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The safe-conduct for the Abbasid ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Alī (d. 764)*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2007

A Marsham  and
C. F. Robinson
A Marsham
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, email: [email protected]
C. F. Robinson
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, email: [email protected]
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Abstract

In his Ta’rīkh al-Mawṣil, al-Azdī (d. 945) records the safe-conduct (amān) said to have been written for the surrender of the Abbasid ‘Abd Allāh b. ‘Alī (d. 764) to his nephew, the caliph al-Manṣūr. This text has been overlooked in discussions of early Abbasid history and in studies of the work of Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ (d. c. 756), who is widely credited with its production. This article presents an annotated translation of the amān and considers its transmission, authenticity, attribution and significance. Parallels with epigraphic, documentary and literary sources suggest that it was indeed originally composed in the early Abbasid period and that it conforms to developing conventions for amāns. Thus, it is important evidence for political theory and practice in the mid-eighth-century caliphate. Furthermore, it probably substantially reflects the agreement between the caliph and his uncle and may indeed be the work of Ibn al-Muqaffa‘.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 70 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 247 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 2007

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References

* The authors wish to thank Geert Jan van Gelder, Geoffrey Khan and Everett Rowson for reading and improving upon a draft of this article, and Nicola Clarke for assistance. Errors that remain belong to the authors.