Abu Sa'id Hasan ibn Bahram al-Jannabi (; 845/855–913/914) was the founder of the
Qarmatian
The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious-utopian socialist state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adhe ...
state in
Bahrayn (an area comprising the eastern parts of modern
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
as well as the
Gulf emirates
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...
). By 899, his followers controlled large parts of the region, and in 900, he scored a major victory over an
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
army sent to subdue him. He captured the local capital,
Hajar, in 903, and extended his rule south and east into
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
. He was assassinated in 913, and succeeded by his eldest son
Sa'id.
His religious teachings and political activities are somewhat unclear, as they are reported by later and usually hostile sources, but he seems to have shared the
millennialist
Millennialism (from millennium, Latin for "a thousand years") or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief advanced by some religious denominations that a Golden Age or Paradise will occur on Earth prior to the final judgment and future ...
Isma'ili belief about the imminent return of the ''
mahdī'', hostility to conventional Islamic rites and rituals, and to have based the Qarmatian society on the principles of communal ownership and
egalitarianism
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
, with a system of production and distribution overseen by appointed agents. The Qarmatian "republic" he founded would last until the late 11th century.
Early life
Abu Sa'id was of
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
origin, from
Jannaba in coastal
Fars. He was born sometime between 845 and 855, and was reportedly crippled on his left side. He later claimed (or it was claimed by his followers) that he had royal descent from the
Sasanian dynasty
The Sasanian dynasty was the house that founded the Sasanian Empire, ruling this empire from 224 to 651 AD in Persia (modern-day Iran). It began with Ardashir I, who named the dynasty as ''Sasanian'' in honour of his grandfather (or father), Sasa ...
, but in his early life he was a
furrier or flour merchant, initially in his native Jannaba, and later in the vicinity of
Kufa, where he moved.
There he married into the Banu'l-Qassar family, who were prominent members of the
Isma'ili community in the area. He was proselytized and taught by the Isma'ili missionary (''
dā'ī'')
Abu Muhammad Abdan
Abu or ABU may refer to:
Places
* Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan
* Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan
* Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria
* Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...
, the brother-in-law of
Hamdan Qarmat
Hamdan Qarmat ibn al-Ash'ath ( ar, حمدان قرمط بن الأشعث, Ḥamdān Qarmaṭ ibn al-Ashʿath; CE) was a Persian ruler and the eponymous founder of the Qarmatian sect of Isma'ilism. Originally the chief Isma'ili missionary () in ...
, the overall leader of the Isma'ili movement in Iraq. In the period about 874/884, Abu Sa'id was then in turn sent as a ''dā'ī'' to proselytize in Fars, in the area of Jannaba,
Siniz,
Tawwaj Tawwaj, Tawwaz or Tavvaz (Middle Persian: ; New Persian: ) was a medieval city in Fars (Pars) in modern Iran, located southwest of Shiraz.
Description
Tawwaj was located on or close to the Shapur River in the region of Fars, about from the Per ...
, and
Mahruban. His mission was successful, and he gathered converts and funds: all ''dā'ī''s were required to gather funds for the awaited ''
mahdī'', who was still in
Occultation
An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden from the observer by another object that passes between them. The term is often used in astronomy, but can also refer to any situation in which an object in the foreground blocks ...
. Eventually, however, he was denounced to the
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
authorities. His treasure and stores were confiscated, but Abu Sa'id managed to escape and went into hiding, perhaps in
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
.
Conquest of Bahrayn
![Eastern & Central Arabia 9th–10th Centuries](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Eastern_%26_Central_Arabia_9th%E2%80%9310th_Centuries.svg)
According to the report of
Ibn Hawqal, at that time he met with Hamdan Qarmat, who recognized Abu Sa'id's abilities and entrusted him with leading the missionary effort in
Bahrayn, a region encompassing all of eastern Arabia from the borders of Iraq to
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
. Bahrayn is generally ignored by the historical sources of the period; the area was under Abbasid rule, but according to the ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam
The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in ...
'', "the Arabic sources fail to tell much about its extent or effectiveness".
According to the 10th-century historian
al-Mas'udi, Abu Sa'id arrived there in 886/7, but other sources place this at different dates, from 894 to 896, or even as late as 899, by which time however he is known to have established himself as a power in the area; as a result the later dates are unlikely to be correct. Abu Sa'id initially assumed the role of a flour merchant in the town of
Qatif
Qatif or Al-Qatif ( ar, ٱلْقَطِيف ''Al-Qaṭīf'') is a governorate and urban area located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Dammam in the south, and from the Persian Gulf in the ...
, where he established crucial bonds with the
Banu Sanbar
Banu or BANU may refer to:
* Banu (name)
* Banu (Arabic), Arabic word for "the sons of" or "children of"
* Banu (makeup artist), an Indian makeup artist
* Banu Chichek, a character in the ''Book of Dede Korkut''
* Bulgarian Agrarian National Union ...
, a
Thaqafi
The Banu Thaqif ( ar, بنو ثقيف, Banū Thaqīf) is an Arab tribe which inhabited, and still inhabits, the city of Ta'if and its environs, in modern Saudi Arabia, and played a prominent role in early Islamic history.
During the pre-Islamic ...
family of some prominence: the three sons, Hasan, Ali and Hamdan, became his closest supporters, while Hasan's daughter became his wife. The family would continue to play a leading role in the Qarmatian state over the next decades. According to Ibn Hawqal and
Akhu Muhsin
Abu'l-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ali (), better known by his nickname Akhu Muhsin (), was a 10th-century anti-Isma'ili writer.
Himself of Alid descent, Akhu Muhsin lived in Damascus, and was one of the first writers interested in Alid genealogy. Based ...
, the Isma'ili community he founded initially consisted of the "small folk, butchers, porters, and the like". At Bahrayn he encountered another Isma'ili ''dā'ī'', Abu Zakariya al-Tamami, who had been sent by the
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
i ''dā'ī''
Ibn Hawshab
Abu'l-Qāsim al-Ḥasan ibn Faraj ibn Ḥawshab ibn Zādān al-Najjār al-Kūfī ( ar, أبو القاسم الحسن ابن فرج بن حوشب زاذان النجار الكوفي ; died 31 December 914), better known simply as Ibn Ḥawshab, ...
, and who had managed to convert the
Banu Kilab tribe. A certain rivalry ensued, but for long the two became reluctant partners, until Abu Sa'id finally had Abu Zakariya imprisoned and killed. Abu Sa'id nevertheless managed to gain the backing not only of the Kilab, but also of the
Banu Uqayl, who became the core of his military forces.
The
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
tribes were, in the words of
Heinz Halm, "an ideal target group" for the ''dā'ī'': The—admittedly rabidly anti-Isma'ili—account of Akhu Muhsin describes the tribes as "accustomed to war, but at the same time strong and ignorant, carefree and far from the law of Islam, with no knowledge of prophecy, or of what is allowed and
forbidden". Indeed, the first group to join the cause, the Banu al-Adbat, a sub-tribe of the Kilab, had previously been shunned on account of a
blood feud. Joining Abu Sa'id's revolutionary doctrine gave them not only the prospect of booty and power, but also of redemption.
With the backing of a strong Bedouin army, Abu Sa'id began attacking towns in the area: Qatif,
Zara,
Safwan Safwan may refer to:
Places
* Safwan, Iraq, a town in southeastern Iraq
* Safwan Hill, highest terrain feature in the region
Institutions
* Safwan SC, a football club based in Safwan, Iraq
People Given name
* Safouane Attaf, Moroccan judoka (b ...
,
Zahran,
al-Hasa Al-Ahsa or Al-Hasa may refer to:
* Al-Ahsa Governorate, a governorate in Saudi Arabia
* Al-Ahsa Oasis, an oasis region in eastern Saudi Arabia
* Hofuf, also known as Al-Ahsa, an urban center in the Al-Ahsa Oasis
* Al-Ahsa International Airport, Hof ...
, and
Juwata. His expeditions reached as far east as
Sohar
Sohar ( ar, صُحَار, also Romanized as Suḥār) is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town, Suhar has also been credited ...
(which he briefly captured after several attempts) in the
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
and west to Bilad al-Falaj and south to
Yabrin Yabrin is a settlement in Saudi Arabia south of Riyadh, within the Eastern Region. The closest town is Haradh. The area was an abandoned ancient settlement. In the 1940s it began to be resettled by Bedouins mostly with a Dawasir background.
The e ...
; the central
al-Yamama
Al-Yamama ( ar, اليَمامَة, al-Yamāma) is a historical region in the southeastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia, or sometimes more specifically, the now-extinct ancient village of Jaww al-Yamamah, near al-Kharj, after which the rest ...
region was left devastated and depopulated in the process, as the local tribes of
Banu Qushayr The Banū Qushayr ( ar, بنو قشير) was a branch of the Arab tribe of Banu Amir, historically resident in central Arabian Peninsula and later spreading to Khurasan, Iraq, Upper Mesopotamia.
Genealogy
According to Arab genealogical tradition, ...
and
Banu Sa'd were either killed or expelled. Yamama was probably not placed under Qarmatian control, although they clashed with the
Banu 'l-Ukhaidhir
The Banu 'l-Ukhaidhir ( ar, بنو الأخيضر), informally as Ukhaydhirites, was an Arab dynasty that ruled in Najd and al-Yamamah (central Arabia) from 867 to at least the mid-eleventh century. An Alid dynasty, they were descendants of Muhamm ...
who ruled it at the time, and who later became allies of the Qarmatians. At some unknown point, Abu Sa'id even captured the island of
Awal (modern
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
), and imposed tariffs on shipping there.
In 899, a major rift occurred in the Isma'ili movement, when Hamdan Qarmat and Abu Muhammad Abdan denounced the movement's secret leadership at
Salamiya
A full view of Shmemis (spring 1995)
Salamieh ( ar, سلمية ') is a city and district in western Syria, in the Hama Governorate. It is located southeast of Hama, northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo" because it was t ...
, which had been taken over by
Sa'id ibn al-Husayn, the future founder of the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
. Shortly after that, Hamdan Qarmat disappeared, while Abu Muhammad was murdered in the same year at the instigation of Zakarawayh ibn Mihrawayh, apparently on the instructions of Salamiya. After Hamdan's disappearance, the term "Qarmatians" was retained by all Isma'ilis who refused to recognize the claims of Sa'id, and subsequently of the Fatimid dynasty. Abu Sa'id likewise rejected Sa'id's claims; apart from ideological reasons and loyalty to his masters, political considerations may also have played a role, as this was "a favourable opportunity to make himself completely independent", as
Wilferd Madelung put it. It was also at that time, according to Ibn Hawqal, that he had his rival Abu Zakariya al-Tamami imprisoned and executed, as he remained loyal to Sa'id. In later decades the Fatimids launched attempts to get the Qarmatian communities to recognize their leadership, but although they were successful in some areas, throughout their existence, the Qarmatians in Bahrayn refused to do so. Neither, however, did Abu Sa'id try to coordinate his movements with the other Qarmatian groups active in the Abbasid territories, such as the rebellions launched in Syria and Iraq by
Zakarawayh ibn Mihrawayh and his sons in 901–907.
By 899, Abu Sa'id's followers controlled most of Bahrayn, except for the regional capital
Hajar, which was still under Abbasid control, and in the north had advanced up to the vicinity of Basra. The fall of Qatif in that year alarmed the populace of Basra, as they realized that a Qarmatian attack on the city was now a possibility; hasty work commenced to erect a brick wall around the hitherto unfortified city. Early in 900, Abu Sa'id began his siege of Hajar, but as the city resisted for several months, he established his own residence and base of operations (''
dār al-hijra'') at al-Ahsa (modern
al-Hofuf), some two miles from Hajar. The news of the siege prompted the reaction of the
Abbasid caliph
The Abbasid caliphs were the holders of the Islamic title of caliph who were members of the Abbasid dynasty, a branch of the Quraysh tribe descended from the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib.
The family came t ...
al-Mu'tadid, who in April 900 named his general
al-Abbas ibn Amr al-Ghanawi Al-'Abbas ibn 'Amr al-Ghanawi ( ar, العباس بن عمرو الغنوي; died 917) was an Arab military commander and provincial governor for the Abbasid dynasty. He is known for his defeat and capture at the hands of the Qarmatians in 900.
...
governor of Bahrayn and Yamama, and sent him with 2,000 soldiers, augmented with volunteers, against Abu Sa'id's forces. On 31 July, in a salt marsh some two days' march from Qatif, the Abbasid army was defeated in battle. Al-Ghanawi was taken prisoner and later released, but the other captives, reportedly 700 in number, were executed. In the aftermath of this success, Hajar was captured, only to be lost again after the arrival of a new Abbasid governor in 901, while Abu Sa'id was leading an expedition in the vicinity of Basra. In late 903, the Abbasid governor
Ibn Banu Ibn Banu ( ar, ابن بانوا) was the nominal governor of al-Bahrain for the Abbasid dynasty, serving there in 903.
Career
The Muslim historian al-Tabari's ''Annals'' only mentions Ibn Banu once. He appears to have been a military commander ...
reported to the central government in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
that he had captured Qatif and defeated and killed Abu Sa'id's designated successor there. Nevertheless, around the same time or a little later, Hajar was forced to surrender anew to the Qarmatians after they cut its water supply. Many of its inhabitants chose flight to Awal, Siraf, and other places, while many who remained behind were either killed or converted in the
pillaging
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
that followed.
Despite the destruction visited upon it, Hajar remained the chief city and capital of Bahrayn. Abu Sa'id, however, established his own palatial residence at al-Ahsa oasis, where he ruled in the traditional manner of an Arab prince. From Bahrayn, the Qarmatians launched a series of raids against the vicinities of Basra, both to capture slaves and in retaliation for the participation of the local Zabba tribe in the 900 campaign against them. The most notable of these raids occurred in July/August 912, but although the local Abbasid governor was reportedly unable to confront it, the sources report that the force involved was very small, barely 30 men.
Governance and doctrine
As the founder of the Qarmatian "
republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
" of Bahrayn, he was ascribed by later generations the establishment of its institutions. While certainly far from their fully developed form as reported by Ibn Hawqal, he certainly did initiate some of them. The Qarmatian system was based on communal ownership and
egalitarianism
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
, with a system of production and distribution overseen by Abu Sai'id's agents. For example, any livestock and supplies taken during raids were stored and distributed; slaves were employed in communal labour; the herding of cattle, camels, and sheep, the production of arms and clothing, were centrally directed; and all boys taken captive were trained together from the age of four, both in arms and riding and in the Qarmatian doctrine. Workers and artisans were organized into primitive
guilds
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
, and a council, the ''al-ʿIqdāniyya'', comprising representatives of leading families and senior officials, was also established in an advisory capacity. Some modern commentators have described this system as a "kind of
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
", the Qarmatians as the "
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
of Islam", and their state as the "only communist society to control a large territory, and to endure for more than a generation, before the twentieth century".
His religious teachings are less clear, as the Qarmatians of Bahrayn left no testimonies of their own; what is known about them is reported by few, foreign, and usually heavily hostile sources. Initially, he obviously adhered to the
millennialist
Millennialism (from millennium, Latin for "a thousand years") or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief advanced by some religious denominations that a Golden Age or Paradise will occur on Earth prior to the final judgment and future ...
Isma'ili teachings about the imminent return of the ''mahdī'',
Muhammad ibn Isma'il. After the rift of 899, he no longer recognized the authority of Sa'id; according to the ''
qāḍī
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
''
Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad
ʿAbd al-Jabbar ibn Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbar al-Hamadani al-Asadabadi, Abu ʿl-Hasan (935 – 1025) was a Mu'tazilite theologian, and a reported follower of the Shafi‘i school. Abd al-Jabbar means "servant of the powerful." He was born in Asada ...
, Abu Sa'id now claimed that the ''mahdī'' was no longer Ibn Isma'il but Muhammad, the son of
Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, whose appearance was expected in 912, the year 300 of the
Hijri calendar, but this information is of dubious reliability. When the date passed without incident—in the meantime Sa'id had declared himself as the ''mahdī'' and founded the Fatimid Caliphate in
Ifriqiya
Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...
—the failure of the prophecy is said to have caused considerable embarrassment to the Qarmatian regime.
Following Isma'ili expectations that the ''mahdī'' would reveal the "hidden" or "inner" (''
bāṭin'') truths of the religion to his followers, thus ushering an "age of pure spiritual knowledge" and making religious laws and customs obsolete, Abu Sa'id abolished numerous Islamic rites, such as
prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
and
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
.
Death and succession
Al-Mas'udi reports that Abu Sa'id was murdered in June/July 913 while taking his bath in his palace by two ''
ṣaqlabī'' eunuch slaves. Several of his higher-ranking officers and followers were killed at the same time, including Ali and Hamdan ibn Sanbar. However, the death was not reported in Baghdad until the summer of 914, perhaps indicating that it was kept secret until then. The reason for his murder is unknown, but Heinz Halm suggests it may be linked to the failed prophecy on the appearance of the ''mahdī'' the previous year.
He left seven or six sons, who due to their youth were at first under the tutelage of their uncle Hasan, the last of the three Banu Sanbar brothers. Power was likely nominally invested among all of Abu Sa'id's sons, as a response composed soon after Abu Sa'id's death to a letter from the Abbasid
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
was written on behalf of all sons. Among his sons, the oldest,
Abu'l-Qasim Sa'id al-Jannabi
The name Abu al-Qasim or Abu'l-Qasim ( ar, أبو القاسم), meaning ''father of Qasim'', is a kunya or attributive name of Islamic prophet Muhammad, describing him as father to his son Qasim ibn Muhammad. Since then the name has been used by ...
, was at first the pre-eminent, but his reign was brief; he was replaced by the youngest son,
Abu Tahir al-Jannabi
Abu Tahir Sulayman al-Jannabi ( ar, ابو طاهر سلیمان الجنّابي, Abū Tāhir Sulaymān al-Jannābī, fa, ابوطاهر سلیمانِ گناوهای ''Abu-Tāher Soleymān-e Genāve'i'') was a Persian warlord and the ruler ...
, at the latest by 923. The reason and manner of the transition is unclear. Most Arabic sources agree that Abu Sa'id had appointed him as his heir, but that he was deposed in 923 by Abu Tahir. Another tradition, by the Kufan anti-Isma'ili polemicist
Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Rizam al-Ta'i, reports that Abu Sa'id had always intended for Abu Tahir to succeed him, and had named Sa'id only as regent, and that Sa'id voluntarily relinquished power to his brother in 917/918.
Following his death, Abu Sa'id became the object of veneration by his followers. It was believed that he would
return
Return may refer to:
In business, economics, and finance
* Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense.
* Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment
* Tax return, a blank document or t ...
to lead them, to the point that a saddled horse was kept at the entrance of his tomb. The state he founded survived until its overthrow by the
Uyunids
The Uyunid dynasty ( ar, العيونيون, al-ʿUyūnīyūn) were an Arab dynasty that ruled Eastern Arabia for 163 years, from the 11th to the 13th centuries. Their sect is disputed; some sources mention they were Shia, others Sunni. They we ...
in the 1070s, and as late as the mid-11th century the Bahrayni Qarmatians called themselves ''Abū Saʿīdī''s after him.
References
Sources
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Said Jannabi
9th-century births
913 deaths
9th century in the Abbasid Caliphate
9th-century Iranian people
10th century in the Abbasid Caliphate
10th-century Iranian people
10th-century murdered monarchs
Ismaili da'is
Qarmatians
Year of birth uncertain
Al-Jannabi family