Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Mahdi (Arabic: محمد بن منصورالمهدى ) (born: 126 or 127 AH; died: 169 AH) (born: 744 or 745 AD; died: 785 AD), was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 158 AH to 169 AH (775–785). He succeeded his father, al-Mansur. Al-Mahdi, whose name means "Rightly-guided" or "Redeemer", was proclaimed caliph when his father was on his deathbed. His peaceful reign continued the policies of his predecessors.Rapprochement with the Alids in the Caliphate occurred under al-Mahdi's reign. The powerful Barmakid family, which had advised the Caliphs since the days of al-'Abbas as viziers, gained even greater powers under al-Mahdi's rule, and worked closely with the caliph to ensure the prosperity of the Abbasid state.Al-Mahdi reigned for ten years. He imprisoned his most trusted vizier Ya'qub ibn Dawud. In the year 167 AH/ 783 AD, al-Mahdi instituted an official inquisition to execute the alleged Zindiq (heretics). in the official inquisition. He was fond of music and poetry and during his caliphate the musicians and poets were patronized and he universalized music and poetry in his dominion. In the year 161 AH, he subdued the rebellion of Abdallah ibn Marwan ibn Muhammad, leading the Umayyad remnant in Syria. In 160 AH he put down the insurrection of Yusuf ibn Ibrahim in Khurasan. In the same year al-Mahdi deposed Isa ibn Musa as his successor and appointed his own son Musa al-Hadi in his place and took allegiance (bayah) for him from the nobles. Al-Mahdi was poisoned by one of his concubines in the year 169 AH/ 785 AD).The cosmopolitan city of Baghdad blossomed during al-Mahdi's reign. The city attracted immigrants from all of Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Persia, and lands as far away as Afghanistan and Spain. Baghdad was home to Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Zoroastrians, in addition to the growing Muslim population. It became the world's largest city.Al-Mahdi continued to expand the Abbasid administration, creating new diwans, or departments, for the army, the chancery, and taxation. Qadis or judges were appointed, and laws against non-Arabs were dropped.The Barmakid family staffed these new departments. The Barmakids, of Persian extraction, had originally been Buddhists, but shortly before the arrival of the Arabs, they had converted to Zoroastrianism. Their short-lived Islamic legacy would count against them during the reign of Harun al-Rashid.The introduction of paper from China (see Battle of Talas) in 751, which had not yet been used in the West – the Arabs and Persians used papyrus, and the Europeans used vellum – had a profound effect. The paper industry boomed in Baghdad where an entire street in the city center became devoted to sales of paper and books. The cheapness and durability of paper were vital to the efficient growth of the expanding Abbasid bureaucracy.Al-Mahdi had two important religious policies: the persecution of the zanadiqa, or dualists, and the declaration of orthodoxy. Al-Mahdi singled out the persecution of the zanadiqa in order to improve his standing among the purist Shi'i, who wanted a harder line on heresies, and found the spread of syncretic Muslim-polytheist sects to be particularly virulent. Al-Mahdi declared that the caliph had the ability – and indeed, the responsibility – to define the orthodox theology of Muslims, in order to protect the umma against heresy. Al-Mahdi indeed did make great use of this broad, new power, and it would become important during the 'mihna' crisis of al-Ma'mun's reign.
Fin de la actividad (año)
0785
Fecha de defunción
0785-08-04
Año de defunción
0785
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