Sa'id ibn Hamdan () was an early member of the

Hamdanid dynasty The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern Ara ...

who served as provincial governor and military leader under the

Abbasid Caliphate 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 ...

. He was the father of the celebrated poet

Abu Firas al-Hamdani Al-Harith ibn Abi’l-ʿAlaʾ Saʿid ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi (932–968), better known by his pen name Abu Firas al-Hamdani ( ar, أبو فارس الحمداني), was an Arab prince and poet. He was a cousin of Sayf al-Dawla and a member of the ...

Biography

Sa'id was a son of the

Hamdanid The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern Ara ...

family's patriarch,

Hamdan ibn Hamdun Hamdan ibn Hamdun ibn al-Harith al-Taghlibi () was a Taghlibi Arab chieftain in the Jazira, and the patriarch of the Hamdanid dynasty. Alongside other Arab chieftains of the area, he resisted the attempts at re-imposition of Abbasid control over the ...

. His family belonged to the

Banu Taghlib The Banu Taghlib (), also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Najd (central Arabia), but later migrated and inhabited the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) from the late 6th century onward. Their parent tribe was the Rabi' ...

tribe, established in the

Jazira Jazira or Al-Jazira ( 'island'), or variants, may refer to: Business *Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazira, a traditional region known today as Upper Mesopotamia or the smaller region of Cizre * Al-Jazira (c ...

since before the

Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...

. In a pattern repeated across the

, the Taghlibi leaders took advantage of the collapse of central caliphal authority during the decade-long

Anarchy at Samarra The Anarchy at Samarra () was a period of extreme internal instability from 861 to 870 in the history of the Abbasid Caliphate, marked by the violent succession of four caliphs, who became puppets in the hands of powerful rival military groups. T ...

(861–870) to assert increasing control over their particular area, centred on

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

. Despite the subsequent re-assertion of caliphal authority under

al-Mu'tadid Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Ṭalḥa al-Muwaffaq ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن طلحة الموفق), 853/4 or 860/1 – 5 April 902, better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaḍid bi-llāh ( ar, المعتضد بالله, link=no, ...

(), the family was able to retain and consolidate its influence in the area thanks to Sa'id's brother

Husayn ibn Hamdan Husayn ibn Hamdan ibn Hamdun ibn al-Harith al-Taghlibi () was an early member of the Hamdanid dynasty, Hamdanid family, who distinguished himself as a general for the Abbasid Caliphate and played a major role in the Hamdanids' rise to power among ...

, who became a distinguished general in Abbasid service. Husayn rebelled in after quarrelling with the vizier, and was executed in 918, but his brothers remained loyal to the Abbasid government and were entrusted with senior positions. In 927/8, Sa'id and his brothers served in the caliphal army sent to stop the

Qarmatians The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ilism, Isma'ili Shia Islam, Shia movement centred in Al-Ahsa Oasis, al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a Utopia#Religious utopias, religious-utopian Socialis ...

Bahrayn 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 ad ...

from reaching

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 ...

. Along with his brother Abu'l-Sarja Nasr, Sa'id vied with his nephew Hasan, the future

Nasir al-Dawla Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Abu'l-Hayja Abdallah ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi ( ar, أبو محمد الحسن ابن أبو الهيجاء عبدالله ابن حمدان ناصر الدولة التغلبي; died 968 or 969), more commonly known simpl ...

, for control of Mosul. In 931, following the conquest of the frontier emirate of Melitene by the Byzantines under

John Kourkouas John Kourkouas ( gr, Ἰωάννης Κουρκούας, Ioannes Kourkouas, ), also transliterated as Kurkuas or Curcuas, was one of the most important generals of the Byzantine Empire. His success in battles against the Muslim states in the Ea ...

, Caliph

al-Muqtadir Abu’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Ahmad al-Muʿtaḍid ( ar, أبو الفضل جعفر بن أحمد المعتضد) (895 – 31 October 932 AD), better known by his regnal name Al-Muqtadir bi-llāh ( ar, المقتدر بالله, "Mighty in God"), wa ...

() appointed him governor of Mosul, with the task of recovering the city. Setting out in October, Sa'id managed to break the Byzantine siege of

Samosata Samsat ( ku, Samîsad), formerly Samosata ( grc, Σαμόσατα) is a small town in the Adıyaman Province of Turkey, situated on the upper Euphrates river. It is the seat of Samsat District.Melias Melias ( el, Μελίας) or Mleh ( hy, Մլեհ, often ''Mleh-mec'', "Mleh the Great" in Armenian sources) was an Armenian prince who entered Byzantine service and became a distinguished general, founding the theme of Lykandos and participating ...

, panicked and massacred many of the inhabitants for fear of an uprising against them; they then destroyed as much of the city as they could and abandoned it. Sa'id took over control of the city, appointed one of his lieutenants as governor, and returned to Mosul. From there he launched a raid into Byzantine territory in November. Hasan regained Mosul in 934, but again Sa'id's intrigues at court caused him to lose it. As a result, Hasan had his uncle assassinated and fled to

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, whence he returned in late 935 to become once more Mosul's governor. Consolidating his position, Hasan founded the practically independent Hamdanid emirate of Mosul, and ruled it until 967. Through a

Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...

slave concubine (an ''

umm walad An ''umm walad'' ( ar, أم ولد, , lit=mother of the child) was the title given to a slave-concubine in the Muslim world after she had born her master a child. She could not be sold, and became automatically free on her master's death. The off ...

'', freed after giving birth to her master's child), Sa'id was the father of the distinguished general and poet

. Another son,

Husayn Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...

, served as a general under Nasir al-Dawla and

Sayf al-Dawla ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...

, while his daughter Shakinah became the wife of Sayf al-Dawla and the mother of his successor,

Sa'd al-Dawla Abu 'l-Ma'ali Sharif, more commonly known by his laqab, honorific title, Sa'd al-Dawla ( ar, سعد الدولة), was the second ruler of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Bilad al-Sham, Syria. The son of the emirate' ...

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sa'id ibn Hamdani 934 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century Arabs Governors of the Abbasid Caliphate Abbasid people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Hamdanid dynasty Assassinated people in the medieval Islamic world History of Malatya Abbasid governors of Mosul