<\/p>\n
In some of the previous articles, we spoke of Egypt\u2019s proconsuls during al-Amin\u2019s tenure, his wars with al-Ma\u2019mun, as well as the effect of these wars on Egypt: for she witnessed severe conflicts between her proconsuls and their supporters, in addition to riots and tumult.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span> General Bishop<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In some of the previous articles, we spoke of Egypt\u2019s proconsuls during al-Amin\u2019s tenure, his wars with al-Ma\u2019mun, as well as the effect of these wars on Egypt: for she witnessed severe conflicts between her proconsuls and their supporters, in addition to riots and tumult.\u00a0 We started talking about Caliph al-Ma\u2019mun whose tenure was divided […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[240,14114,682,642],"class_list":["post-40719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag---2","tag-14114","tag-682","tag-642"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40720,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40719\/revisions\/40720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWe started talking about Caliph al-Ma\u2019mun whose tenure was divided into two terms. The first lasted from 198-204 Hijri (813-819 A.D.). He spent it in Merv, whereby al-Fadl bin Sahl had the upper hand in running the State, which resulted in two issues. Some historians maintain that he did his duty very well. Meanwhile, others assert that he never kept al-Ma\u2019mun informed of what was going on through the State, and that he had the Caliph issue two decrees to oust commanders Tahir bin al-Hussein and Hartama bin A\u2019yan from Baghdad, which ignited tumult and rebellions in the city.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nThe first issue was related to appointing his brother al-Hassan bin Sahl proconsul on all the provinces he had conquered, namely, Persia, Ahvaz, Basra, Kufa, Hejaz, and Yemen. So, he sent Tahir the caliph\u2019s order to hand over the new proconsul all his responsibilities and head to al-Raqqah to overcome Nasr bin Shabath who rebelled for the murder of his friend al-Amin. So, Tahir implemented the caliph\u2019s order. Yet, he was upset as the order implied that he take over Mosul, al-Jazeera, Morocco, and the Levant. Nasr emerged victorious, only to resume his rebellion until 210 Hijri (825 A.D.)<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nThe second issue was related to Hartama when he was ordered to head to Khorasan. So, he left Iraq and went there. Thus, Iraq became void of the authorities which could have calmed down the tumult. To make matters worse, the Hashemite tribe and the elites became upset of al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s surrendering to his minister al-Fadl. Thus, the country\u2019s order and security were shaken.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nMohammed bin Ibrahim\u2019s Rebellion\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nMohammed bin Ibrahim was supported by one of Hartama\u2019s faithful men, Abu al-Saraya al-Sirri bin Mansur. He rebelled and seized Basra. He minted coins that bore his name and defeated al-Hassan bin Sahl\u2019s army, to start his call in Arabia. Yet, due to Mohammed\u2019s sudden death in 199 Hijri (815 A.D.), Abu al-Saraya appointed Mohammed bin Yazid, an Alawite, in his stead, which made al-Hassan send another army to fight Abu al-Saraya. Yet, the latter emerged victorious, thus becoming, along with the Alawites, more influential. In effect, al-Hassan feared lest rebellions and seditions increase. So, he sent to Hartama asking him to allow him return to Baghdad to overcome the rebellion. Yet, being on his way to Khorasan, he refused. But, as al-Hassan insisted, he returned and overtook al-Mada\u2019in and defeated the rebels.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nThen, Hartama entered Kufa and secured its people. Meanwhile, Abu al-Saraya fled to al-Qadisiyyah, Persia, then Sous. There, he fought al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s troops, was wounded, arrested and put to death. Thus, the rebellion which lasted for ten months came to an end, after which al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s army led by Hartama retrieved the cities which rebels had snatched, namely, Basra, Hejaz, Yemen and others.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nHartama Dies\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nHartama succeeded in overcoming the rebellions that broke out in Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen. Al-Ma\u2019mun assigned him the affairs of Syria and Hejaz; but Hartama decided to go to Merv and meet al-Ma\u2019mun to let him know of what has become of the State, and warn him against being away from Baghdad. Some historians maintain that no sooner had al-Fadl bin Sahl got to know of Hartama\u2019s intention, he started reporting the latter to al-Ma\u2019mun.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nWhen Hartama reached al-Ma\u2019mun, the latter was quite harsh with him. So much so that he ascribed Abu al-Saraya\u2019s rebellion to the fact that Hartama was a disobedient soldier, having not received his assignments. No sooner had Hartama started to speak than the guards attacked him and started to beat him hard, after which they took him to prison where he died shortly due to his wounds. Some historians assert that he died because al-Fadl sent men who killed him in his prison. Others write, \u201cThus the great commander, who defended al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s authority and struggled to fortify the State from Africa to Khorasan, died. Indeed, al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s triumph over al-Amin is ascribed to him. The great commander was the victim of reporting, ungratefulness, and conspiracies, just like his great counterparts.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nAfter Hartama\u2019s death, the soldiers rebelled in Baghdad. They ousted its ruler, al-Hassan bin Sahl. Disorder, seditions, and murder prevailed. These conditions lasted until the city\u2019s elites agreed to confront the disorder. They retrieved Baghdad\u2019s security, after which they tried to persuade al-Mansur bin al-Mahdi to become caliph, but he refused, preferring to rule the city under al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s dominion. Then, the city\u2019s elites reconciled with al-Hassan, restored him to Baghdad\u2019s leadership in 200 Hijri (816 A.D.) Thus, order was also restored. Yet, turmoil broke out once more when al-Ma\u2019mun declared Ali al-Redha heir apparent.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nA New Conflict<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nBecause al-Ma\u2019mun decided to choose an Alawite to succeed him, he declared Ali al-Redha bin Mussa al-Khadim heir apparent, announcing that he found none of the Abbasids suitable for the caliphate. This ignited the fury of Baghdad\u2019s people. Therefore, they decided to oust al-Ma\u2019mun and pledge allegiance to Ibrahim bin al-Mahdi who was al-Amin\u2019s friend. He was declared caliph in Baghdad. Yet, matters did not go the way they were planned to, for Ibrahim lacked in administrative adeptness. In effect, he could not handle the country\u2019s affairs, which aroused tumult. War broke out between al-Ma\u2019mun\u2019s sentries and those of the new caliph.<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nRebellion moved from Baghdad to the rest of the cities, like Kufa. Disorder prevailed. So, Ali al-Redha hurried to al-Ma\u2019mun to inform him of what had happened and what he was unaware of, in addition to the outcomes of al-Fadl\u2019s deeds. Al-Ma\u2019mun got furious and started to seek the truth. Getting to know it was true, he left Merv and headed to Baghdad, having taken his friends\u2019 advice. He was accompanied by his minister al-Fadl bin Sahl.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span>
\nAs he was resting on the way, al-Fadl was murdered. This took place in 202 Hijri (818 A.D.) Al-Ma\u2019mun had the perpetrators arrested and executed, after which he resumed his journey, to stop at Tous where his father was buried. There, he spent a few days to rest. At the beginning of 203 Hijri (811 A.D.), Ali al-Redha died, which saddened al-Ma\u2019mun. He sent a message to Baghdad\u2019s people informing them of Ali\u2019s death and asking them to succumb to him, for, already, the reason for the rebellion had gone. They accepted his call, especially after the enfeeblement of the country due to Ibrahim\u2019s unwise management. Thus, al-Ma\u2019mun resumed his journey to Baghdad, only to start a new story. Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nHead of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n