Arwa bint Mansur al-Himyari
| Arwa bint Mansur al-Himyari أروى بنت منصور الحميرى | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consort of the Abbasid caliph | |||||
| Tenure | 10 June 754 – 764 | ||||
| Predecessor | (Consort of al-Saffah) | ||||
| Successor |
| ||||
| Born | c. 735 Umayyad Caliphate | ||||
| Died | c. 764 (aged 29) Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate | ||||
| Burial | Baghdad | ||||
| Spouse | al-Mansur | ||||
| Issue | |||||
| |||||
| House | Banu Himyar (by birth) Abbasid (by marriage) | ||||
| Father | Mansur al-Himyari | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Arwa bint Mansur al-Himyari (Arabic: أروى بنت منصور الحميرى) also known as Umm Musa (Arabic: ام موسى) was the famous principal wife of Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (r. 754–775) and mother of third Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi.
Biography[]
Arwa was the daughter of Mansur al-Himyari. She was a descendant of pre-Islamic ruling family called Banu Himyar (110 BCE–525 CE), that ruled southern part of Arabia. She married Abdallah ibn Muhammad (future Abbasīd caliph al-Mansur). She had two sons from her marriage Ja'far and Muhammad (future Abbasīd caliph al-Mahdi). According to the pre-marital agreement, while Arwa was still alive Abu Jafar Abdallah had no right to take other wives and have concubines. Al-Mansur tried to annul this agreement several times, but Arwa always managed to convince the judges not to do that. The two sons of Arwa bint Mansur, Muhammad and Jafar were regarded as his heirs.
Her first son, Jafar was born in 742/743 and her second son, Muhammad Al-Mahdi was born in 744 or 745 AD in the village of Humeima (modern-day Jordan). His mother was Arwa, and his father was al-Mansur. When al-Mahdi was ten years old, his father became the second Abbasid caliph.[1]
When her brother-in-law, As-Saffah died after a five year reign and her husband al-Mansur took on the responsibility of the Abbasid Caliphate by holding on to power for nearly 22 years, from Dhu al-Hijjah 136 AH until Dhu al-Hijjah 158 AH (754 – 775).[2][3] Al-Mansur was proclaimed Caliph on his way to Mecca in the year 753 (136 AH) and was inaugurated the following year.[4] Arwa convinced her husband to name only her two sons as heirs.
Her only son Muhammad was old enough to place in succession, Her elder son died during the reign of Al-Mansur. Arwa died in 764 during the reign of her husband al-Mansur, she was 29 years old at the time of her death.[5] It was only after her death, Al-Mansur took other wifes.
Her paternal nephew, Mansur ibn Yazid ibn Mansur al-Himyari held important positions in Caliphate, In 779 he spent two months as governor of Egypt.[6] Between 781/2 and 783 he was governor of the Yemen,[7] and in 796 he briefly served as the governor of Khurasan.[8]
[]
The Caliphs who were related to her are:
| No. | Caliph | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Saffah | Brother-in-law |
| 2 | Al-Mansur | Husband |
| 3 | Al-Mahdi | Son |
| 4 | Al-Hadi | Grandson |
| 5 | Harun al-Rashid | Grandson |
| 6 | Al-Amin | Great-grandson |
| 7 | Al-Ma'mun | Great-grandson |
| 8 | Al-Mu'tasim | Great-grandson |
| 9 | Al-Wathiq | Great great-grandson |
| 10 | Al-Mutawakkil | Great great-grandson |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "The Abbasid Caliphs During the Lifetime of Imam Reza (A.S.)". Imam Reza Network. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
- ^ Sanders, P. (1990). The Meadows of Gold: The Abbasids by MAS‘UDI. Translated and edited by Lunde Paul and Stone Caroline, Kegan Paul International, London and New York, 1989 ISBN 0 7103 0246 0. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, 24(1), 50–51. doi:10.1017/S0026318400022549
- ^ Axworthy, Michael (2008); A History of Iran; Basic, USA; ISBN 978-0-465-00888-9. p. 81.
- ^ Aikin, John (1747). General biography: or, Lives, critical and historical, of the most eminent persons of all ages, countries, conditions, and professions, arranged according to alphabetical order. London: G. G. and J. Robinson. p. 201. ISBN 1333072457.
- ^ "Arwa bint Mansur al-Himyari". Fathers and Sons: The Rise and Fall of Political Dynasty in the Middle East. M. McMillan. 2013.
- ^ Al-Kindi 1912, pp. 121–22; Ibn Taghribirdi 1930, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Yarshater 1985–2007, v. 29: pp. 218, 219, 235; Gordon et al. 2018, p. 1141; Ibn Abd al-Majid 1985, p. 25.
- ^ Bosworth 2011, p. 38; Yarshater 1985–2007, v. 30: pp. 152, 305; Hamzah al-Isfahani 1844, p. 174 (calling him Mansur ibn Yazid ibn Khalid); Gordon et al. 2018, p. 1177; Khalifah ibn Khayyat 1985, p. 462.
Sources[]
- al-Masudi. The Meadows of Gold, The Abbasids. transl. Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone, Kegan Paul, London and New York, 1989.
- Bosworth, C. E. (2011). The Ornament of Histories: A History of the Eastern Islamic Lands AD 650-1041: The Persian Text of Abu Sa'id 'Abd Al-Hayy Gardizi. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–169. ISBN 978-1-84885-353-9.
- Al-Kindi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf (1912). Guest, Rhuvon (ed.). The Governors and Judges of Egypt (in Arabic). Leyden and London: E. J. Brill.
- 735 births
- 764 deaths
- 8th-century women
- Wives of Abbasid caliphs
- 8th-century Arabs