The History of al-Ṭabarī, Vol. 28: Abbasid Authority Affirmed: The Early Years of al-Mansur A.D. 753-763/A.H. 136-145 28

The initial years (126-145) of al-Mansur's reign presented several significant challenges to nascent Abbasid hegemony, and the resulting confrontations constitute the central focus of this section of Tabari's Tarikh. After Abu Jafar succeeded his brother Abu al-Abbas as caliph, the second of the Abbasid dynasty, he moved against his recalcitrant uncle, Abdallah b. Ali, and against the potential threat that he perceived in the person of the commander in Khurasan, Abu Muslim. Eliminating the latter and containing the former freed the caliph to address a series of other onslaughts and insurrections. Starting with the year 144, however, Tabari turned to this volume's principal preoccupation, to which half of the book is devoted. Judging by the attention given to it, he clearly perceived the Hasanid rebellions of Muhammad b. Abdallah (the Pure Soul) and of his brother Ibrahim to be the most substantial attack on Abbasid authority to arise in the first years of that dynasty. Tabari's description of the prolonged search for Muhammad and Ibrahim and of the caliphal vengeance visited upon their father and family provides an extended prelude to the vivid battle and death scenes in Medina and Bakhamra. Yet, elaboration of these events does not eclipse mention of all other Abbasid activity. To bridge the account of Muhammad's defeat and that of Ibrahim's uprising, Tabari inserted a narrative interlude depicting the site selection and preliminary construction of al-Mansur's most celebrated achievement, the City of Peace, Baghdad. v. 1.General introduction and from the creation to the flood. v. 2. Prophets and patriarchs. v. 3. The children of Israel. v. 4. The ancient kingdoms. v. 5. The Sāsānids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen. v. 6. Muḥammadat Mecca. 7. The foundation of the community. v. 8. The victory of Islam. v. 9. The last years of the Prophet. v. 10. The conquest of Arabia. v. 11. The challenge to the empires. v. 12. The battle of al-Qādisiyyah and the conquest of Syria and Palestine. v. 13. The conquest of ʻIrāq, Southwestern Persia and Egypt, the middle years of ʻUmar's caliphate. v. 14. The conquest of Iran v. 15. The crisis of the early caliphate. v. 16. The community divided v. 18. Between civil wars: the caliphate of Muʻāwiyah. v. 19. The caliphate of Yazīd ibn Muʻāwiyah. v. 20. The collapse of Sufyānid authority and the coming of the Marwānids. v. 22. The Marwānid restoration. v. 23. The zenith of the Marwānid House. v. 24. The empire in transition: The caliphate of Sulaymān, ʻUmar, and Yazīd. v. 25. The end of expansion. v. 26. The waning of the Umayyad caliphate. v. 27. The ʻAbbāsid revolution. v. 28. ʻAbbāsid Authority Affirmed. v. 29. Al-Manṣūr and al-Mahdī. v. 30. The ʻAbbāsid caliphate in Equilibrium. v. 31. The war between brothers. v. 32. The reunification of the ʻAbbāsid caliphate. v. 33. Storm and stress along the northern frontiers of the ʻAbbāsid caliphate. v. 34. Incipent decline. v. 35. The crisis of the ʻAbbāsid caliphate. v. 36. The revolt of the Zanj. v. 37. The ʻAbbāsid recovery. v. 38. The return of the caliphate to Baghdad. v. 39. Biographies of the Prophet's companions and their successors v. 40. Index: Comprising an index of proper names and subjects and an index of Qur'ānic citations and illusions. The initial years (126-145) of al-Manṣūr's reign presented several significant challenges to nascent ʿAbbāsid hegemony, and the resulting confrontations constitute the central focus of this section of Ṭabarī's Tarikh. After Abu Jafar succeeded his brother Abū Al-ʿabbās as caliph, the second of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty, he moved against his recalcitrant uncle, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī, and against the potential threat that he perceived in the person of the commander in Khurasan, Abu Muslim. Eliminating the latter and containing the former freed the caliph to address a series of other onslaughts and insurrections.Starting with the year 144, however, Ṭabarī turned to this volume's principal preoccupation, to which half of the book is devoted. Judging by the attention given to it, he clearly perceived the Hasanid rebellions of Muhammad b. Abdallah (the Pure Soul) and of his brother Ibrahim to be the most substantial attack on Abbasid authority to arise in the first years of that dynasty. Ṭabarī's description of the prolonged search for Muhammad and Ibrahim and of the caliphal vengeance visited upon their father and family provides an extended prelude to the vivid battle and death scenes in Medina and Bakhamra. Yet, elaboration of these events does not eclipse mention of all other Abbasid activity. To bridge the account of Muhammad's defeat and that of Ibrahim's uprising, Ṭabarī inserted a narrative interlude depicting the site selection and preliminary construction of al-Manṣūr's most celebrated achievement, the City of Peace, Baghdad. Translated And Annotated By Jane Dammen Mcauliffe. Translation Of Extracts From: Taʼrīkh Al-rusul Wa-al-mulūk. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [293]-304) And Index.