Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah

Representation in the Tarichname of Balami for the proclamation of the caliph

Abu l-Abbas as-Saffah , also incorrectly called Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah , Arabic أبو العباس السفاح, DMG Abu 'l-Abbas as-Saffah , (* 722 ; † June 10 754 in al-Anbar ) was the first Calif the Abbasiden (749-754) and the founder of this Dynasty .

Abu l-Abbas was born in 722. His father Muhammad ibn Ali was a great-grandson of al-Abbas , an uncle of the Prophet Mohammed . After his older brother Ibrahim died in captivity of the Umayyads in 749 , Abu l-Abbas took over the leadership of the Abbasid movement and initiated the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty with the uprising of Abu Muslim in Khorasan .

After the occupation of Mesopotamia , Abu l-Abbas was proclaimed caliph in Kufa in 749 , thus establishing the Abbasid dynasty. The Umayyads were almost completely exterminated after the Battle of the Great Zab (750). Only Prince Abd ar-Rahman managed to escape to al-Andalus , where he was able to continue the Umayyad dynasty (see: Emirate of Córdoba ).

The brief reign of as-Saffah is marked by the conflict with the Alides , who had hoped for the throne of the Caliphate when the Umayyads were overthrown. ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Ḥasan, the then head of the Alides, was treated with great respect by him. In terms of foreign policy, the victory over the Chinese in the Battle of the Talas (751), with which the Muslims were able to secure their conquests in Transoxania / Central Asia , is significant . However, as-Saffah died shortly after the founding of his new residence al-Anbar on the lower Euphrates in 754 . New caliph was his brother Abu Dschafar who ascended the throne under the name of al-Mansur (754-775).

The nickname As-Saffah translated means the bloodshed . Abu l-Abbas became the epithet through the bloody murder and suppression of the predecessor dynasties of the Umayyads as well as his political allies. Abu l-Abbas picked up the nickname himself in public speeches.

A famous successor of Abu l-Abbas, namely the caliph Hārūn ar-Raschīd , named the precious white elephant , which he had sent to Charlemagne as a gift, after the founder of the Abbasid dynasty (see the article Abul Abbas ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See KV Zetterstéen: Art. "ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Ḥasan" in 'Encyclopaedia of Islam'. Second edition. Vol. I, p. 45b
2. ^ Efraim Karsh: Islamic Imperialism - A History , New Haven, 2007, pp. 49f

predecessor	Office	successor
-	Abbasid Caliph 749–754	al-Mansur