Abdullah 5 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Sex | M |
| Floruit | M VIII |
| Dates | 750 (taq) / 767 (ob.) |
| PmbZ No. | 16 |
| Variant Names | Abdelas; `bd'lh br `li |
| Religion | Muslim |
| Ethnicity | Arab |
| Locations | Syria (officeplace); Nisibis; Syria; Damascus; Palaestina; Phoenicia; Zab (River) |
| Textual Sources | Chronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle); Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, La chronique de Michel le Syrien (Paris, 1899-1904) (chronicle); Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle) |
Abdullah 5 was Abdullah ibn Ali, the Abbasid general who defeated the last Umayyad caliph Marwan II (Marwan 2) at the river Zab: Encyclopaedia of Islam., vol I, p. 43, and cf. Chron. 1234, §179 (pp. 328-330) (for the defeat of Marwan; the date is given as Friday, 24 Konun Hroy (January), in AH 132, i.e. 24 January 750). Son of Ali 2, brother of Salim (Sulayman 3): Theoph. AM 6241, AM 6246, Chron. 1234, §180 (p. 331), §184 (p. 338). He was the uncle of the first two caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty, as-Saffah 1 and al-Mansour 1: Chron. 1234, §§179 (p. 328), 180 (p. 330). He was appointed commander of Syria in 750 by the new rulers of the Abbasid dynasty (καὶ τῆς μὲν Συρίας στρατηγεῖν ἔταξαν Ἀβδελᾶν): Theoph. AM 6241, cf. Chron. 1234, §§180-181 (pp. 330-334) (subdues Syria), §184 (p. 338) (Abu -'l-`Abbas, i.e as-Saffah 1, gave him "authority over Syria, Damascus, Palestine and Phoenicia"). In 754 he was sole commander of Syria (τὸν μονοστράτηγον Συρίας); at the accession of al-Mansour 1 he revolted with the support of the Syrian army and threatened Persia but was finally met and defeated near Nisibis by Abu Muslim 1; his followers are described as "mostly Slavs and Antiochenes" (οἱ πλείους Σκλάβοι καὶ Ἀντιοχεῖς); Abdullah 5 survived and sought pardon from al-Mansour 1 but was imprisoned and suffered a lingering death: Theoph. AM 6246. In 754 he was ordered to prepare an army and mount an invasion of Roman territory; however the death of as-Saffah 1 and the accession of al-Mansour 1 was announced to him before he crossed the frontier; he assumed the position of ruler in Syria for himself, but was defeated by Abu Salim (i.e. Abu Muslim 1) whom al-Mansour 1 sent against him: Chron. 1234, §184 (p. 339). His death is recorded by Theophanes under the year 767, when the tower of his prison fell and killed him: Theoph. AM 6258 (Ἀβδελᾶς Ἰβιναλὶμ). Abdullah 5 defeated and killed Marwan 2: Mich. Syr. II 505, 517. Later he tried to become ruler after as-Saffah 1's death, but was attacked and defeated by Abu Muslim 1: Mich. Syr. II 518.
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