al-Mahdi 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexM
FloruitM/L VIII
Dates765 (taq) / 785 (ob.)
PmbZ No.4663
Variant NamesMadi;
Mhdy
ReligionMuslim
EthnicityArab
LocationsArbisos;
Aleppo (Syria);
Damascus;
Emesa (Syria);
Jerusalem;
Dabekon
TitlesCaliph (office)
Textual SourcesBar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history);
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);
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio, ed. G. Moravcsik, trans. R. J. H. Jenkins (Washington, D.C., 1967) (history);
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)

Al-Mahdi 1 was the son of Abdelas (al-Mansour 1): Theoph. AM 6256 (ἒδωκαν τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἀβδελᾶ Μουάμεδ, τῷ ἐπικληθέντι Μαδί), Theoph. AM 6267 (Ἀβδελᾶς, ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀρχηγός ... καὶ κρατοῦσι Λέων καὶ Μαδί, οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτῶν), cf. Chron. 1234, §186 (p. 340) (son of Abu Ja`far, i.e. al-Mansour 1); see also Bar Hebr., p. 116. Nephew of Abasbali 1: Theoph. AM 6270 (Ἰσβααλί, ὁ θεῖος τοῦ Μαδί). Al-Mahdi 1 was called Muhammad, but was known as al-Mahdi (Μουάμεδ, τῷ ἐπικληθέντι Μαδί): Theoph. AM 6256, cf. AM 6276 (cited below). The name, meaning divinely guided leader, was given to al-Mahdi 1 by his father al-Mansour 1.

Al-Mahdi 1 was the father of Aaron (Harun 1): Theoph. AM 6272 (Μαδί ... τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Ἀαρὼν), Theoph. AM 6274 (Ἀαρών, υἱὸς Μαδί). Father also of Moses (Musa, al-Hadi 1): Theoph. AM 6276 (ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀρχηγὸς Μαδί, ὁ καὶ Μουάμεδ, τέθνηκεν, καὶ ἐκράτησε Μωσῆς, ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ).

In c. 765 his father (al-Mansour 1) contrived to have al-Mahdi 1 nominated as his successor, in place of Isa ibn Musa 1: Theoph. AM 6256. He succeeded his father as caliph on the death of al-Mansour 1 in September 775: Theoph. AM 6267, Chron. 1234, §186 (p. 340).

Al-Mahdi 1 was caliph from 775 to 785. In 776 he sent a large army under Abasbali 1 to attack the Roman empire: Theoph. AM 6268. In 779 he sent a large army into Roman territory under the command of Hasan 1, which reached Dorylaeum: Theoph. AM 6271 (ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀρχηγὸς Μαδὶ). In 780 he himself accompanied a large army as far as Dabekon before sending it on under the command of his son Aaron (Harun 1) into Roman territory; he then withdrew to Jerusalem (ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν) and began to oppress the Christians there and in Emesa and Damascus (see Mouchesias 1): Theoph. AM 6272 (Μαδί, ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀρχηγός). In 781 he despatched an army against the Romans under the command of Qebir 1: Theoph. AM 6273. He died in 784 (actually 11 August 785) and was succeeded by his son Moses (al-Hadi 1): Theoph. AM 6276 (ὁ τῶν Ἀράβων ἀρχηγὸς Μαδί, ὁ καὶ Μουάμεδ, τέθνηκεν, καὶ ἐκράτησε Μωσῆς, ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ), Chron. 1234, §186 (p. 341) (he died in year 1096 Sel., i.e. 784, and was succeeded by his son Musa).

Son of Abu Ja`far (Al-Mansour 1), al-Mahdi 1 succeeded his father as caliph and reigned for ten years; he was devoted to the study of sorcery and received a book on Egyptian sorcery from the emperor Leo IV (Leo 4); at the start of his reign he released all his Christian prisoners but he also pulled down all churches built in the time of the Arabs as well as the Chalcedonian church in Aleppo: Bar Hebr., p. 116. In the year 1090 Sel. (778/779) he forced the men of the Tanukaye around Aleppo, who were all Christian, to become Muslims; he then invaded the lands of the Romans and made camp by the river Pyramon, near Arbisos, and his son, Harun 1, captured the fortress of Simalos (Semalouos): Bar Hebr., p. 117. In the year 1094 (782/783) al-Mahdi 1 sent his son Harun 1 against Constantinople but the Arabs fell into a trap and had to make peace: Bar Hebr., p. 118.

Al-Mahdi 1 was succeeded by his son Musa (Al-Hadi 1): Bar Hebr., p. 118.

Al-Mahdi 1 succeeded Abdelas (Abdullah, i.e. Al-Mansour 1) as ruler of the Arabs and ruled for nine years; he was succeeded by Aaron (Harun al-Rashid; Harun 1): Const. Porph., DAI 22, 58ff.

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