text:
courtesy name
emperor
Chinese
Liu Song
Emperor Wu
Emperor Shao
Jin Dynasty
Yuanjia administration
Northern Wei
crown prince
Liu Shao
Emperor Xiaowu
Zhenjiang
Jiangsu
concubine
Jin
Jiankang
Later Qin
Pengcheng
Xu Province
Jiangsu
Anhui
Jing Province
Hubei
Hunan
Confucian classics
calligrapher
Emperor Shao
Xu Xianzhi
Fu Liang
Xie Hui
Jiangling
Wang Hong
Tan Daoji
empress dowager
Princess Yuan Qigui
empress
Northern Wei
Liu Yikang
Liu Shao
crown prince
Northern Wei
Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei
Yellow River
Luoyang
Hulao
Anyang
Hunan
Liaocheng
Shandong
Xia
Helian Ding
Yi Province
Sichuan
Chongqing
Jin
Buddhist
Chengdu
Yang Nandang
Chouchi
Shaanxi
Feng Hong
Northern Yan
Goguryeo
Jiangxi
Fujian
Great Wall
Tuoba Huang
Mysticism
Confucianism
Sima Guang
Zizhi Tongjian
Liu Yixuan
regent
Liu Yigong
Jiangsu
Song Shu
Fan Ye
Xiongnu
Shandong
Zhumadian
Henan
Tangshan
Hebei
Han
Ji'nan
Shandong
Tong Pass
Guanzhong
Zhoukou
Henan
Shouyang
Huai River
Nanjing
Jiangsu
Liu Jun
Zang Zhi
Huai'an
Jiangsu
Shen Yue
Emperor Guangwu of Han
eunuch
Zong Ai
Liu Jun
Consort Pan
Liu Jun
posthumous name
temple name
Liu Yu
Empress Wenyuan
Liu Shao
Wang Jian
Empress Dowager Zhao
Liu Jun
Liu Yu
"Shufei"
Liu Jun
Xie Tiao
Liu Ziye
Chu Yuan
Lady Chu Lingqu
Book of Song
History of Southern Dynasties
vol. 2
Zizhi Tongjian

categories: 453 deaths,Liu Song emperors,Jin dynasty (265–420) people,People from Zhenjiang,407 births

paragraph: Emperor Wen of Liu Song

paragraph: Emperor Wen of Liu Song ((劉)宋文帝, (Liu) Song Wen-di) (407 – 16 March 453), personal name Liu Yilong (劉義隆), courtesy name Che'er (車兒), was an emperor of the Chinese dynasty Liu Song. He was the third son of the dynastic founder Emperor Wu (Liu Yu). After his father's death in 422, Liu Yilong's eldest brother Liu Yifu took the throne as Emperor Shao. In 424, a group of officials, believing Emperor Shao to be unfit to be emperor, deposed Emperor Shao and placed Liu Yilong on the throne as Emperor Wen.

paragraph: In his 29 years of rule, Emperor Wen largely continued the grand plan of his father and some of the land policies of the Jin Dynasty. The period, called the "Yuanjia administration" (元嘉之治), is seen as a period of prosperity and strength, because of the emperor's diligence and ability to find capable and honest officials to serve in his administration. However, Emperor Wen was faulted for making repeated failed attempts to attack rival Northern Wei and using the wrong strategies in doing so, weakening his state toward the end of his rule. In 453, angry that his crown prince Liu Shao was using witchcraft to curse him, he planned to depose Liu Shao; when this plan was leaked, Liu Shao staged a coup and assassinated him, replacing him on the throne, although less than a year later Liu Shao's younger brother Liu Jun defeated him and took the throne as Emperor Xiaowu.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Liu Yilong was born at Jingkou (京口, in modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) in 407, to Liu Yu and his concubine Hu Dao'an (胡道安), as Liu Yu's third son; at that time, Liu Yu was already the paramount general for Jin, and so Liu Yilong was born into a household of power and wealth. For reasons lost to history, in 409, Liu Yu put Consort Hu to death. Liu Yilong's maternal grandmother Lady Su was involved in his upbringing, and he was particularly close to her as he grew up. In 410, while the Jin capital Jiankang was under attack by the warlord Lu Xun (盧循), Liu Yu had his assistant Liu Cui (劉粹) accompany the three-year-old Liu Yilong to serve as the defender of Jingkou. In 415, he was created the Duke of Pengcheng. In 417, while Liu Yu was attacking Later Qin, he had Liu Yilong, again assisted by his staff, remain at Pengcheng to serve as the governor of Xu Province (徐州, modern northern Jiangsu and Anhui), to guard his rear. In 418, after Liu Yu conquered Later Qin, Liu Yilong was made the governor of the important Jing Province (荊州, modern Hubei and Hunan), and commander of armed forces of the western empire. Those who served on his staff included Dao Yanzhi (到彥之), Zhang Shao (張邵), Wang Tanshou (王曇首), Wang Hua (王華), and Shen Linzi (沈林子), with Zhang actually in charge of headquarters due to Liu Yilong's young age. After Liu Yu seized the Jin throne in 420, establishing Liu Song (as Emperor Wu), he created a number of his sons princes, and Liu Yilong was created the Prince of Yidu at that time. Around this time, he became known as studious in the Confucian classics and histories, and was also a good calligrapher.

paragraph: In 424, believing Liu Yilong's older brother Emperor Shao (who had succeeded Emperor Wu after Emperor Wu's death in 422) to be frivolous and incapable of governing the empire, the high-level officials Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang, and Xie Hui deposed and subsequently killed him, as well as another older brother of Liu Yilong's, Liu Yizhen (劉義真) the Prince of Luling, since they believed Liu Yizhen to be even less suitable than Emperor Shao. Believing Liu Yilong to be capable and lenient, they offered the throne to Liu Yilong, with Fu personally arriving with other officials at Liu Yilong's headquarters at Jiangling. Liu Yilong's associates, hearing of Emperor Shao's and Liu Yizhen's deaths, were largely suspicious and suggested that he not head east to the capital Jiankang to accept the throne. However, Wang Hua pointed out that the coup leaders were in a collective leadership, and the balance of power ensured that they could not commit treason. Wang Tanshou and Dao also agreed, and Liu Yilong decided to accept the throne, taking the throne later that year as Emperor Wen.

paragraph: Section::::Early reign.

paragraph: Initially, Emperor Wen pacified the high-level officials who were involved in deposing Emperor Shao (including not only Xu Xianzhi, Fu Liang, Xie Hui, but also Wang Tanshou's brother Wang Hong and Tan Daoji) by leaving them in power and further giving them higher offices. Indeed, he initially left most affairs of state in the hands of Xu and Fu, but gradually acquainted himself in those matters. He also hinted at disapproval of their actions by recalling the wives and mothers of Emperor Shao and Liu Yizhen to the capital and treating them with honor. He posthumously honored his mother Consort Hu as an empress dowager, and created his wife Princess Yuan Qigui as empress.

paragraph: In 425, Xu and Fu offered to resign, and Emperor Wen approved and began to handle important matters of state himself. However, Xu's nephew Xu Peizhi (徐佩之) and his associates Cheng and Wang Shaozhi (王韶之) persuaded him that he did not need to resign, and thereafter he reassumed his post. (While it was not explicitly stated in history, it appeared that Fu then did so as well.) However, Emperor Wen was resentful that Xu, Fu, and Xie had killed his two older brothers, and in late 425 planned to destroy them, particularly at the urging of Wang Hua and the general Kong Ningzi (孔寧子). He therefore mobilized troops and publicly declared that he was going to attack rival Northern Wei, but was privately preparing to arrest Xu and Fu while engaging in a military campaign against Xie, then the governor of Jing Province. In spring 426, rumors had leaked of such a plan, and so Xie began to prepare for armed resistance. Soon, Emperor Wen publicly issued an edict ordering that Xu, Fu, and Xie be arrested and killed, while issuing a separate edict summoning Xu and Fu to the palace.

paragraph: Believing that Wang Hong and Tan had not been involved initially in the plot against Emperor Shao, he recalled them to the capital, and put Tan in charge of the army against Xie and Wang Hong in charge of the imperial government. Meanwhile, Xie Hui publicly mourned Xu and Fu and declared that all they did was for the empire, blaming Wang Hong, Wang Tanshou, and Wang Hua for falsely accusing them, and demanding their execution. Xie Hui had a powerful army, but while he thought that several other provincial governors would join him, they refused. He was initially able to defeat Dao's army, but soon Tan arrived, and Xie, fearful of Tan, did not know what to do. Tan quickly attacked him and defeated his fleet, and Xie fled back to Jiangling, and then fled with his brother Xie Dun (謝遯), but Xie Dun was so overweight that he could not ride a horse, and so they slowed down and were captured. He was then delivered to Jiankang and executed with Xie Jiao and Xie Dun, along with all of his nephews and major associates, although many of his associates were spared.

paragraph: Emperor Wen became quickly known for his diligence in governing the state and his frugality, as well as his caring for the welfare of the people. He set up a system where officials, both at the capital and in provinces, were given relatively long office terms, but carefully monitored for their progress. He was particularly attentive to his brothers' ability to govern, offering them much advice while carefully fostering proper experience for them. One of them, Liu Yikang the Prince of Pengcheng, soon became known for his skills at governing Jing Province after replacing Xie, and in 428, Wang Hong, who was fearful of drawing attacks for having been prime minister for too long, offered to resign and give his authority to Liu Yikang. Emperor Wen declined at this point, but did transfer most of Wang Hong's authorities to Liu Yikang in 429. Also in 429, Emperor Wen created his oldest son by Empress Yuan, Liu Shao, crown prince. That year, Emperor Wen's maternal grandmother Lady Su died, and he mourned her greatly, wanting to posthumously create her titles, but because of opposition by the key official Yin Jingren (殷景仁), he did not do so.

paragraph: Around this time, Emperor Wen also started preparing for a campaign against rival Northern Wei, seeking to recover several provinces lost to Northern Wei during the reign of Emperor Shao. In spring 430, he put Dao Yanzhi in command of a 50,000-man army to attack Northern Wei. Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, when informed by Emperor Wen's messengers that all Emperor Wen was interested in was to recover the provinces south of the Yellow River, retorted angrily that he would withdraw but return in the winter once the Yellow River froze, and that was what he initially did—withdrawing his armies south of the Yellow River to areas north, allowing Liu Song to recover the four key cities of Luoyang, Hulao, Huatai (滑台, in modern Anyang, Hunan), and Qiao'ao (碻磝, in modern Liaocheng, Shandong) without a fight. Instead of advancing further north against Northern Wei proper, however, Emperor Wen stopped, and stretched his troops to become a Yellow River defense force, even though he had entered into an alliance with Xia's emperor Helian Ding to conquer and divide Northern Wei. With Emperor Wen's forces inactivated, Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu was able to attack Helian Ding and greatly damage Xia (eventually leading to its destruction in 431), while his other generals, even in Emperor Taiwu's absence, prepared to counterattack. In winter 430, Emperor Wen's general Du Ji (杜驥), unable to defend Luoyang, abandoned it. Hulao soon also fell. Upon hearing this, Dao retreated, leaving the general Zhu Xiuzhi (朱脩之) defending Huatai alone. In spring 431, Emperor Wen sent Tan north to try to relieve Zhu at Huatai, but with Northern Wei forces cutting Tan's supply route off, Tan was unable to reach Huatai and forced to withdraw as well. Zhu, without support, was soon captured when Huatai fell. Emperor Wen's first attempt to regain the provinces south of the Yellow River had resulted in failure.

paragraph: In 432, Wang Hong died, and Liu Yikang was, alone, prime minister after that point.

paragraph: Also in 432, angry over the misgovernance of Liu Daoji (劉道濟) the governor of Yi Province (modern Sichuan and Chongqing), the people of Yi Province rose, under the command of Xu Muzhi (許穆之), who changed his name to Sima Feilong (司馬飛龍) and claimed to be a descendant of the Jin imperial clan. Liu quickly defeated and killed Sima Feilong, but the Buddhist monk Cheng Daoyang (程道養) soon rose in succession and claimed to be the real Sima Feilong, threatening Chengdu the capital of Yi Province, and while the general Pei Fangming (裴方明) was able to repel the siege, Cheng remained a threat for several years, carrying the title of the Prince of Shu. While the campaign was ongoing, Yang Nandang (楊難當) the ruler of Chouchi, who had been a nominal vassal to both Liu Song and Northern Wei, also attacked and occupied Liang Province (梁州, modern southern Shaanxi) in 433.

paragraph: Section::::Middle reign.

paragraph: In spring 434, Emperor Wen's general Xiao Sihua (蕭思話) was able to defeat Yang Nandang's forces and recapture Liang Province. Yang Nandang soon apologized, and not willing to lose a potential ally against Northern Wei, Emperor Wen accepted his apology.

paragraph: In 435, Feng Hong the emperor of Northern Yan, under constant Northern Wei attack, offered to be a vassal to Liu Song to try to obtain assistance, and Emperor Wen created Feng Hong the Prince of Yan. However, Emperor Wen was unable to provide actual assistance, and Feng Hong evacuated his state and fled to Goguryeo in 436.

paragraph: Around that time, a severe political infighting began to develop within Emperor Wen's administration. Jealous of Emperor Wen's bestowing of great powers to Yin Jingren, Liu Zhan (劉湛) became to try to defame Yin Jingren, and he ingratiated himself with Liu Yikang to try to use the prime minister's powers to expel Yin from government. Yin, not willing to fight Liu Zhan, offered to resign under the excuse he was ill, and while Emperor Wen refused, he permitted Yin to take an extended sick leave. The imperial government, however, became divided into a Liu Zhan-led pro-Liu Yikang faction and an anti-Liu Yikang faction.

paragraph: In 436, Emperor Wen grew extremely ill. In his illness, Liu Zhan persuaded Liu Yikang that if Emperor Wen died, no one would be able to control Tan Daoji, and therefore recalled Tan to the capital from his post at Jiang Province (江州, modern Jiangxi and Fujian). After Tan arrived at Jiankang, Emperor Wen became better in his conditions and was ready to return Tan to his post, when he suddenly turned ill again. At that time, Tan was already on the dock ready to depart for Jiang Province, and Liu Yikang summoned him back to Jiankang and arrested him. Emperor Wen then issued an edict falsely accusing Tan of preparing treason and executed him with his sons, but spared his grandsons. (When Tan was arrested, he angrily threw his scarf on the ground and stated bitterly, "You have destroyed your Great Wall." When Northern Wei officials heard of Tan's death, they celebrated. The traditional account appeared to minimize Emperor Wen's involvement in Tan's death, but subsequent events appear to show that Liu Yikang acted with Emperor Wen's full approval in this matter.)

paragraph: In spring 437, Emperor Wen seriously considered the proposal that Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu had made, initially in 431 and then in 433, that the two imperial clans enter into a marital relationship—specifically, to marry one of his daughters to Emperor Taiwu's crown prince Tuoba Huang, and he sent his official Liu Xibo (劉熙伯) to Northern Wei to negotiate the terms of the marriage. However, soon thereafter, the daughter who was to marry Tuoba Huang died, and the proposal died with her.

paragraph: Later in 437, the long-term rebel Cheng Daoyang the Prince of Shu was finally captured and killed, ending a seven-year rebellion.

paragraph: In 438, Emperor Wen built a university to encourage students to study famous works. He set up four disciplines at the university:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mysticism, taught by the official He Shangzhi (何尚之)

paragraph: BULLET::::- History, taught by the official He Chengtian (何承天)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Literature, taught by the official Xie Yuan (謝元)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Confucianism, taught by the hermit Lei Cizong (雷次宗)

paragraph: The historian Sima Guang, author of "Zizhi Tongjian", made the following commentary about Emperor Wen with regard to the status of his state at this time:

paragraph: Emperor Wen's attention to imperial officials' abilities could be seen partly in 439, when, according to an edict that Emperor Wu had left that his sons were to serve as the governor of Jing Province in rotation by age, he was supposed to make his brother Liu Yixuan (劉義宣) the Prince of Nanqiao the governor of Jing Province. However, because he believed Liu Yixuan to be incompetent, he refused, skipping him and giving the post to the more capable brother Liu Yiji (劉義季) the Prince of Hengyang, the governor of Jing Province. (Several years later, after Liu Yiji's death, and with much urging from his older sister Liu Xingdi (劉興弟) the Princess Kuaiji, he finally did make Liu Yixuan the governor of Jing Province, but only after much advice on how to properly govern the province.)

paragraph: By 440, however, Liu Yikang, a major part of the success of Emperor Wen's government due to his diligence and abilities, had become so flattered by Liu Zhan that he appeared to blur the distinction between himself, as a subject, and the emperor. When Emperor Wen grew ill again, Liu Zhan and Liu Yikang's associates Liu Bin (劉斌), Wang Lü (王履), Liu Jingwen (劉敬文), and Kong Yinxiu (孔胤秀) secretly plotted to have Liu Yikang succeed Emperor Wen, against Emperor Wen's wishes to have Crown Prince Shao be emperor and Liu Yikang serve as regent. When Emperor Wen grew better, he began to suspect Liu Yikang of wanting to usurp the throne. In winter 440, he put Liu Yikang under house arrest, while arresting and executing Liu Zhan and a number of other associates of Liu Yikang. He then removed Liu Yikang from his prime minister post and made him the governor of Jiang Province, while restoring Yin Jingren to power. He replaced Liu Yikang with another younger brother, Liu Yigong (劉義恭) the Prince of Jiangxia, but Liu Yigong, realizing the danger in wielding too much power, did not involve himself much in actual decision-making. Later that year, Yin Jingren died, and the important responsibilities became split between several officials.

paragraph: In 441, Yang Nandang, not willing to give up his grandiose designs on Liang and Yi Provinces, attacked Liu Song. Emperor Wen sent Pei Fangming and another general, Liu Zhendao (劉真道), to attack Chouchi, and in the only instance at which a southern dynasty army occupied Chouchi, took it over in 442, forcing Yang Nandang to flee to Northern Wei. However, by 443, Chouchi had fallen to Northern Wei forces, and Pei and Liu Zhendao were executed for having embezzled treasures and horses from Chouchi during the 441 to 442 campaign.

paragraph: Section::::Late reign.

paragraph: In 445, in a famous incident, while waiting to send his brother Liu Yiji off to his new post as governor of Southern Yan Province (南兗州, modern central Jiangsu), Emperor Wen ordered his sons not to eat until dinner is served at the sendoff, but the intentionally had dinner served late, so that his sons would suffer from hunger, and then telling them, "You grew up in a rich household and do not see the people being poor. I intended that you understand the pain from hunger so that you would learn to be frugal and caring for the people." However, while this incident general drew praise from historians, some historians, including Pei Ziye (裴子野), the commentator to the "Song Shu", found it hypocritical in that he was putting his sons in high offices at young age without being properly trained.

paragraph: After that feast, an alleged plot involving the official Fan Ye was exposed—as it was alleged that Fan had plotted with his nephew Xie Zong (謝綜) and the deposed prime minister Li Yikang's associate Kong Xixian (孔熙先) to assassinate Emperor Wen at the feast for Liu Yiji and then making Liu Yikang emperor. One of the coconspirators, Emperor Wen's nephew Xu Danzhi (徐湛之), after the assassination failed to occur at the feast, informed on his coconspirators, and other than Xu, the conspirators were all executed. (The historian Wang Mingsheng (王鳴盛) found the alleged plot far-fetched, and believed instead that Fan had been the victim of false accusations by Xu, Yu Bingzhi (庾炳之), and He Shangzhi.) In the aftermaths of the plot, Liu Yikang, whose connection to the plot appeared tenuous at best, was stripped of his title, demoted to commoner rank, and put under house arrest. (There would be repeated plots by others to put Liu Yikang on the throne, and by 451, fearful that such a plot would again develop during the midst of a Northern Wei invasion, Emperor Wen would, against promises he made to his older sister Liu Xingdi the Princess Kuaiji, have Liu Yikang killed.)

paragraph: In 446, when Northern Wei was facing a rebellion from the ethnically-Xiongnu Gai Wu (蓋吳), Emperor Wen commissioned Gai as a duke and a general, although he provided no actual military support for Gai. This, however, aggravated Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu, and after Emperor Taiwu put down Gai's rebellion, the relationship between the two states turned sour, particularly in light of a horrific raid that Northern Wei troops carried out against Liu Song's Qing (青州, modern central and eastern Shandong), Ji (冀州, modern northwestern Shandong), and Yan (兗州, modern western Shandong) Provinces later that year.

paragraph: By 449, Emperor Wen was preparing a second campaign to recover the provinces south of the Yellow River, and many generals and officials, in response, submitted battle plans, and the general Wang Xuanmo (王玄謨) submitted plans that Emperor Wen particularly liked. In preparation, Emperor Wen moved the troops stationed and supplies stored in the internal provinces to the boundary provinces. Meanwhile, however, before he could launch the campaign, Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu invaded first in spring 450, putting Xuanhu (懸瓠, in modern Zhumadian, Henan) under siege for 42 days, and after much loss on both sides, Emperor Taiwu withdrew without having captured Xuanhu. This made Emperor Wen believe that Northern Wei's military power was waning, and he decided to launch his attack late in 450, despite oppositions by the generals Liu Kangzu (劉康祖), who believed that the campaign should begin in spring 451, Shen Qingzhi (沈慶之), who opined that Liu Song was not in shape to fight a war against Northern Wei, Xiao Sihua, and Crown Prince Shao.

paragraph: The Liu Song forces, under the commands of Xiao Bin (蕭斌) and Wang Xuanmo, quickly took Qiao'ao and Le'an (樂安, in modern Tangshan, Hebei), as Northern Wei forces abandoned those two cities quickly, and then put Huatai under siege. The Han people around Huatai were initially gladly supporting the Liu Song campaign, but Wang ordered them to submit a large number of pears, causing them to be angry and turn against Liu Song. Liu Song forces, as a consequence, could not capture Huatai quickly, and in winter 450, Emperor Taiwu crossed the Yellow River, and Wang's forces collapsed, forcing him to flee back to Qiao'ao. Xiao considered defending Qiao'ao against the coming Northern Wei assault, but Shen persuaded him that doing so was futile, and despite orders from Emperor Wen to defend Qiao'ao, Xiao led the main forces back to Licheng (歷城, in modern Ji'nan, Shandong) to preserve the strength of the army. Meanwhile, due to Wang's defeat at Huatai, although the general Liu Wenjing (柳文景) was able to capture Tong Pass in the west and threaten Northern Wei's Guanzhong region, Emperor Wen chose to recall Liu and abandon the western advances as well.

paragraph: In retaliation for the Liu Song attack, Emperor Taiwu launched an all-out attack against Liu Song's northern provinces. Emperor Taiwu's nephew Tuoba Ren (拓拔仁) quickly captured Xuanhu and Xiangcheng (項城, in modern Zhoukou, Henan) and pillaging his way to Shouyang. Emperor Taiwu himself advanced on Pengcheng, but did not put that heavily fortified city under siege; rather, he advanced south, claiming that he would cross the Yangtze River and destroy the Liu Song capital Jiankang. Both his main army and the other branch armies that he sent out carried out heavy slaughters and arsons, laying Liu Song's Huai River region to waste. Around the new year 451, Emperor Taiwu had reached Guabu (瓜步, in modern Nanjing, Jiangsu), across the river from Jiankang, but at this point he reproposed the marriage-peace proposal he made earlier—that if Emperor Wen married a daughter to one of his grandsons, he would be willing to marry a daughter to Emperor Wen's son, Liu Jun (who was then defending Pengcheng), to establish long-term peace. Crown Prince Shao favored the proposal, but Jiang Dan (江湛) opposed, and the marital proposal was not accepted. In spring 451, worried that his forces were being overstretched and would be attacked in the rear by the Liu Song forces garrisoned at Pengcheng and Shouyang, Emperor Taiwu began a withdraw, and on the way, insulted by the Liu Song general Zang Zhi (臧質), he put Xuyi (盱眙, in modern Huai'an, Jiangsu) under siege, and, after both sides suffered heavy losses but with the defense holding, quickly withdrew. This campaign appeared to heavily wear out both empires and demonstrated the cruel parts of Emperor Taiwu's personality well, as Sima Guang described it in this manner:

paragraph: Sima Guang further attributed Emperor Wen's military failures to his command style:

paragraph: As another historian, Shen Yue, pointed out, Emperor Wen modelled his military planning on those of Emperor Guangwu of Han, but lacked Emperor Guangwu's military command abilities, and therefore could not draft proper military plans the way that Emperor Guangwu did.

paragraph: In 452, after hearing that Northern Wei's Emperor Taiwu had been assassinated by his eunuch Zong Ai, Emperor Wen prepared another campaign, with his army commanded by Xiao Xihua—but not realizing that his micromanaging had greatly contributed to the failure of the prior campaign, he made the micromanaging even more complete. After Xiao's assisting general Zhang Yong (張永) was defeated at Qiao'ao, however, he abandoned the campaign.

paragraph: Meanwhile, though, Emperor Wen himself was facing a crisis within his household. It had been discovered that Crown Prince Shao and another son of Emperor Wen's, Liu Jun the Prince of Shixing (a different son than the Liu Jun referred to above), had secretly retained the witch Yan Daoyu (嚴道育) to curse Emperor Wen to death so that Crown Prince Shao could become emperor. Emperor Wen, while angry, only strongly rebuked his sons and was unwilling to take further punitive actions against them. By 453, however, Emperor Wen's hopes that his sons had reformed themselves was shattered—as he found evidence that they continued to associate with Yan even after the rebukes. He therefore discussed with his high-level officials Xu Danzhi, Jiang Dan, and Wang Sengchuo (王僧綽) his planned punishment of deposing Crown Prince Shao and ordering Liu Jun to commit suicide. However, he made the mistakes of discussing the plans with Liu Jun's mother, Consort Pan, and Consort Pan quickly informed Liu Jun, who then informed Crown Prince Shao. In spring 453, Crown Prince Shao carried out a coup, sending his own guards to secure the palace while sending his close associate Zhang Chaozhi (張超之) into the palace to assassinate Emperor Wen. When Zhang entered Emperor Wen's bedchambers with a sword, Emperor Wen's guards were asleep, and Emperor Wen tried to hold a small desk to hold off Zhang's attack. Zhang's first swing, however, cut off Emperor Wen's fingers, and he then swung again, killing Emperor Wen. After some confusion, Liu Shao killed Xu and Jiang as well, and then falsely declared that Xu and Jiang had assassinated Emperor Wen; he then took the throne himself, although later that year he was defeated and killed by another brother of his, Liu Jun the Prince of Wuling (different character than the Liu Jun who was Liu Shao's confederate), who took the throne as Emperor Xiaowu.

paragraph: Liu Shao initially gave his father the posthumous name Emperor Jing (景帝) with the temple name Zhongzong (中宗). After Emperor Xiaowu took the throne, he changed the posthumous name to Emperor Wen and the temple name to Taizu (太祖).

paragraph: Section::::Era name.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Yuanjia" (元嘉 yuán jiā) 424-453

paragraph: Section::::Family.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Parents:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Yu, Emperor Wu (; 363–422)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Dowager Zhang, of the Hu clan (; 368–409), personal name Dao'an ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Consorts and Issue:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Wenyuan, of the Yuan clan of Chen (; 405–440), personal name Qigui ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Shao, Emperor (; 424–453), first son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Dongyangxian (), personal name Ying'e ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Wang Sengchuo of Langya (; 423–453), and had issue (Wang Jian)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Dowager Zhao, of the Lu clan (; 412–466), personal name Huinan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Jun, Emperor Xiaowu (; 430–464), third son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Dowager Xuan, of the Shen clan (; 414–453), personal name Rongji ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Yu, Emperor Ming (; 439–472), 11th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Shufei", of the Pan clan (; d. 453)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Jun, Prince Shixing (; 429–453), second son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Shuyi", of the Wu clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Shuo, Prince Nanpingmu (; 431–453), fourth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Xiuhua", of the Yin clan (; d. 459)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Dan, Prince Jingling (; 433–459), sixth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Xiurong", of the Chen clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Hui, Prince Lujiang (; 436–470), eighth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Xiuyi", of the Gao clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Shao, Prince Lulingzhao (; 432–452), fifth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Xiuyi", of the Jiang clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Hun, Marquis Wuchang (; 439–455), tenth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Xiuyi", of the Yang clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Xiuren, Prince Jian'an (; 443–471), 12th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Jieyu", of the Cao clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Hong, Prince Jianping Xuanjian (; 434–458), seventh son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Ronghua", of the Xie clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Chang, Prince Yiyang (; 436–497), ninth son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Jiang clan (; d. 446)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Haiyan (), fourth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Zhao Qian ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Xing clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Xiuyou, Prince Jinpingla (; 445–471), 13th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Cai clan (; d. 458)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Xiumao, Prince Hailing (; 445–461), 14th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Dong clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Liu Xiuye, Prince Poyang'ai" (; 445–456), 15th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Yan clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Liu Xiuqian, Prince Linqingchong" (; 446–454), 16th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Chen clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Liu Yifu, Prince Xinyehuai" (; 447–452), 17th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Xun clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Xiufan, Prince Guiyang (; 448–474), 18th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Meiren", of the Luo clan ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Liu Xiuruo, Prince Baling'ai (; 448–471), 19th son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Unknown

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Changcheng (), fifth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Xie Wei of Chen (), and had issue (Xie Tiao)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Linchuan (), personal name Yingyuan (), sixth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Wang Zao of Langya (; d. 465)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Huaiyang (), ninth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Jiang Nen of Jiyang (), and had issue (one son)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Xincai (), personal name Yingmei (), tenth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married He Mai of Lujiang (; d. 465)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Liu Ziye, Emperor (449–466)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Nanyang (), 15th daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Xu Hengzhi of Donghai, Marquis Zhijiang ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Langyazhen (), sixth daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Chu Ai of Henan (), and had issue (one son)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Nanxian (), 16th daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Meng Shao ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Chu Yuan of Henan (; 435–482)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Xunyang ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Xi Ye of Gaoping (), and had issue (one son, one daughter)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Princess Lujiang ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Married Chu Cheng of Henan (; d. 483), and had issue (Lady Chu Lingqu)

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Book of Song", .

paragraph: BULLET::::- "History of Southern Dynasties", vol. 2.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Zizhi Tongjian", vols. , , , , , , , , , .

alias:
Liu Yilong
Wen of Liu Song
Che'er
Song Wen-di

description: emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty

wikidata_label: Emperor Wen of Liu Song

wikipedia_title: Emperor Wen of Song

wikipedia_title: Emperor Wen of Liu Song


text:
Russian
ice hockey
forward
Traktor Chelyabinsk
Kontinental Hockey League
Ak Bars Kazan
Gagarin Cup

categories: Ak Bars Kazan players,Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg players,Russian ice hockey players,1990 births,Sportspeople from Yekaterinburg,Living people,JHC Avto players

paragraph: Fedor Malykhin

paragraph: Fedor Malykhin (born 13 November 1990) is a Russian professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for Traktor Chelyabinsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

paragraph: After five seasons with Ak Bars Kazan, helping claim the Gagarin Cup in 2018, Malykhin left as a free agent to sign a one-year contract with his third KHL club, Traktor Chelyabinsk, on 1 May 2019.

description: Russian ice hockey player

wikidata_label: Fedor Malykhin

wikipedia_title: Fedor Malykhin


text:
Annery
Monkleigh
royalist
Civil War
Bideford
Hartland
Alwington
Clovelly
Portledge
lord of the manor
Civil War
Affeton Castle
Civil War
Hydra
Briareus
dogstar
Fates
Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey
Wexford

paragraph: Joseph Prust

paragraph: Joseph Prust (1620–1677) of Annery, in the parish of Monkleigh, Devon, was a royalist military commander during the Civil War. He was a lieutenant colonel.

paragraph: Section::::Origins.

paragraph: Joseph Prust was born in 1620 and baptised at Bideford. He was the 2nd son of Hugh Prust (died 1666) of Gorven in the parish of Hartland, by his first wife Anne Cary, daughter of Francis Cary of Alwington and Clovelly The Prusts were an ancient Devon family, first mentioned in a deed of 1199 referring to Osbert Prust, whose son was "John Prust of Gorven" The Prusts of Annery were related by marriage to the Coffin family, lords of the manor of Monkleigh in which Annery was situated. In 1628 his father Hugh Prust married as his second wife Elizabeth Hurding (d.1668), daughter of Henry Hurding of Dorset and widow of John Coffin (1593-1622) of Portledge in the parish of Alwington and lord of the manor of Monkleigh. In 1645 Joseph's elder brother Hugh Prust (1614-1650) married their step-sister Jane Coffin (1619-1646), eldest daughter of John Coffin (d.1622).

paragraph: Section::::Career.

paragraph: Prust was a staunch Royalist during the Civil War. His inscribed ledger stone survives in the floor of the Annery Chapel in Monkleigh Church and reveals that he was a Lt.Col. in the Regiment of Horse of Sir Thomas Stucley (d.1663) of Affeton Castle and that he lost a hand during combat in the Civil War at Plymouth. His ledger stone shows the following biographical inscription:

paragraph: "Here lieth interred Joseph Prust of Annerie gent. sometime leiutent colon'l of horse to sr. Thomas Stuckley in his Maj'ties service of blessed memory Charles the First in which he lost one of his hands in fight before Plimouth.

paragraph: Joseph Prust, obiit Oct 17 77 "(arms of Prust sculpted in relief)" anno aetat. 57. Anagr. He is support.

paragraph: How law, religion, loyalty did fall,

paragraph: How first we lost the king & church then all,

paragraph: Experience shews 'twas because few at need,

paragraph: Who much pr'tended proud th'r freinds indeed,

paragraph: Here's one stood firme & gave his hand to own,

paragraph: Wr to but name at length was treason grown,

paragraph: Rebellions like the Hydra's heads doe grow,

paragraph: One cut of here & two rise up below,

paragraph: His hand such monsters knew how to suppress,

paragraph: Briareus' hundred hands can't soe redress,

paragraph: Oh Heaven's grant we nere may see again,

paragraph: The raging dogstar o'retop Charles his wain,

paragraph: Nor yet the wolfe usurp the lion's crown,

paragraph: Rebellion rampant & allegiance down,

paragraph: But if the Fates such times should have decreed,

paragraph: How much such hands as his was shall we need".

paragraph: Section::::Marriage & progeny.

paragraph: He married Anne Keynes (1630–1660), daughter and co-heiress of John Keynes, by whom he had three sons and one daughter:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Hugh Prust (1656-1656), eldest son who died an infant

paragraph: BULLET::::- Joseph Prust (1658-1692), 2nd son, died without issue

paragraph: BULLET::::- Capt. John Prust (1660–1695), of Annery, 3rd son. He married Mary Leigh (1672–1711), by whom he had three sons who died young and a daughter and heiress Anne Prust (1694–1741), who married in 1715 Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey (c. 1693 – 1761), an Irish peer and governor of Wexford. Her husband deserted her almost immediately and entered into a further bigamous marriage. Anne Prust died without issue and was buried in August 1741 as Countess of Anglesey.

paragraph: Section::::Death & burial.

paragraph: Joseph Prust died in 1677 aged 57 and was buried at Monkleigh. He left at his death two surviving sons, Joseph II Prust (1658-1692), second but eldest surviving son, who died without issue leaving as heir to his father's estate his younger brother John Prust (1660-1695), a captain in the army. Joseph II was buried in his mother's grave and John in that of his father.

description: English soldier

wikidata_label: Joseph I Prust

wikipedia_title: Joseph Prust


text:
Dutch Golden Age
Geertruydt
Roelant Roghman
Magdalena Roghman
historici.nl

categories: Dutch Golden Age printmakers,Dutch women artists,17th-century women artists,1679 deaths,Artists from Amsterdam,1637 births

paragraph: Magdalena Roghman

paragraph: Magdalena Roghman (1637 – 1679), was a Dutch Golden Age engraver.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: She was born in Amsterdamas the sister of Geertruydt and Roelant Roghman. She married Jan Roelof Heister in 1669. She is known from two engravings in the book by Jan Bara called "Herstelde vorst, ofte Geluckigh ongeluck", Amsterdam, 1650.

paragraph: She died in Amsterdam.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Magdalena Roghman on historici.nl

description: Engraver from the Northern Netherlands

wikidata_label: Magdalena Roghman

wikipedia_title: Magdalena Roghman


text:
Jaunpur
Uttar Pradesh
Jamadi-ul Awwal
India
Samarkand
ulema
Moosa Al-Kazim
Imam Mahdi
Mecca
Mahdavia
India
Arabia
Khorasan
Jaunpur
Feroz Shah Tughlaq
Delhi
Gomti
Tughlaq dynasty
Jaunpur Sultanate
Ulema
Jaunpur Sultanate
Jamias
Ali ibn Abi Talib
Fatima Bint Muhammad
Hussain ibn Ali
Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin
Muhammad al-Baqir
Ja'far al-Sadiq
Musa al-Kadhim
Khaja Moinuddin Chishti
Farah
Afghanistan
Hajj
Mecca
Kaaba
Momin
ulema
Mahdi
Ahmedabad
Patan, Gujarat

categories: Mahdavi,Indian people of Arab descent,1443 births,1505 deaths,Indian Sufi saints

paragraph: Muhammad Jaunpuri

paragraph: Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri (; 9 September 1443 23 April 1505), son of Syed Abdullah titled Syed Khan, was born in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh on Monday the 14th Jamadi-ul Awwal 847 Hijri corresponding to 9 September 1443. His grandfather, Syed Usman, came to India from Samarkand with his family and settled down in Jaunpur on the invitation of the Sharqiya King. He was the most famous ulema, and a noted "alim-e-deen" (scholar of the religion). Syed Mohammed was a descendant of Imam Moosa Al-Kazim. There are twelve generations between Syed Mohammed and Imam Moosa Al-Kazim. Syed Mohammed claimed to be Imam Mahdi at Mecca in the 901 Hijri, and is revered as such by Mahdavia community. He extensively traveled throughout India, Arabia and Khorasan.

paragraph: Section::::Sources.

paragraph: Section::::Sources.:Jaunpur.

paragraph: The founder of Jaunpur was Sultan Feroz Shah Tughlaq, the Sultan of Delhi. It is situated on the bank of river Gomti, in then Allahabad Province. This city became very famous and developed as an academic centre during the period of the Tughlaq dynasty and Jaunpur Sultanate. They were great patrons of learned persons and scholars. It is said that there were 1100 Ulema in the city during the reign of Sultan Hussain of the Jaunpur Sultanate, who was a devoted admirer and follower of Syed Muhammed Jaunpuri. There were also a number of schools, Jamias (universities), mosques and hostels in Jaunpur at that time. Thus, it became very famous as a centre for Islamic studies in the East.

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: Section::::Life.:Genealogy.

paragraph: The genealogy of Syed Muhammad of Jaunpur is as follows:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ali ibn Abi Talib and Fatima Bint Muhammad

paragraph: BULLET::::- Hussain ibn Ali

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin

paragraph: BULLET::::- Muhammad al-Baqir

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ja'far al-Sadiq

paragraph: BULLET::::- Musa al-Kadhim

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ismail

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ni'amathullah

paragraph: BULLET::::- Jalaluddin

paragraph: BULLET::::- Yahiya

paragraph: BULLET::::- Yousuf

paragraph: BULLET::::- Abdullah

paragraph: BULLET::::- Najamuddin

paragraph: BULLET::::- Moosa

paragraph: BULLET::::- Khider

paragraph: BULLET::::- Syed Usman

paragraph: BULLET::::- Syed Abdullah

paragraph: BULLET::::- Syed Muhammed

paragraph: Section::::Childhood and early life.

paragraph: Section::::Childhood and early life.:Household.

paragraph: Syed Muhammed first wife, Bibi Alhadadi, was the daughter of his uncle, Syed Jalaluddin. He Married her in Jaunpur in 866H, when he was nineteen years old. Syed Muhammed and Bibi Alhadadi had two sons and two daughters together, Syed Mahmood Sani-e-Mahdi, Syed Ajmal, Bibi Khunza and Bibi Fatima. Syed Ajmal died early in his childhood.

paragraph: The second wife was the daughter of Raja of Kalpi, who offered her hand to Syed Muhammad. He married her and gave her the name of Bibi Bhika.

paragraph: Syed Muhammad married Bibi Malkan, the daughter of Miyan Lad-Shah Mahajir Patani who belonged to the Bayani tribe. Together they had a son and daughter, namely Syed Hameed and Bibi Hadaitullah.

paragraph: The fourth wife of Syed Muhammad was Bibi Buwan. She was the descendant of Khaja Moinuddin Chishti. She bore him one son, Syed Ibrahim.

paragraph: The fifth wife was Bibi Bhanmati, a niece of the Raja of Jaisalmer. She bore him one son, Syed Ali, who was buried in the wall of a prison in Ahmadabad, by the opponents of the Syed Muhammad.

paragraph: Section::::Travels.

paragraph: He left Jaunpur along with his family and a small group of followers. Migrating from place to place and gathering more companions the Mahdavia group reached Farah in Afghanistan .

paragraph: Section::::Pilgrimage and claim to be the Mahdi.

paragraph: By the age of 53 he embarked on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, where in 1496 (901 Hijri), after circumambulating the Kaaba, he declared that he was the Promised Mahdi and whoever believes in him is a Momin.

paragraph: He was generally ignored by the ulema of Mecca, and after staying in Mecca for nearly seven or nine months, he returned to India where he proclaimed himself Mahdi at Ahmedabad and later at Badhli (near Patan, Gujarat).

description: Indian Imam Mahdi

wikidata_label: Muhammad Jaunpuri

wikipedia_title: Muhammad Jaunpuri


text:
VC
English
Victoria Cross
British
Commonwealth
Blackheath, London
Harrow School
Pembroke College, Cambridge
The Royal Fusiliers
British Army
First World War
Cambrai
France
Greenwich Cemetery
Cambrai Memorial to the Missing
St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury
Distinguished Service Order
Military Cross
Monuments to Courage
The Register of the Victoria Cross

categories: British military personnel killed in World War I,People from Blackheath, London,Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,1917 deaths,British Army personnel of World War I,People educated at Harrow School,1891 births,British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross,Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge,British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross

paragraph: Walter Napleton Stone

paragraph: Walter Napleton Stone VC (7 December 1891 – 30 November 1917) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was born in Blackheath, London.

paragraph: Section::::Details.

paragraph: Born on 7 December 1891 to Edward and Emily Frances Stone, of Blackheath, London. Stone was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge.

paragraph: As a 25-year-old, he was an Acting Captain in the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers, British Army, attached 17th (Service) Battalion during the First World War. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on 30 November 1917 in the Cambrai Sector, France, which led to his death.

paragraph: Section::::Further information.

paragraph: There is a memorial to Walter Napleton Stone in Greenwich Cemetery, south-east London. About thirty yards in front of the War Memorial is a group of graves of the Stone family. On the largest are the names of Walter's parents, and underneath the inscription:

paragraph: His actual grave has never been located and he is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing.

paragraph: "W.N. Stone VC DSO MC" is listed on the parish war memorial in the Trinity Chapel of St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury. There has been no evidence found he lived in Shrewsbury, nor did he receive the Distinguished Service Order or Military Cross.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)

description: Recipient of the Victoria Cross

wikidata_label: Walter Napleton Stone

wikipedia_title: Walter Napleton Stone


text:
American
speed skater
Madison, Wisconsin
Olympic Games
Sarah Docter

categories: American female speed skaters,Speed skaters at the 1984 Winter Olympics,Living people,Speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics,1961 births,Speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics,Speed skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics,Olympic speed skaters of the United States,Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin

paragraph: Mary Docter

paragraph: Mary Angela Docter (born February 11, 1961) is an American speed skater from Madison, Wisconsin. She competed in four Olympic Games (in 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992), mainly in the 3,000 meter event. Her third-place finish in the all-around at the 1981 World Championship was the last medal won by the United States in that event as of 2003.

paragraph: After the 1988 Olympic Games, she admitted that she got stoned three nights during the week prior to competition. She finished 19th in the 3,000 meters and 11th in the 5,000 meters event.

paragraph: According to the "New York Times", after Docter qualified for the 1992 team in three speed-skating events — 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 meters — she told the media about her drug addiction over the past 10 years, revealing its destructive nature and how she finally confronted the problem by seeking help.

paragraph: Docter is the sister of fellow Olympic athlete Sarah Docter.

description: American speed skater

wikidata_label: Mary Docter

wikipedia_title: Mary Docter


text:
Iranian
Abbasid
caliphate
al-Ma'mun
Fourth Fitna
al-Amin
caliph
Khorasan
Tahirid dynasty
Pushang
Herat
Khorasan
dehqan
Abbasid Revolution
Abbasids
Ruzaiq
mawla
Talha ibn Abd-Allah al-Khuza'i
Khuza'a tribe
Sistan
Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan
Harthama ibn A'yan
Rafi ibn al-Layth
Samarkand
caliph
Harun al-Rashid
al-Amin
al-Amin
Al-Ma'mun
Great Abbasid Civil War
Rayy
ensuing battle
Abd al-Rahman ibn Jabala
Hamadan
Hulwan
Banu Shayban
Jazira
Banu Qays
Abd al-Malik ibn Salih
Kalbis
Fadl ibn al-Rabi
vizier
Fadl ibn Sahl
Harthama ibn A'yan
Khuzistan
Muhallabid
Muhammad ibn Yazid
Basra
Kufa
al-Mada'in
Mosul
Egypt
Hejaz
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Hugh N. Kennedy
siege of the city
guerrilla
pontoon bridge
Tigris
Raqqa
Khorasan
Muhammad ibn Husayn Qusi
Sistan
Persian

categories: 822 deaths,9th-century rulers in Asia,Dehqans,Persian people,Amirs of Nishapur,Year of birth unknown,Iranian generals,8th-century Iranian people,Generals of the Abbasid Caliphate,Tahirid governors of Khurasan,Fourth Fitna,9th-century Iranian people

paragraph: Tahir ibn Husayn

paragraph: Ṭāhir ibn Ḥusayn (, "Tâhereben Hoseyn"; , "Tahir bin al-Husayn"), also known as Dhul-Yamīnayn (, "the ambidextrous"), and al-Aʿwar (, "the one-eyed"), was an Iranian general and governor during the Abbasid caliphate. Specifically, he served under al-Ma'mun during the Fourth Fitna and led the armies that would defeat al-Amin, making al-Ma'mun the "caliph". He was then rewarded as governor of Khorasan, which marked the beginning of the Tahirid dynasty.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Tahir was born in Pushang which was a village near the ancient city of Herat in Khorasan. He was from a "dehqan" noble family who had distinguished themselves since the Abbasid Revolution, and were previously awarded minor governorships in eastern Khorasan for their service to the Abbasids. His grandfather Ruzaiq was a "mawla" of Talha ibn Abd-Allah al-Khuza'i, an Arab nobleman from the Khuza'a tribe, who served as the governor of Sistan. Ruzaiq's son Mus'ab was the governor of Pushang and Herat. Mus'ab's son, Husayn, who was the father of Tahir, continued to his father's role as the governor of Pushang and Herat.

paragraph: Under the governor of Khorasan, Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan, there were riots in the province because of the latter's cruelty and persecution of other noble families, which included the family of Tahir; Tahir was imprisoned for some time and was mistreated. When he was released he fought on the side of Harthama ibn A'yan against Rafi ibn al-Layth in 808 when the latter rebelled at Samarkand, but when the Abbasid "caliph" Harun al-Rashid deposed Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan, and sent general Harthama ibn A'yan against Rafi, he returned to obedience. During the event, Tahir lost an eye after an accident, which gained him the nickname "al-A'war" ("the one-eyed"). Tahir seems to have been quickly offended if someone picked him about his eye, even threatening a poet, who had humiliated him about his lost eye in a poem. The caliph Harun al-Rashid later died in 809, and was succeeded by his son al-Amin.

paragraph: Section::::Abbasid Civil War.

paragraph: In 810, the caliph al-Amin, and his brother, Al-Ma'mun, came in conflict which each others, which later led to a civil war; in January 811, al-Amin formally began the Great Abbasid Civil War when he appointed Ali ibn Isa as governor of Khurasan, placed him at the head of an unusually large army of 40,000, drawn from an elite group known as "abna′", and sent him to depose al-Ma'mun. When Ali ibn Isa set out for Khurasan, he reportedly took along a set of silver chains with which to bind al-Ma'mun and carry him back to Baghdad. The news of Ali's approach threw Khurasan into panic, and even al-Ma'mun considered fleeing. The only military force available to him was a small army of some 4,000–5,000 men, under Tahir. Tahir was sent to confront Ali's advance, but it was widely regarded as almost a suicide mission, even by Tahir's own father. The two armies met at Rayy, on the western borders of Khurasan, and the ensuing battle (3 July 811) resulted in a crushing victory for the Khurasanis, in which Ali was killed and his army disintegrated on its flight west.

paragraph: Tahir's unexpected victory was decisive: al-Ma'mun's position was secured, while his main opponents, the "abna′", lost men, prestige and their most dynamic leader. Tahir now advanced westwards, defeated another "abna′" army of 20,000 under Abd al-Rahman ibn Jabala after a series of hard-fought engagements near Hamadan, and reached Hulwan by winter. Al-Amin now desperately tried to bolster his forces by alliances with Arab tribes, notably the Banu Shayban of Jazira and the Banu Qays of Syria. The veteran Abd al-Malik ibn Salih was sent to Syria to mobilize its troops along with Ali ibn Isa's son, Husayn. However, al-Amin's efforts failed due to the long-standing intertribal divisions between Qaysis and Kalbis, the Syrians' reluctance to get involved in the civil war, as well as the unwillingness of the "abna′" to cooperate with the Arab tribes and to make political concessions to them. These failed efforts to secure Arab support backfired on al-Amin, as the "abna′" began to doubt whether their interests were best served by him. In March 812, Husayn ibn Ali led a short-lived coup against al-Amin in Baghdad, proclaiming al-Ma'mun as the rightful Caliph, until a counter-coup, led by other factions within the "abna′", restored al-Amin to the throne. Fadl ibn al-Rabi, however, one of the main instigators of the war, concluded that al-Amin's case was lost and resigned from his court offices. At about the same time, al-Ma'mun was officially proclaimed caliph, while his vizier Fadl ibn Sahl acquired the unique title of "Dhu 'l-Ri'asatayn" ("he of the two headships"), signifying his control over both civil and military administration.

paragraph: In spring 812, Tahir, reinforced with more troops under Harthama ibn A'yan, resumed his offensive. He invaded Khuzistan, where he defeated and killed the Muhallabid governor Muhammad ibn Yazid, whereupon the Muhallabids of Basra surrendered to him. Tahir also took Kufa and al-Mada'in, advancing on Baghdad from the west while Harthama closed in from the east. At the same time, al-Amin's authority crumbled as supporters of al-Ma'mun took control of Mosul, Egypt and the Hejaz, while most of Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan fell under the control of the local Arab tribal leaders. As Tahir's army closed on Baghdad, the rift between al-Amin and the "abna′" was solidified when the desperate Caliph turned to the common people of the city for help and gave them arms. The "abna′" began deserting to Tahir in droves, and in August 812, when Tahir's army appeared before the city, he established his quarters in the suburb of Harbiyya, traditionally an "abna′" stronghold.

paragraph: The Islamic scholar Hugh N. Kennedy characterized the subsequent siege of the city as "an episode almost without parallel in the history of early Islamic society" and "the nearest early Islamic history saw to an attempt at social revolution", as Baghdad's urban proletariat defended their city for over a year in a vicious urban guerrilla war. Indeed, it was this "revolutionary" situation in the city as much as famine and the besiegers' professional expertise, that brought about its fall: in September 813, Tahir convinced some of the richer citizens to cut the pontoon bridges over the Tigris that connected the city to the outside world, allowing al-Ma'mun's men to occupy the city's eastern suburbs. Tahir then launched a final assault, in which al-Amin was captured and executed at Tahir's orders while trying to seek refuge with his old family friend Harthama.

paragraph: Section::::Governor of Khorasan and death.

paragraph: Tahir was afterwards transferred out of the public eye to an unimportant post in Raqqa. However, he was later recalled from the post, and was rewarded with the governorship of Khorasan. Tahir then began consolidating his authority over the region, appointing several officials to certain offices, including Muhammad ibn Husayn Qusi, who was appointed as the governor of Sistan. Tahir later declared independence from the Abbasid empire in 822 by omitting any mention of al-Ma'mun during a Friday sermon. However, he died the same night. According to some sources, he was poisoned by the orders of al-Ma'mun. Nevertheless, al-Ma'mun appointed Tahir's son to continue at his father's post. Tahir is said to have said his last words in Persian, his native language.

description: Abbasid caliphate general

wikidata_label: Tahir ibn Husayn

wikipedia_title: Tahir ibn Husayn


text: chemist

text: uranium

text: zirconium

text: cerium

text: titanium

text: tellurium

text: Wernigerode

text: apothecary

text: Quedlinburg

text: Hanover

text: Danzig

text: Valentin Rose the Elder

text: chemistry

text: Prussia

text: university

text: analytical chemistry

text: mineralogy

text: Lavoisier

text: titanium

text: rutile

text: William Gregor

text: titanium

text: ilmenite

text: uranium

text: pitchblende

text: zirconium

text: elements

text: tellurium

text: strontium

text: cerium

text: chromium

text: Chemisches Wörterbuch

text: F. A. C. Gren

text: Handbuch der Chemie

text: Fellow of the Royal Society

text: Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

text: Klaproth

text: Moon

text: Julius

text: orientalist

text: Digital edition

text: University and State Library Düsseldorf

text: Digital edition

text: University and State Library Düsseldorf

text: Digital edition

text: University and State Library Düsseldorf

text: German inventors and discoverers

text: Publication list of Klaproth

categories: 18th-century German scientists,People from Wernigerode,German chemists,1743 births,18th-century chemists,19th-century chemists,Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences,Fellows of the Royal Society,Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,Discoverers of chemical elements,Honorary Members of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences,Humboldt University of Berlin faculty,1817 deaths

paragraph: Martin Heinrich Klaproth

paragraph: Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1 December 1743 – 1 January 1817) was a German chemist who discovered uranium (1789), zirconium (1789), and cerium (1803), and named titanium (1795) and tellurium (1798).

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Klaproth was born in Wernigerode. During a large portion of his life he followed the profession of an apothecary. After acting as assistant in pharmacies at Quedlinburg, Hanover, Berlin and Danzig successively he came to Berlin on the death of Valentin Rose the Elder in 1771 as manager of his business, and in 1780 he started an establishment on his own account in the same city, where from 1782 he was pharmaceutical assessor of the Ober-Collegium Medicum. In 1787 he was appointed lecturer in chemistry to the Prussian Royal Artillery, and when the university was founded in 1810 he was selected to be the professor of chemistry. He died in Berlin on New Year's Day in 1817. Klaproth was the leading chemist of his time in Germany.

paragraph: An exact and conscientious worker, he did much to improve and systematise the processes of analytical chemistry and mineralogy, and his appreciation of the value of quantitative methods led him to become one of the earliest adherents of the Lavoisierian doctrines outside France. Klaproth found the element titanium in the ore rutile in 1791, believing it to be a new discovery, however, William Gregor is credited with the discovery of titanium, having found the metal in a different ore, (ilmenite), before Klaproth, although in the same year. He was the first to discover uranium while studying the mineral pitchblende. In addition, he discovered zirconium, and characterised uranium and zirconium as distinct elements, though he did not obtain any of them in the pure metallic state; and he clarified the composition of numerous substances until then imperfectly known, including compounds of then newly recognised elements tellurium, strontium, cerium and chromium.

paragraph: His over 200 papers were collected by himself in "Beiträge zur chemischen Kenntnis der Mineralkörper" (5 vols., 1795–1810) and "Chemische Abhandlungen gemischten Inhalts" (1815). He also published a "Chemisches Wörterbuch" (1807–1810), and edited a revised edition of F. A. C. Gren's "Handbuch der Chemie" (1806).

paragraph: Klaproth was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1795 and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1804.

paragraph: The crater Klaproth on the Moon is named after him.

paragraph: His son Julius was a famous orientalist.

paragraph: Section::::Works.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Beiträge Zur Chemischen Kenntniss Der Mineralkörper" . Vol. 1–5 . Rottmann, Berlin 1795–1810 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Chemisches Wörterbuch" . Vol. 1–9 . Voss, Berlin 1807–1819 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Chemische Abhandlungen gemischten Inhalts" . Nicolai, Berlin [u. a.] 1815 Digital edition by the University and State Library Düsseldorf

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- German inventors and discoverers

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Publication list of Klaproth

alias:
M. H. Klaproth
Klaproth M H
Heinrich Klaproth

description: German chemist

wikidata_label: Martin Heinrich Klaproth

wikipedia_title: Martin Heinrich Klaproth


text:
regnal title
Caliph
Abbasid Caliphate
Anarchy at Samarra
Greek
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari
al-Mutawakkil
Shīʻa
Hassan
Hussayn
William Muir

categories: 862 deaths,9th-century Abbasid caliphs,837 births

paragraph: Al-Muntasir

paragraph: Abu Ja'far Muhammad (; November 837 – 7 June 862), better known by his regnal title al-Muntasir bi-llah (, "He who triumphs in God") was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 861 to 862, during the "Anarchy at Samarra".

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: Al-Muntasir's mother was Hubshiya, a Greek slave.

paragraph: Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari records that in A.H. 236 (850 –851) al-Muntasir led a pilgrimage. The previous year al-Mutawakkil had named his three sons as heirs and seemed to favour al-Muntasir. However, afterwards this seemed to change and al-Muntasir feared his father was going to move against him. So, he decided to strike first. Al-Mutawakkil was killed by a Turkish soldier on Wednesday 10 December 861.

paragraph: On that same day as the assassination, Al-Muntasir succeeded smoothly to the throne of the Caliphate with the support of the Turkish faction. The Turkish party then prevailed on al-Muntasir to remove his brothers from the succession, fearing they would seek to revenge his involvement in the murder of their father. In their place, he was to appoint his son as heir-apparent. On 27 April 862 both brothers, although al-Mu'tazz did so after some hesitation, wrote statements of abdication.

paragraph: Al-Muntasir was lauded because, unlike his father, he loved the house of ʻAlī (Shīʻa) and removed the ban on pilgrimage to the tombs of Hassan and Hussayn. He sent Wasif to raid the Byzantines.

paragraph: Section::::Death.

paragraph: Al-Muntasir's reign lasted less than half a year; it ended with his death of unknown causes on Sunday 7 June 862 at the age of 24 years (solar). There are various accounts of the illness that led to his death, including that he was bled with a poisoned lancet. Al-Tabari (p. 222-3) states that al-Muntasir is the first Abbasid whose tomb is known, that it was made public by his mother, a Greek slave-girl and that earlier caliphs desired their tombs to be kept secret for fear of desecration. Joel L. Kraemer in his translation of al-Tabari notes on page 223:

paragraph: "'Ayni comments, citing al-Sibt (b. al-Jawzi), that Tabari's statement here is surprising since the tombs of the Abbasid caliphs are in fact known, e.g., the tomb of al-Saffah is in Anbar beneath the minbar; band those of al-Mahdi in Masabadhan, Harun in Tus, al-Ma'mun in Tarsis, and al-Mu'tasim, al-Wathiq and al-Mu'tawakkil in Samarra."

paragraph: Section::::Bibliography.

paragraph: BULLET::::- William Muir, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall."

description: Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 861 to 862

wikidata_label: Al-Muntasir

wikipedia_title: Al-Muntasir


text:
Abbasid
Caliph
Anarchy at Samarra
al-Muntasir
al-Mu'tazz
al-Mu'tasim
regnal name
Baghdad
vizier
Crete
Armenia
were killed
Battle of Lalakaon
Yahya ibn Umar
revolt
Hims
Bugha al-Sharabi
Wasif al-Turki
Samarra
al-Mu'tazz
Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq
besieged Baghdad
William Muir
public domain

paragraph: Al-Musta'in

paragraph: Al-Mustaʿin (836 – 17 October 866) was the Abbasid Caliph from 862 to 866, during the "Anarchy at Samarra". After the death of previous Caliph, al-Muntasir (who had not appointed any successors), the Turkish military leaders held a council to select his successor. They were not willing to have al-Mu'tazz or his brothers; so they elected "Ahmad ibn Muhammad" , a grandson of al-Mu'tasim, who took the regnal name "al-Mustaʿin bi-llah" ( "he who looks for help to God").

paragraph: Arab and other troops based in Baghdad, displeased at the choice, attacked the assembly, broke open the prison, and plundered the armory. They were attacked by the Turkish and Berber soldiers, and after some fighting in which many died, succumbed. Baghdad had yet to learn that the Caliphate no longer depended on the opinions of the Arabians, but had passed into other hands.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.

paragraph: The governor of Baghdad persuaded the city to submit, and the succession was thereafter acknowledged throughout the land. Al-Mu'tazz and his brother, threatened by the Turkish and Berber troops, resigned their titles to succeed, and were then, by way of protection, kept in confinement. After a second attempt to overturn the decision made by the Turks, Al-Mu'tazz and his brother would have been put to death, but the vizier interposed and saved their lives, for which act of mercy, his property was seized by the Turkish soldiers, and himself banished to Crete. The Empire, in fact, both at home and abroad, had passed into the hands of Turks.

paragraph: In 863, the Muslim campaign against the Christians was going badly. Two whole corps in Armenia and Asia Minor, some 8,000 strong, with their leaders, were killed during the Battle of Lalakaon. The tidings created anger and riots in Baghdad. The ancient cry for a Holy War rang through the streets. People blamed the Turks that had brought disaster on the faith, murdered their Caliphs, and set up others at their pleasure.

paragraph: With such cries the city rose in uproar; the prisons were broken into and bridges burned. But Baghdad could no longer dictate to its rulers; it could only riot. The fighting spirit was, however, strong enough to draw men from the surrounding provinces, who flocked as free lances to fight against the infidel. But the Turks cared for none of these things, nor did the Caliph.

paragraph: In 864, his forces put down a rebellion by the Alid Yahya ibn Umar and a revolt in Hims.

paragraph: In 865, the end for al-Musta'in himself was now at hand. After some disagreements between the Turkish leaders that placed al-Musta'in in much danger, he, along with two other Turkish leaders, Bugha al-Sharabi (known as Bugha al-Saghir) and Wasif al-Turki, left Samarra on a boat to East Baghdad. The Turks sent after him a party of their captains, requesting him to return to Samarra. But the Caliph refused, and hard words followed between the two sides, in the heat of which one of the Turkish speakers received a blow.

paragraph: The insult rankled the Turkish officers, and on returning to Samarra, the Turkish troops rose together, and bringing forth al-Mu'tazz from his confinement, saluted him as Caliph. Within a few weeks, his brother Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq, with 50,000 Turks and 2,000 Berbers, besieged Baghdad, a siege that would last throughout the year 865.

paragraph: Section::::Death.

paragraph: By the beginning of 866, with plots and treachery all around, al-Musta'in was persuaded by alternating threats and promises to abdicate in favor of al-Mu'tazz. He was to live at Medina with a sufficient income. The conditions signed, the Governor of Baghdad received the ministers and courtiers of al-Musta'in, and having assured them he had done what he had for the best and to stop further bloodshed, sent them to Samarra to pay homage to the new Caliph. al-Mu'tazz ratified the terms and took possession of Baghdad in the early days of 252 AH (866 CE). He also sent to al-Musta'in his mother and family from Samarra, but not until they had been stripped of everything they possessed.

paragraph: Instead of finding a refuge at Medina, al-Musta'in found himself kept in Baghdad. There he was put to death on 17 October 866 by the order of al-Mu'tazz. Carrying al-Musta'in's head to the Caliph, "Here," cried the executioner, "behold thy cousin's head!" "Lay it aside," answered al-Mu'tazz who was playing chess,—"till I have finished the game." And then, having satisfied himself that it was really al-Musta'in's head, he commanded 500 pieces to be given to the assassin as his reward.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "This text is adapted from William Muir's public domain, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall."

description: Abbasid Caliph

wikidata_label: Al-Musta'in

wikipedia_title: Al-Musta'in


text:
regnal name
Caliph
Abbasid Caliphate
Anarchy at Samarra
Greek
al-Wathiq
al-Mutawakkil
al-Mu'tazz
Turkish
Umayyad
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz
mazalim
Anarchy at Samarra
Alid
Salih ibn Wasif
vizier
Ahmad ibn Isra'il
Musa ibn Bugha
Hamadhan
Samarra
Sulayman ibn Wahb
Kharijites
Muhammad
al-Mu'tamid

categories: 9th-century Abbasid caliphs,9th-century births,870 deaths,9th-century murdered monarchs

paragraph: Al-Muhtadi

paragraph: Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn al-Wāṯiq (died 21 June 870), better known by his regnal name al-Muhtadī bi-'llāh (, "Guided by God"), was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from July 869 to June 870, during the "Anarchy at Samarra".

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Al-Muhtadi's mother was Qurb, a Greek slave. After the death of his father, Caliph al-Wathiq () in August 847, there were some officials who wanted to elect the young al-Muhtadi as caliph, but in the end, their choice fell on his uncle, al-Mutawakkil ().

paragraph: Section::::Caliphate.

paragraph: After the deposition and murder of his cousin al-Mu'tazz () on 15 July 869, the leaders of the Turkish guard chose al-Muhtadi as the new Caliph on 21/22 July. As a ruler, al-Muhtadi sought to emulate the Umayyad caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, widely considered a model Islamic ruler. He therefore lived an austere and pious life—notably removing all musical instruments from the court—and made a point of presiding in person over the courts of grievances ("mazalim"), thus gaining the support of the common people. Combining "strength and ability", he was determined to restore the Caliph's authority and power, that had been eroded during the ongoing "Anarchy at Samarra" by the squabbles of the Turkish generals.

paragraph: Al-Muhtadi faced Alid risings in the provinces, but the main threat to his power were the Turkish commanders. The dominant figure of the first months of his rule was Salih ibn Wasif, but he too failed to provide enough revenue to pay the troops. Although he executed the previous vizier, Ahmad ibn Isra'il, and his extortion of the secretaries ("kuttab"), his power continued to wane. His main rival, Musa ibn Bugha, used the opportunity to return from his semi-exile in Hamadhan, arriving in Samarra in December 869. There he constrained al-Muhtadi to take an oath to punish Salih for having robbed the treasures of Kabiha, the mother of al-Mu'tazz. Salih went into hiding, whereupon the Turks mutinied and almost deposed al-Muhtadi. They relented only when he promised them to pardon Salih, but when Salih did not appear, his soldiers began to pillage Samarra, until Musa and his troops scattered them. Soon after, Salih was discovered and executed by Musa's men. Musa thus established himself as the leading official of the government, with Sulayman ibn Wahb as his chief secretary.

paragraph: Section::::Downfall and death.

paragraph: When Musa left to campaign against the Kharijites, al-Muhtadi took the opportunity to incite the people against him and his brother, Muhammad. Muhammad was brought to trial on accusations of embezzlement and was condemned. Although al-Muhtadi had promised a pardon, Muhammad was executed. This cemented the rift with Musa: the latter marched on the capital with his army, and defeated the troops loyal to the Caliph. He refused to abdicate, but tried to preserve his life and office by recourse on the religious status of the caliph, and the support of the people. He was nevertheless murdered on 21 June 870, and replaced by his cousin, al-Mu'tamid ().

description: Abbasid caliph

wikidata_label: Al-Muhtadi

wikipedia_title: Al-Muhtadi


text:
regnal title
Abbasid
caliph
Anarchy at Samarra
al-Mutawakkil
al-Muntasir
al-Musta'in
civil war
Samarra
vizier
Ahmad ibn Isra'il
Wasif al-Turki
Bugha al-Saghir
Tahirids
Baghdad
Salih ibn Wasif
Tulunids
Saffarids
Alid
Hejaz
Tabaristan
Zanj Rebellion
lower Iraq
al-Mutawakkil
al-Muntasir
Egypt
Jazira
Samarra
Tahirid
al-Mu'ayyad
Syria
al-Fath ibn Khaqan
vizier
Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan
Maghariba
Friday prayer
Ramadan
bay'ah
abna' al-dawla
Anarchy at Samarra
Wasif al-Turki
Bugha al-Saghir
al-Musta'in
Shakiriyya
Ushrusaniyya
gold dinar
al-Tabari
dirham
Baghdad
Tahirid
Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Tahir
al-Muwaffaq
lay siege
al-Mu'tamid
Ahmad ibn Isra'il
Basra
Musa ibn Bugha al-Kabir
Hamadan
donative
Ubaydallah
Sulayman
Salih ibn Wasif
Ba'ikbak
al-Muhtadi
Ahmad ibn Tulun
Tulunid dynasty
Pharaoh
Ikhshidids
Fatimid Caliphate
Alid
Zaydi
Tabaristan
Hasan ibn Zayd
Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar
Kharijite
Basra
Zanj Rebellion

categories: 847 births,869 deaths,9th-century Abbasid caliphs

paragraph: Al-Mu'tazz

paragraph: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar (; 847 – 16 July 869), better known by his regnal title al-Muʿtazz bi-ʾllāh (, "He who is strengthened by God") was the Abbasid caliph from 866 to 869, during a period of extreme internal instability within the Abbasid Caliphate, known as the "Anarchy at Samarra".

paragraph: Originally named as the second in line of three heirs of his father al-Mutawakkil, al-Mu'tazz was forced to renounce his rights after the accession of his brother al-Muntasir, and was thrown in prison as a dangerous rival during the reign of his cousin al-Musta'in. He was released and raised to the caliphate in January 866, during the civil war between al-Musta'in and the Turkish military of Samarra. Al-Mu'tazz was capable and determined to reassert the authority of the caliph over the Turkish military, but had only limited success. Aided by the vizier Ahmad ibn Isra'il, he managed to remove and kill the leading Turkish generals, Wasif al-Turki and Bugha al-Saghir, but the decline of the Tahirids in Baghdad deprived him of their role as a counterweight to the Turks. Faced with the assertive Turkish commander Salih ibn Wasif, and unable to find money to satisfy the demands of his troops, he was deposed and died of ill treatment a few days later, on 16 July 869.

paragraph: His reign marks the apogee of the decline of the Caliphate's central authority, and the climax of centrifugal tendencies, expressed through the emergence of the autonomous dynasties of the Tulunids in Egypt and the Saffarids in the East, Alid uprisings in Hejaz and Tabaristan, and the first stirrings of the great Zanj Rebellion in lower Iraq.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: The future al-Mu'tazz was born to the Caliph al-Mutawakkil () from his favourite slave concubine, Qabiha. In 849, al-Mutawakkil arranged for his succession, by appointing three of his sons as heirs and assigning them the governance and proceeds of the empire's provinces: the eldest, al-Muntasir, was named first heir, and received Egypt, the Jazira, and the proceeds of the rents in the capital, Samarra; al-Mu'tazz was charged with supervising the domains of the Tahirid client dynasty in the East; and al-Mu'ayyad was placed in charge of Syria. However, over time the favour of al-Mutawakkil shifted towards al-Mu'tazz. Encouraged by his favourite advisor, al-Fath ibn Khaqan, and the vizier Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan, the Caliph began contemplating naming al-Mu'tazz as his first heir, and excluding al-Muntasir from the succession. The rivalry between the two princes reflected tensions in the political sphere, as al-Mu'tazz's succession appears to have been backed by the traditional Abbasid elites as well, while al-Muntasir was backed by the Turkish and "Maghariba" guard troops.

paragraph: In October 861, the Turkish commanders began a plot to assassinate the Caliph. They were soon joined, or at least tacitly supported, by al-Muntasir, whose relations with his father deteriorated rapidly. On 5 December, al-Muntasir was bypassed in favour of al-Mu'tazz for leading the ritual Friday prayer at the end of Ramadan, at the end of which his father's advisor al-Fath and the vizier Ubayd Allah demonstratively kissed his hands and feet, before accompanying him on the return to the palace; and on 9 December al-Mutawakkil, among other humiliations inflicted on him, threatened to kill his eldest son. As a result, on the night of 10/11 December, the Turks killed al-Mutawakkil and al-Fath, and al-Muntasir became caliph. Almost immediately, al-Muntasir sent for his brothers to come and give the oath of allegiance ("bay'ah") to him. Thus, when the vizier Ubayd Allah, upon being informed of al-Mutawakkil's death, went to the house of al-Mu'tazz, he did not find him there; and when his supporters, including the "abna' al-dawla" and others and numbering several thousands, gathered in the morning and urged him to storm the palace, he refused, with the words "our man is in their hands". The murder of al-Mutawakkil began the tumultuous period known as "Anarchy at Samarra", which lasted until 870 and brought the Abbasid Caliphate to the brink of collapse.

paragraph: Pressured by the Turkish commanders Wasif al-Turki and Bugha al-Saghir, both al-Mu'tazz and al-Mu'ayyad renounced their places in the succession on 27 April 862. However, al-Muntasir died in June 862, without having named any new heir. The Turks now strengthened their hold over the government, and selected a cousin of al-Muntasir, al-Musta'in (), as the new caliph. The new caliph was almost immediately faced with a large riot in Samarra in support of al-Mu'tazz; the rioters, who included not only the "market rabble", but also mercenaries from the "Shakiriyya" troops. The riot was down by the "Maghariba" and "Ushrusaniyya" regiments, but casualties on both sides were heavy. Al-Musta'in, worried that al-Mu'tazz or al-Mua'yyad could press their claims to the caliphate, first attempted to buy them off by offering them an annual subsidy of 80,000 gold dinars. Shortly after, however, their properties were confiscated—according to al-Tabari, that of al-Mu'tazz was valued at ten million "dirhams"—and imprisoned under the auspices of Bugha al-Saghir in one of the rooms of the Jawsaq Palace.

paragraph: Section::::Caliphate.

paragraph: Rivalries between the Turkish leaders led to a split in 865, when al-Musta'in, Wasif and Bugha left Samarra for Baghdad, where they arrived on 5/6 February 865. There they were joined by many of their followers, and allied with the city's Tahirid governor, Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Tahir, who began fortifying the city. The bulk of the Turks, however, remained in Samarra. Their position threatened by this coalition, they released al-Mu'tazz and proclaimed him caliph. On 24 February, al-Mu'tazz placed his brother Abu Ahmad (the future al-Muwaffaq) in charge of the army, and sent him to lay siege to Baghdad. Abu Ahmad played a leading role in the siege, which created a close and lasting relationship with the Turkish military, that would later allow him to emerge as the virtual regent of the caliphate alongside his brother al-Mu'tamid ().

paragraph: The siege dragged on until December 865, when a combination of privations, lack of money to pay its supporters, and the price hikes caused by the siege eroded support for al-Musta'in's regime. As a result, Muhammad ibn Tahir opened negotiations with the besiegers, and a settlement was reached, which amounted to a mutual compromise over the sharing of the empire's proceeds: the Turks and other troops of Samarra received two thirds of annual state revenue, while the remainder would go to Ibn Tahir and his Baghdad forces. As part of the agreement, al-Musta'in would abdicate, in exchange for an annual pension of 30,000 dinars. Thus on 25 January 866, after the surrender of Baghdad, al-Mu'tazz became officially the sole, legitimate caliph.

paragraph: Although he was placed upon the throne by the Turks, al-Musta'in proved a capable ruler, and determined to restore the authority and independence of his office. He appointed as his vizier Ahmad ibn Isra'il, who had formerly served as his secretary during al-Mutawakkil's reign. Al-Mu'tazz moved quickly to sideline any potential rivals. Thus, despite his pledge of safety to al-Musta'in, in October/November 866 al-Mu'tazz had his predecessor assassinated at al-Katul in Samarra. In the same way he had his younger brother al-Mu'ayyad executed, even after forcing him to again renounce his rights to succession. Finally, Abu Ahmad, although initially welcomed with much honour by the Caliph for his role in winning the civil war, was also imprisoned along with al-Mu'ayyad. However, his support among the military saved his life. He was eventually released and sent to Basra, before being allowed to settle in Baghdad. The Caliph then targeted the powerful Turkish commanders Wasif al-Turki and Bugha al-Saghir. The first move against them in late 866 failed due to the opposition of the army, and the two men were restored to their posts. In the next year, however, Wasif was killed by Turkish troops that had mutinied demanding the payment of their arrears, while Bugha was imprisoned and executed on the Caliph's orders in 868. Another powerful Turkish commander, Musa ibn Bugha al-Kabir, was effectively exiled to Hamadan at the same time.

paragraph: Despite these successes, the Caliph could not overcome the main problem of the period: a shortage of revenue with which to pay the troops. The financial straits of the Caliphate had become evident already at his accession—the customary accession donative of ten months' pay for the troops had to be reduced to two for lack of funds—and had helped bring down the regime of al-Musta'in in Baghdad. The civil war and the ensuing general anarchy only worsened the situation, as revenue stopped coming in even from the environs of Baghdad, let alone more remote provinces. As a result, al-Mu'tazz refused to honour his agreement with Ibn Tahir in Baghdad, leaving him to provide for his own supporters; this led to unrest in the city and the rapid decline of Tahirid authority. The turmoil in Baghdad was worsened by al-Mu'tazz, who in 869 dismissed Ibn Tahir's brother and successor Ubaydallah, and replaced him with his far less capable brother Sulayman. In the event, this only served to deprive the Caliph of a useful counterweight against the Samarra soldiery, and allowed the Turks to regain their former power.

paragraph: As a result, by 869 the Turkish leaders Salih ibn Wasif (the son of Wasif al-Turki) and Ba'ikbak were again in the ascendant, and secured the removal of Ahmad ibn Isra'il. Finally, unable to meet the financial demands of the Turkish troops, in mid-July a palace coup deposed al-Mu'tazz. He was imprisoned and maltreated to such an extent that he died after three days, on 16 July 869. He was succeeded by his cousin al-Muhtadi.

paragraph: Section::::Legacy.

paragraph: Despite his efforts to strengthen his position and restore control over the military, al-Mutazz's reign is marked by instability and insecurity, and by his ultimate failure to subdue the military. This weakness in the centre fed the centrifugal tendencies already evident in the Caliphate's provinces. In Egypt, the talented Turkish commander Ahmad ibn Tulun was appointed governor in 868, and proceeded to establish the autonomous Tulunid dynasty. Although it fell to the Abbasids in 905, the Tulunid regime had established Egypt as a distinct political entity for the first time since the Pharaohs. Restored Abbasid rule proved volatile; another local dynasty, the Ikhshidids, took power in 935, followed by the country's conquest by the Abbasids' rivals, the Fatimid Caliphate, in 969. In the east, Alid uprisings weakened Tahirid rule, and led to the establishment of a Zaydi state in Tabaristan, under Hasan ibn Zayd. At the same time, Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar began his assault on the waning Tahirids, which would lead him to control over the eastern provinces of the Caliphate, and even an unsuccessful attempt to seize the caliphal throne itself in 876. Closer to home, Kharijite revolts shook the Jazira to the north, and in the south, around Basra, the first stirrings of the great Zanj Rebellion began.

description: Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad from 866 to 869

wikidata_label: Al-Mu'tazz

wikipedia_title: Al-Mu'tazz


text:
regnal title
Caliph
Abbasid Caliphate
AH
Abbasid caliph
al-Mu'tadid
al-Muqtadir
Mu'nis al-Muzaffar
Baghdad
ar-Radi
Dominique Sourdel
Shaghab
vizier
Ibn Muqla
Muhammad ibn Yaqut
Ibn Yalbaq
Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah
Shi'a
Ahmad al-Khasibi
al-Mas'udi
Meadows of Gold
al-Mustakfi

categories: Anti-Shi'ism,10th-century Abbasid caliphs,Prisoners and detainees of the Abbasid Caliphate,950 deaths,899 births

paragraph: Al-Qahir

paragraph: Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mu'tadid (), usually known simply by his regnal title al-Qahir bi'llah (), was the 19th Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 932 to 934. He was born 286 AH (899 C.E.) and died 339 AH (950 C.E.).

paragraph: Section::::Rise to the throne.

paragraph: He was a son of the 16th Abbasid caliph, al-Mu'tadid (), and brother of the 18th Caliph, al-Muqtadir ().

paragraph: Al-Qahir came to the throne as part of his brother's conflict with the increasingly powerful commander-in-chief, Mu'nis al-Muzaffar. He was first chosen as Caliph in March 929, when Mu'nis launched a coup and deposed al-Muqtadir. Although al-Muqtadir was restored after a few days, Mu'nis now possessed virtually dictatorial authority over the Abbasid government.

paragraph: In 932, after another breach with al-Muqtadir, Mu'nis marched on Baghdad. Al-Muqtadir tried to confront him, and was killed in the ensuing battle. However, in the subsequent assembly of dignitaries, Mu'nis' candidacy of al-Muqtadir's son Ahmad (the future ar-Radi) was rejected in favour of al-Qahir (31 October 932). He was then 35 years old.

paragraph: Section::::Caliphate.

paragraph: The new caliph had a pronounced "headstrong and vindictive personality", according to Dominique Sourdel, which made itself felt soon after his accession, when he tortured his brother's sons and officials, as well as al-Muqtadir's mother Shaghab, to extract their fortune. He was more energetic than his predecessor and cultivated an image of austerity and puritanism at his court, in deliberate contrast to the extravagantly dissolute life led by al-Muqtadir, but behind the scenes he too indulged in drunkenness.

paragraph: Trying to counteract the influence of Mu'nis and of the vizier Ibn Muqla, who controlled government, and re-assert the power of his office, al-Qahir resumed contacts with the defeated court faction through Muhammad ibn Yaqut. This alarmed Mu'nis and his supporters, but they were too late. In July 933, al-Qahir struck: the plans of the chamberlain Ibn Yalbaq to depose him were thwarted, and he and Mu'nis were arrested and executed, while Ibn Muqla was forced to flee the capital.

paragraph: Al-Qahir appointed Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah as vizier. Al-Qahir embarked on a firmly anti-Shi'a policy, declaring himself the "Avenger of the enemies of the Faith" ("al-muntaqim min aʿdāʾ dīn Allāh"), a slogan which he even put on his coins. Despite his support of the Caliph's anti-Shi'a policies, Muhammad ibn al-Qasim was soon dismissed in favour of Ahmad al-Khasibi. Like his predecessor, however, al-Khasibi was unable to overcome the mounting financial crisis of the state.

paragraph: The contemporary Baghdadi historian al-Mas'udi, in his "Meadows of Gold", reports that "His fits of violence made him the fear and terror of his subjects". He went about armed with a lance, striking down those who displeased him. However, the very "inconstancy of his behaviour and the horror inspired by his rages" alienated the populace and the court alike, and prepared the ground for his downfall. The exiled vizier Ibn Muqla continued plotting against al-Qahir; he won over the caliphal guard, which on 24 April 934 staged a coup and took the Caliph prisoner while the latter was drunk.

paragraph: Refusing to abdicate in favour of ar-Radi (), he was blinded and cast into prison. According to al-Mas'udi, ar-Radi "kept news of him hidden", so that he vanished from common knowledge. He was not freed until eleven years later, when al-Mustakfi () came to the throne and discovered him locked away in a remote room in the palace. He lived the remainder of his life as a beggar, dying in October 950.

description: Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 932 to 934

wikidata_label: Al-Qahir

wikipedia_title: Al-Qahir


text:
regnal name
Caliph
Abbasid Caliphate
amir al-umara
al-Muqtadir
al-Qahir
Hugh N. Kennedy
vizier
Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah
Ibn Muqla
Muhammad ibn Yaqut
Hanbali
Shafi‘i
Hamdanid
Jazira
Mosul
Wasit
Muhammad ibn Ra'iq
amir al-umara
khutba
Friday prayer
Syria
Mesopotamia
Mosul
Arabia
Carmathians
Basra
Wasit
Byzantine Empire
Hamdanid
Sayf al-Daula
Sword
William Muir
public domain

paragraph: Ar-Radi

paragraph: Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad (Muhammad) ibn Ja'far al-Muqtadir (; December 909 – 23 December 940), usually simply known by his regnal name ar-Radi bi'llah (), was the 20th Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from 934 to his death. He died on 23 December 940 at the age of 31. His reign marked the end of the caliph's political power and the rise of military strongmen, who competed for the title of "amir al-umara".

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: The future ar-Radi was born in December 909, to the caliph al-Muqtadir () and a slave concubine named Zalum. When his father was killed in 932, he was proposed as a successor, but eventually his uncle al-Qahir () was chosen. Al-Qahir had him imprisoned as a rival, and he remained confined until the deposition of al-Qahir in April 934, when he was freed and raised to the throne.

paragraph: Section::::Caliphate.

paragraph: Hugh N. Kennedy describes ar-Radi as "quiet and affable, given to the company of scholars". Unlike the forceful al-Qahir, he quickly became a figurehead ruler, while ambitious men seized authority in the state.

paragraph: After the distinguished former vizier Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah declined to be reappointed to the office on account of his advanced age, Ibn Muqla, who had led the conspiracy against al-Qahir, received the post. However, for the first months of the reign, Muhammad ibn Yaqut continued to be the most powerful member of the court until his downfall in April 935; only then did Ibn Muqla truly gain control of the administration. In 935, the government was forced to take measures to confront the turmoil in Baghdad because of the thuggish behaviour of Hanbali fanatics. Supported by popular sentiment, they accosted people in the streets, forced their way into private dwellings, emptied vessels of wine wherever found, broke musical instruments and mistreated female singers, pried into the details of trade, beat up their Shafi‘i rivals, and generally acted in an arbitrary manner against anyone who trespassed their strict interpretation of Islamic law and custom.

paragraph: By this time, the greatest threat faced by the Caliphate was the increasing independence of the regional governors, who had taken advantage of the internal quarrels in the Abbasid court to strengthen their own control over their provinces and withheld the taxes due to Baghdad, leaving the central government crippled. Ibn Muqla resolved to reassert his control over the neighbouring provinces by military force, and chose the Hamdanid-controlled Jazira as his first target: in 935 he launched a campaign that took the Hamdanid capital, Mosul, but he was forced to return to Baghdad. Another attempt in 936 to launch a campaign against the rebellious governor of Wasit, Muhammad ibn Ra'iq, failed to even get started. Coupled with his failure to counter the mounting financial crisis, this last disaster led to Ibn Muqla's downfall. In April 936, Ibn Muqla was arrested by Muhammad ibn Yaqut's brother, al-Muzaffar, who forced ar-Radi to dismiss him as vizier.

paragraph: Ibn Muqla's dismissal marked the final end of the independence of the Abbasid caliphs, for shortly after ar-Radi appointed Ibn Ra'iq to the new post of "amir al-umara" ("commander of commanders"), a military-based office that became the "de facto" ruler of what remained of the Caliphate and deprived the Caliph from all real authority. The caliph retained only control of Baghdad and its immediate environs, while all government affairs passed into the hands of Ibn Ra'iq and his secretary. The name of the "amir al-umara" was even commemorated in the "khutba" of the Friday prayer, alongside that of the caliph.

paragraph: Ar-Radi is commonly spoken of as the last of the real Caliphs: the last to deliver orations at the Friday service, to hold assemblies to discuss with philosophers and discuss the questions of the day, or to take counsel on the affairs of State; the last to distribute largess among the needy, or to interpose to temper the severity of cruel officers.

paragraph: And yet, with all this he was the mere dependent of another. Beyond the Wasir's shadow, there was little left at home. And abroad, even less: the rich East was gone, Berber Africa and Egypt also, with great part of Syria and Mesopotamia; Mosul independent; peninsular Arabia held by Carmathians and native chieftains; even Basra and Wasit rose in revolt. The advance of the 'Greeks' (Byzantine Empire) was stayed only by the brave Hamdanid prince who was deservedly styled "Sayf al-Daula" 'Sword of the Nation'.

paragraph: Section::::Sources.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "This text is adapted from William Muir's public domain, The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall."

description: Abbasid caliph

wikidata_label: Ar-Radi

wikipedia_title: Ar-Radi


text:
regnal title
Abbasid
Caliph
Baghdad
Ar-Radi
ar-Radi
Bajkam
amir al-umara
Baghdad
Wasit
Muhammad ibn Ra'iq
amīr al-umarāʾ
Mosul
Hamdanid dynasty
Nasir al-Dawla
Tuzun
Mosul
Nusaybin
Raqqa
al-Mustakfi
William Muir
public domain

categories: 10th-century Abbasid caliphs,Year of birth missing,968 deaths

paragraph: Al-Muttaqi

paragraph: Abu Ishaq Ibrahim Ibn al-Muktafi, better known by his regnal title al-Muttaqi (908 – July 968, ) was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 940 to 944. His reign marked the start of the 'later Abbasid period' (940-1258). His Predecessor Ar-Radi was the last "Caliph" of the early Abbasid period.

paragraph: Of such little importance the Caliphate had become by now that when the previous Caliph ar-Radi died, Bajkam, "amir al-umara" (Amir of Amirs), contented himself with despatching to Baghdad his secretary, who assembled the chief men to elect a successor. The choice fell on the deceased Caliph's brother al-Muttaqi, who assumed the office after it had been some days vacant; and whose first act was to send a banner and dress of honor to Bajkam, a needless confirmation of his rank.

paragraph: Bajkam, before returning to Wasit, where he now held his court, went out on a hunting party, and met his death at the hands of a band of marauding Kurds. The Capital again became the scene of renewed anarchy. Muhammad ibn Ra'iq, Caliph's "amīr al-umarāʾ", persuaded the Caliph to flee with him to Mosul.

paragraph: Al-Muttaqi was welcomed there by the Hamdanid dynasty, who organized a campaign to restore him to the capital. But their ends were purely selfish; they assassinated Ibn Ra'iq, and having added his Syrian government to their own, turned their ambition towards Baghdad. The Hamdanid chief, with the title of Nasir al-Dawla, advanced on Baghdad with the Caliph.

paragraph: But however powerful the Hamdanid chiefs were at home amongst their Arab brethren, and splendid their victories over the Greeks, they found it a different thing to rule at Baghdad, due to foreign mercenaries and the well-organised Turkish forces in the city.

paragraph: And so in less than a year, the Hamdanid chieftains had to return to Mosul; for a Turkish general called Tuzun, entered Baghdad in triumph, and was saluted as "amir al-umara". But fresh proceedings against his enemy obliged Tuzun to quit the capital; and during his absence a conspiracy broke out which placed the Caliph in danger, and obliged him again to appeal to the Hamdanid prince for help. Troops sent in response enabled him to escape; he fled to Mosul and after that to Nusaybin.

paragraph: Shortly after, peace being restored between Tuzun and the Hamdanid chiefs, al-Muttaqi took up his residence at Raqqa — a fugitive in the city which had so often been the proud court of his illustrious ancestors.

paragraph: Later, al-Muttaqi threw himself into the hands of Tuzun, who swore with the most sacred oaths that he would render true and faithful service. But he soon after deposed him from the Caliphate, and had his sight destroyed.

paragraph: The same day, Tuzun installed the blinded Caliph's cousin as his successor, with the title of al-Mustakfi, "For whom the Lord suffices".

paragraph: Section::::References.

description: Abbasid caliph

wikidata_label: Al-Muttaqi

wikipedia_title: Al-Muttaqi