Abu Abdallah Ya'qub ibn Dawud () (died 802) was a close confidant of the
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 ...
Caliph
al-Mahdi
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abba ...
(r. 775–785) and
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 ...
of the Caliphate for a period of three years (779/80–782/3).
Biography
Ya'qub was born to a family known for its
Alid
The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inc ...
sympathies, and participated in the failed
Alid revolt of 762–763
The Alid revolt of 762–763 or Revolt of Muhammad the Pure Soul was an uprising by the Hasanid branch of the Alids against the newly established Abbasid Caliphate. The Hasanids, led by the brothers Muhammad (called "the Pure Soul") and Ibrahim ...
. He was subsequently imprisoned until released by al-Mahdi, who endeavoured to heal the dispute between the Abbasids and the Alids, soon after his accession.
[Moscati (1960), p. 103] He quickly became one of the Caliph's closest advisors, placing his contacts with the Alids in the service of Mahdi's conciliatory policy,
although it is reported that he first gained the Caliph's favour by betraying another Alid sympathizer who planned to escape.
He was raised to the vizierate in 779–80 and played an ever-increasing role in the caliphal administration until his abrupt fall from power in 782/3. In the words of Islamic scholar
Hugh N. Kennedy
Hugh Nigel Kennedy (born 22 October 1947) is a British medieval historian and academic. He specialises in the history of the early Islamic Middle East, Muslim Iberia and the Crusades. From 1997 to 2007, he was Professor of Middle Eastern Histor ...
, "never before had a member of the bureaucracy established such control over policy-making". In this way, Ya'qub became the antecedent of a series of powerful civil officials that dominated the government at
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 ...
, who came to prominence with the
Barmakids
The Barmakids ( fa, برمکیان ''Barmakiyân''; ar, البرامكة ''al-Barāmikah''Harold Bailey, 1943. "Iranica" BSOAS 11: p. 2. India - Department of Archaeology, and V. S. Mirashi (ed.), ''Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era'' vol ...
and reached the apex of their power in the early 10th century. Nevertheless, his increasing power and his pro-Alid policies brought about his downfall, after his enemies got to the Caliph himself. Allegedly the Caliph tested his loyalty by handing over to him an Alid supporter and ordering his execution. When Ya'qub instead let him escape, he was dismissed from his offices and imprisoned.
[Kennedy (2004), p. 137]
He was released from prison on the accession of
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
(r. 786–809), and journeyed to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
, where he spent his final years until his death, probably in 802.
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ya'qub Ibn Dawud
8th-century births
802 deaths
Viziers of the Abbasid Caliphate
Prisoners and detainees of the Abbasid Caliphate