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Al-Mansur 42 Al-Mughira of Asia Minor. His wife named Buran, daughter of Hasan ibn Sahl his prime minister, 6utlived Hm 60 years, and died on Tuesday the 22nd September, 884 A. D., 27th Kabi I., 271 A. H , aged 80 years. Al-Mamun was suc- ceeded by his brother al-Mo'tasim Billah. Al-Mansur, jy^^^, 2ndkhalifofBarhary of theFatimite race, vide Ismail, sumamed al-Mansiir. Al-Mansur, jy^^^^j whose former name was Abu Ja' far, was called al-Mansur, the victorious, by his overcoming his enemies. He was the second khalif of the noble house of Bani Abbas or Abbasides, and succeeded to the throne of Baghdad after the death of his brother Abul Abbas sur- named al-Saffah, in 754 A. D., 136 A. H._ He was op- posed by his uncle, 'Abdullah son of AH, who caused himself to be proclaimed khalif at Damascus, but was defeated by al-Mansur's general, Abu Muslim. He laid the foundation of the city of Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris in 762 A. D. and finished it four years after. He was a prince of extraordinary talent and taste, and an ardent lover of science and literature. He got the Pah- lawi copy of Pilpay's Fables translated into Arabic. In the year 775 A. D., 158 A. H., the khalif set out from Baghdad in order to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca ; but being taken ill on the road, he expired at Bir Maimun, whence his body was carried to Mecca ; where, after ICQ graves had been dug, that his sepulchre might be con- cealed, he was interred, having Uved, according to some 63, according to others 68 years, and reigned 22 lunar years. He is said to have been extremely covetous, and to have left in his treasury 600,000,000 dirhams, and 24,000,000 dinars. He is reported to have paid his cook by assigning him the heads and legs of the animals dressed in his kitchen, and to have obliged him to procure at his own expence all the fuel and vessels he had occasion for. He was succeeded by his son al-Mahdi. A Christian phy- sician, named Bactishua, was very eminent at the court of al-Mansiir, who understanding that he had an old infirm woman for his wife, sent him three beautiful Greek - girls and 3,000 dinars as a present. Bactishua sent back the girls and told the khalif that his religion prohibited his having more than one wife at a time ; which pleased the khalif so much, that he loaded him with presents, and permitted him, at his earnest request, to retm-n to his own country of Khurasan. Al-Mo'tamid BiUah, *^-'^? '^♦•'l, the fifteenth khalif of the house of Abbas, was the son of al-Mutwakkil Billah. He was raised to the throne of Baghdad by the Turks after the murder of al-Muhtadi in 870 A. D., 256 A. H. This year the prince of the Zanjians, AH or a_l-Habib, made incursions to the very gates of Baghdad, doing pro- digious mischief wherever he passed. In the year 874 A.^'d., Ya'kub-bin-Lys having taken Khurasan from the descendants of Tahir, attacked and defeated Muhammad ibn Wasil (who had killed the khalif s governor of Fars, and afterwards made himself master of that province) seizing on his palace, where he found a sum of money amounting to 40,000,000 du-hams. In the year 879 A. D., 265 A. H., Ahmad ibn Tulan rebelled against the khalif and set up for himself in Egypt. There were now four independent powers in the Moslem dominions, besides the house of Umyya in Spain ; viz. The African Moslems, or Aghlabites, who had for a long time acted independently ; Ahmad ibn Tulan in Syria and Egypt ; Ya'kiib ibn al- Lys in Khurasan, and al-Habib in Arabia and I'rak. In the year 883 A. D., 270 A. H., al-Habib was defeated and slain by al-Muwaflk the khalif's brother and coadjutor, who ordered his head to be cut off, and carried thi-ough a "reat part of that region which he had so long disturbed. IiTthe year 891 A. D., 278 A. H. the Karmatians first made their appearance in the Moslem empire, and gave almost continual disturbance to the khalifs and their sub- jects. Al-Mo'tamid reigned 22 lunar years 11 months and some days, and died in the year 892 A. D., 279 A. H. He was succeeded by his nephew al-Mo'tazid Billah the son of al-Muwafik. Al-Mo'tasim Billah, ^^••J (♦'^j^**-, was the fourth son of Harun-al-Eashid, and the eighth khalif of the house of Abbas. He succeeded to the throne by virtue of his brother al-Mamun's express nomination of him to the exclusion of his own son al-' Abbas, and his other brother al-Kasim, who had been appointed by Harun-al-Eashid. In the beginning of his reign 833 A. D., 218 A. H., he was obliged to employ the whole forces of his empire against one Babak, who had been for a considerable time in rebellion in Persia and Persian Irak, and had taken upon himself the title of a prophet. He was, however, de- feated and slain. In the year 838 A. D., 223 A, H., the Greek emperor Theophilus invaded the khalif's territories, where he behaved with the greatest cruelty, and by de- stroying Sozopetra the place of al-Mo'tasim's nati^'ity, notwithstanding his earnest entreaties to the contrary, occasioned the terrible distinction of Aniorium. He is said to have been so robust, that he once carried a burden of 1,000 pounds weight several paces. As the people of Baghdad disturbed him with frequent revolts and commo- tions, he took the resolution to abandon that city, and build another for his own residence. The new city he built was first called Samira, and afterwards Sarmanrf, (for that which gives pleasure at first sight) and stood in the Arabian 'Irak. He was attached to the opinion of the Matazalites who maintain the creation of the Kuran ; and both he and his predecessor cruelly persecuted those who beHeved it to be eternal. Al-Mo'tasim died on Thursday the 5th Janu- ary, 842 A. D., 18th Eabi I., 227 H. He reigned 8 years 8 months and 8 days, was born in the 8th month (Shaban) of the year, was the 8th khalif of the house of Abbas, ascended the throne in the 218th year of the Hijri, died on the 18th of Eabi I., Hved 48 years, fought 8 battles, built 8 palaces, begat 8 sons and 8 daughters, had 8,000 slaves, and had 8,000,000 dinars, and 80,000 dirhams in his treasury at his death, whence the oriental historians gave him the name of al-Musamman, or the Octonary. He was the first khalif that added to his name the title of Billah, equivalent to the Dei Gratia of Christian sovereigns. He was succeeded by his son al-Wathik or "Wasik Billah. Al-Mo'tazid Billati, <^^**it, the son of al-Muwafik, the son of al-Mutwakkil Billah, was the sixteenth khalif of the race of Abbas. He came to the throne of Bao-h- dad after the death of his uncle al-Mo'tamid Billah in 892 A. D., 279 A. H. In the first year of his reign, he de- manded in marriage the daughter of Khamarawia, Sultan or khalif of Egjrpt, the son of Ahmad ibn Tulan ; which was agreed to by him with the utmost joy, and their nup- tials were solemnized with great pomp in the year 895 A. D., 282 A. H. He carried on a war with the Karma- tians, but very unsuccessfully, his forces being defeated with great slaughter, and his general al- Abbas taken pri- soner. The khalif some time after his marriage granted to Harun, son of. Khamarawia, the perpetual prefecture of Awasam and Kinnisrui, which he annexed to that of Egypt and Syria, upon condition that he paid him an annual tribute of 45,000 dinars. He reigned 9 years 8 months and 25 days, and died in 902 A. D., 289 A. H. His son al-Muktafi BiUah succeeded him. Al-Mughira, the son of Sayyid and governor of Kufa in the time of Mu'awia the first khalif of the house of Umyya. He was an active mim, and of very good parts ; he had lost one of his eyes at the battle of Yers- nouk, though some say that it was with lookiag at an eclipse. By the followers of AH he was accounted to be of the wrong party, and one of the chief of them. For thus they reckon, there are five elders on Ali's side ; Mu- hammad, AH, Fatima, Hasan and Husain ; and to these are opposed, Abu Bakr, 'Umar, Muawia, Amru and al-