities in the Yemen." 117 Thus around the year 885, 118 the Isma'ili mission entered a new phase: the time was now ripe, the partisans of the hidden Mahdi raised the flag and began, with weapons in hand, to challenge the power of the State. It is expressly stated that lbn I:Iawshab did not operate on his S!rat Ja'far, 108-109, 113. S!rat Ibn /jawshab, at Nu'man, !flitiil}, p. 18, (Q 46). 118 According to Ibn Malik, 205, the fortress was built two years after the death of the amir of ~an'a', MuJ.iammad b. Yu'fir, thus in 272/885-8. 116 117

52

CHAPTER ONE

own, as he had to obtain permission from Salamya. In his autobiography, the da'i himself reports what he then proceeded to do. 119 "The da'i dwelt ... among the adherents of the da'wa, and these carried the mission on for a time. Finally, however, they got into difficulty, and grew more afraid [of their adversaries]. Thereupon the elders among the followers of the da 'wa gathered around him, and asked him for good advice and for plans whereby they might protect themselves from their enemies. He informed them that this could only happen if they sought refuge in a mountain and fortified themselves there. They named the fortresses of the area to him, and he selected one which was called 'Abr Ma4ram. He asked them to collect a thousand dinars [to help] him toward this goal. Five hundred men 120 from among them helped him, and they fortified 121 the place by night, in less than seven days. He had them buy iron, and prepare tools for stone masonry and construction; he also obtained weapons and military equipment. Finally, he himself went up to the fortress of 'Abr Mal)ram, and there he had a palace (diir) built, where he took up residence together with fifty of the most eminent members of his da 'wa. He had the elders of the da 'wa lay out mountain paths. He stayed there two days with his companions; then he assembled a fighting force, and went up to the Jabal al:Jumayma, which he took and settled." While it is impossible to locate 'Ahr MaJ:iram with certainty, 122 the two other fortresses of the Miswar massif, which the da'i brought into his power shortly afterwards, are still known today: the highlying Bayt Fa'iz, 123 visible from afar and dominating the entire Miswar, which fell through treachery, when the da'i managed to win over part of the garrison of the amir of San'a'; 124 and Bayt Rayb, about Sirat lbn lfawshab, cited by Idris, 'Uyun, 5: 38f. Idris, 5: 38, has "five"; stated correctly at lbn Malik, 205. 121 Read al;$anuha instead of alµjarnha. 122 Perhaps the present-day I:li~n al-'Abr. Van Arendonk, 111, reads 'Ain MuJ:iarram; on this, D. Thomas Gochenour reports the following to me: "Of interest, I found that a settlement in the wadi immediately below the cliflS of Maswar had the name 'Ayn MuJ:iarram. Above it on a narrow ridge that is a spur off of Maswar is a sizeable ruins, isolated and uninhabited, which no one knew the name of but which several of my informants told me were from the days of the Qariimi!a." 123 Bayt Fa'iz or Fa'is; Forrer, 249f. "Bayt Fa'iz which the locals identified as Bayt Fa'ish is situated on the very summit of Maswar and can be seen from 60 miles away in three directions-a commanding fortress. It is a fair sized ruins of a qa~r." Communication by letter from Gochenour. 124 The episode of the capture of Bayt Fa'iz is cited only at lbn Malik, 205, following the Sirat lbn Ifawshab. 119 120

THE PLACE OF EXILE

53

a kilometer away, "a fortress on a sheer precipice, which had no entrance other than a single gate." 125 Three times the da'i marched against this mountain perch; "the third time he brought it into his power; after he took Bayt Rayb, his situation became stable, and now he ruled over the Miswar mountains." 126 From this controlling position, based on the three nearly impregnable fortresses, the da'i could now bring the surrounding valleys under his control in the years which followed, while the amir of ~an'a' remained unable to stop him. "In Bayt Rayb he built a fortress, which he named 'the place of exile' (diir al-hjjra)." 127 This is the oldest foundation of this type and of this name; similar refuges would soon be built in the other "islands" of the da 'wa. The fortified stronghold in the midst of enemy territory serves as a nucleus for open rebellion in the name of the awaited Mahdi. The founding of the diir al-hijra marks the beginning of a new phase for the da'wa. This name recalls the Hijra, the emigration of the Prophet Muhammad from pagan Mecca to Medina, and with it the founding of the earliest Islamic community, which soon afterward began its military expansion. Just as the Prophet once abandoned Mecca and its corruption, to make a new beginning in exile with a few faithful companions, so too now the followers of the da'wa, the true "believers" or "friends of God," abandon the corrupt community of the Muslims, who have again become unbelievers, to begin, in the diir al-hijra, the building of an Islam now restored and renewed from its very foundations. And like the believers who once followed Muhammad into exile in Medina, so too the friends of God who abandon their villages and take up residence near the da'i in the diir al-hijra are now called "exiles" (muhiijimn), whereas those who have joined the da'wa but still remain in their villages are referred to as "helpers" (an~ar), by analogy to the Medinan followers of Muhammad. 128

125 Forrer, 250. Gochenour informs me: "Bayt Rayb is also on the top of Maswar near Bayt Fa'iz and is located a kilometer away at LC 60, 25 but is a ruins." 126 Sirat Ibn Ifawshab, at Idris, 5: 39. 121 Ibn Malik, 206, where dar al-hijra has clearly been miswritten as dar al-nal)ya. Maqrizi, Jtti'a+, 1: 166, has dar al-$a}Wa. 128 Nu'man, ijiif1i~, pp. 95, 97 (Q 106-107. The second Fatimid caliph al-Qa'im addresses his audience in a sermon as "You sons of the muhajirnn and the llll$1ir. Idris, 5: 205. A sijill of the caliph al-Zahir still mentions the llll$1iT al-dawla: MusabbiJ:ii (ed. AF. Sayyid and Th. Bianquis), 5.

54

CHAPTER ONE

In the Sawiid of Kufa, 'Abdiin, the head of the Iraqi da 'wa, emerged in a similar way in 890 (277) or 892 (279), 129 perhaps encouraged by his Yemeni colleague's successful action. "The dii'is gathered and decided to create a place for themselves which would serve them as a home and a place of exile, to which they could emigrate and where they could gather together. They chose a village named Mahtamiibad, among the estates of the Aramaean population 130 known as alQgsimjyyat in the district of al-Furat in the Sawiid of Kufa. There they piled up a great many stones, and built a well-fortified wall, eight ells thick, all around the village. Behind it (sic) they placed a large moat. All this took place in the shortest time. On the inside they build a large structure, where men, women and children were brought. The entire complex was called 'the place of exile' (dar al.. ) "131 hyra. The Baghdad government allowed all this to happen without interfering.132 It was only in the summer of 897 (284)-thus seven (or five) years after the founding of the fortified diir al-hijra-that the governor of Kufa first undertook a raid against the lsma'ili villages of the Sawad, and sent a series of "Qarmatis" in chains to Baghdad. As these were interrogated, it emerged that one of their leaders was a state secretary (katib), and had been in correspondence with them; this secretary was immediately arrested. 133 The da'wa had clearly managed to infiltrate the governmental apparatus in Baghdad; it was possible that some high officials were concealing the intrigues of I:Iamdiin Qarmat and 'Abdan. In the summer of 893 (280), only a short time after the founding of the Iraqi "exile,'' the da'i Abu 'Abdallah al-Shi'i took up residence in the tribal territory of the Kutiima Berbers. There, far removed from all state authority, the da'wa had to deal only with local resistance, for the time being. Supported by the weapons of the clans 129 Nuwayri, 25: 229, gives the year 277. lbn al-Dawiidiiri, 6: 53, has 299. Maqrizi, ltti'ii;r,, 1: 158, gives 297. The latter two dates are too late, since they come after the schism of 286. 130 At lbn al-Dawiidiiri, 6: 13, corrupted: read