Mansur ibn al-Mahdi

Mansur ibn al-Mahdi (Arabic: منصور بن المهدي) was an Abbasid prince, son of Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi, brother of caliph al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid. Mansur was governor of Syria during his nephew caliph al-Amin's reign.

Mansur ibn al-Mahdi منصور بن المهدي
Governor of Syria
In office 809–810
Monarchs	Harun al-Rashid, al-Amin
Preceded by	Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Qahtaba (807–809)
Succeeded by	Ahmad ibn Sa'id al-Harashi (810) then Sulayman ibn Abi Ja'far (810)
Personal details
Born	Khurasan or Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Died	810s Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Parents	al-Mahdi (father) Bahtariyah (mother)
Relatives	Sulayman (uncle)
Full name	Mansur ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi
Religion	Islam

Life

Mansur was the son of al-Mahdi and his mother was al-Bahtariyah, the noble-born daughter of the Persian rebel,^[1] Masmughan of Damavand,^[2] against whom Mahdi was first sent to Khurasan.^[1] Her mother was Bakand, the daughter of Isbahbadh, Farrukhan the Little.^[3] She had a sister named Smyr.^[2] She bore al-Mahdi a son named for his grandfather, Mansur, and two daughters, Sulaimah and Aliyah.^[1]

His father, nominated his two elder sons; Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid as heirs. Mansur maintains good relations with all his siblings.

Mansur was appointed as governor of Syria in 809. He remained in office until al-Amin reappointed Sulayman to govern Syria around 809–810 in response to unrest in Damascus emanating from the theft of a prized crystal pitcher from the Umayyad Mosque by the incumbent governor, Sulayman's nephew Mansur. The outrage of the Damascenes prompted them to refuse prayer under Abbasid leadership.^[4]

After his dismissal from the office, Mansur returned to Baghdad in 810.

Siblings

Mansur was contemporary and related to several Abbasid caliphs, princes and princesses. He had total ten half-siblings and he had two full sisters named Aliyah and Sulaimah.

No.	Abbasids	Relation
1	Musa al-Hadi	Half-brother
2	Harun al-Rashid	Half-brother
3	Abbasa bint al-Mahdi	Half-sister
4	Ubaydallah ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
5	Ulayya bint al-Mahdi	Half-sister
6	Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
7	Aliyah bint al-Mahdi	Sister
8	Ali ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
9	Sulaimah bint al-Mahdi	Sister
10	Abdallah ibn al-Mahdi	Half-brother
11	Banuqa bint al-Mahdi	Half-sister
12	Isa ibn al-Mahdi[5]	Half-brother

References

1. Abbott 1946, p. 33.
2. Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. E.J. Brill. p. 399. ISBN 978-90-04-09791-9.
3. Al-Tabari; John Alden Williams (1988). Al-̣Tabarī: Volume 1, The Reign of Abū Ja'Far Al-Maṇsūr A. D. 754-775: The Early 'Abbāsī Empire. Al-Tabari. the Early Abbasi Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-521-32662-9.
4. Madelung 2000, p. 328.
5. Abbott 1946, p. 31.

Sources

• Abbott, Nabia (1946). Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn Al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-86356-031-6.
• Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. E.J. Brill
• Al-Tabari; John Alden Williams (1988). Al-̣Tabarī: Volume 1, The Reign of Abū Ja'Far Al-Maṇsūr A. D. 754-775: The Early 'Abbāsī Empire. Al-Tabari. the Early Abbasi Empire. Cambridge University Press.
• Madelung, Wilferd (2000). "Abūʾl ʿAmayṭar the Sufyānī". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 24: 327–343.