Ubaydallah ibn al-Mahdi

Ubaydallah ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi (Arabic: عبيد الله بن محمد المهدي, romanized: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Mahdī)^[1] (771–810/11) was an Abbasid prince. He was the son of al-Mahdi, the third caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, and Raytah, daughter of the first Abbasid caliph Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah.^[2]

Ubaydallah ibn al-Mahdi عبيد الله بن محمد المهدي
Governor of Arminiya
In office	c. 788 – 791
Predecessor	Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani
Successor	Abd al-Qadir (791) then Al-Fadl ibn Yahya
Governor of Egypt
In office	795 – 795 (first term)
Predecessor	Abdallah ibn al-Musayyab
Successor	Musa ibn Isa
In office	796 – 797 (second term)
Predecessor	Musa ibn Isa
Successor	Isma'il ibn Salih
Born	771 Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Died	810/11 Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate, now Iraq
Burial	Baghdad
Names Ubaydallah ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn Abdallah al-Mansur
Dynasty	Abbasid
Father	Al-Mahdi
Mother	Raytah
Religion	Islam

Life

In 761, the future caliph al-Mahdi married Raytah as his first wife after his return from Khurasan.^[3] She was the daughter of al-Saffah and his wife Umm Salamah, a Makhzumite.^[4] Raytah gave birth to two sons, Ubaydallah and Ali.^[3]

During the reign of his half-brother Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809), Ubaydallah was appointed as governor of Arminiyah and the northwestern provinces in 788/9, succeeding Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani.^[5] He was later appointed to two brief stints as governor of Egypt, in 795 and 796.^[6]

In 810 or 811 Ubaydallah died in Baghdad. His nephew al-Amin led the prayers at his funeral.^[7]

Siblings

Ubaydallah was contemporary and related to several Abbasid caliphs, princes and princesses. He had total ten half-siblings and he had one full brother named Ali ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi.

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

Notes

1. Le Strange 1922, p. 218 notes that he is sometimes mistakenly referred to as "Abdallah ibn al-Mahdi."
2. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi 2011, p. 310; Ibn Hazm 1982, p. 22.
3. Abbott 1946, p. 25.
4. Abbott 1946, p. 11.
5. Bosworth 1989, p. 103; Al-Baladhuri 1916, p. 330. Numismatic evidence for this appointment is summarized by Bates 2019, p. 20. Al-Ya'qubi (Gordon et al. 2018, p. 1178) does not note Ubaydallah's governorship, saying instead that Ibn Mazyad was succeeded by Abd al-Kabir ibn Abd al-Hamid. Łewond (Bedrosian 2006, ch. 41), claims that following a conflict between Harun and Ubaydallah the empire was split in two, with Ubaydallah receiving the northern provinces of Atropatene, Armenia, Iberia/Georgia, and Aghuania; this assertion is however disputed by Bonner 1988, pp. 88–89, who notes that the Arabic sources from the period make no reference to any sort of conflict between the two brothers. Ibn Qutaybah n.d., p. 380, refers to Ubaydallah as a governor of the Jazira.
6. Al-Kindi 1912, pp. 137–38; Ibn Taghribirdi 1930, pp. 93, 101; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, pp. 463–64 (noting only one appointment to Egypt). During his first governorship he was placed in charge of both prayers/security (salah) and finances (kharaj); in his second administration he is mentioned as only being in charge of the salah.
7. Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi 2011, p. 310; Ibn Taghribirdi 1930, p. 101.
8. Abbott 1946, p. 31.

References

• Al-Baladhuri, Ahmad ibn Jabir (1916). The Origins of the Islamic State, Part I. Trans. Philip Khuri Hitti. New York: Columbia University.
• Bates, Michael L. (7 August 2019), Names and Titles on Islamic Coins, retrieved 23 February 2020
• Bedrosian, Robert (2006), Ghewond's History, Translated from Classical Armenian, retrieved 23 February 2020
• Bonner, Michael (Jan–Mar 1988). "Al-Khalīfa Al-Marḍī: The Accession of Hārūn Al-Rashīd". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 108 (1): 79–91. doi:10.2307/603247. JSTOR 603247.
• Bosworth, C. E., ed. (1989). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXX: The ʿAbbāsid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Mūsā al-Hādī and Hārūn al-Rashīd, A.D. 785–809/A.H. 169–192. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-564-4.
• Gordon, Matthew S.; Robinson, Chase F.; Rowson, Everett K.; et al., eds. (2018). The Works of Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi: An English Translation. Vol. 3. Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-35621-4.
• Ibn Hazm, Abu Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Sa'id al-Andalusi (1982). Harun, 'Abd al-Salam Muhammad (ed.). Jamharat Ansab al-'Arab (in Arabic) (5th ed.). Cairo: Dar al-Ma'arif.
• Ibn Qutaybah, Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Muslim (n.d.). Ukashah, Tharwat (ed.). Al-Ma'arif (4th ed.). Cairo: al-Dar Ma'arif.
• Abbott, Nabia (1946). Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn Al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-86356-031-6.
• Ibn Taghribirdi, Jamal al-Din Abu al-Mahasin Yusuf (1930). Nujum al-zahira fi muluk Misr wa'l-Qahira, Volume II (in Arabic). Cairo: Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya.
• Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali (2011). Mustafa 'Abd al-Qadir 'Ata (ed.). Tarikh Baghdad/Madinat al-Salam (in Arabic). Vol. 10. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya.
• Khalifah ibn Khayyat (1985). al-Umari, Akram Diya' (ed.). Tarikh Khalifah ibn Khayyat, 3rd ed (in Arabic). Al-Riyadh: Dar Taybah.
• Al-Kindi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf (1912). Guest, Rhuvon (ed.). The Governors and Judges of Egypt (in Arabic). Leyden and London: E. J. Brill.
• Le Strange, Guy (1922). Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate. From Contemporary Arabic and Persian Sources (Second ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Preceded by Abd al-Malik ibn Salih	Governor of Egypt 795	Succeeded by Musa ibn Isa ibn Musa al-Hashimi
Preceded by Musa ibn Isa ibn Musa al-Hashimi	Governor of Egypt 796–797	Succeeded by Isma'il ibn Salih ibn Ali al-Hashimi