Ja'far ibn Abdallah al-Mansur () was the elder son of second

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ‎; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...

and elder brother of third Abbasid caliph

al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr (; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 775 to his death in 785. He succeeded his ...

. As the elder son of al-Mansur, he was the candidate to the caliphal throne until his premature death.

Life

Ja'far was the son of Abdallah ibn Muhammad al-Abbasi al-Hashimi (the future caliph

) in 742/743. When Ja'far was eleven or twelve year old, his father became caliph. His mother was Arwa. She was al-Mansur's first wife. Arwa also known as Umm Musa, whose lineage went back to the kings of Himyar. Her father was Mansur al-Himyari. She had a brother named Yazid. Arwa had two sons, Muhammad (future Caliph

) and Ja'far. She died in 764. The two sons of Arwa, Ja'far and Muhammad were regarded as his heirs after the removal of Isa ibn Musa as heir. However, Ja'far died during his father al-Mansur's reign. His brother, Muhammad became sole candidate to the throne. One of his al-Mansur's concubines was a Kurdish woman. She was the mother of al-Mansur's son Ja'far. Al-Mansur named this son after his elder son. After Ja'far's death, his father took care of his young children. When his father, al-Mansur died. His brother caliph

took responsibility for his children. Al-Mahdi married his son and heir to Ja'far's daughter Zubaidah.

Relatives

Ja'far was related to several powerful figures of

House. He was the older brother of al-Mahdi and he was also maternal grandfather of al-Amin. Jafar also had several half-siblings, After his mother's death, his father remarried and had children from his wives.

References

Sources

* Abbott, Nabia (1946). Two Queens of Baghdad: Mother and Wife of Hārūn Al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press * al-Tabari; Hugh Kennedy (1990). The History of al-Tabari Vol. 29: Al-Mansur and al-Mahdi A.D. 763-786/A.H. 146–169. SUNY series in Near Eastern Studies. State University of New York Press. pp. 148–49. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ja'far ibn Abdallah 740s births 760s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Arab Muslims 8th-century Arab people 8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate Abbasid governors of Mosul Sons of Abbasid caliphs Harun al-Rashid