Al-Abbas ibn al-Hasan al-Jarjara'i

Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Ḥasan al-Jarjarāʾī was a senior Abbasid official and vizier from October 904 until his murder on 17 December 908.

As his nisba shows, he came from the locality of Jarjaraya, south of Baghdad.^[1] He began his career as private secretary to al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah. When al-Qasim died in October 904, he recommended either Abbas or the Jarrahid Ali Ibn Isa as his successor; when the latter declined, Caliph al-Muktafi (reigned 902–908) duly appointed Abbas to the post.^[1][2] His tenure of office was marked by a close alliance with the Banu'l-Furat, whose leader Abu'l-Hasan Ali became his chief aide and designated successor.^[1]

When al-Muktafi died in 908, it fell on Abbas and the senior bureaucrats to decide on his successor. In the end, Abbas heeded the advice of Abu'l-Hasan Ali, who counselled the selection of a weak ruler who would be easy to manipulate: al-Muktafi's 13-year-old brother Ja'far, who became Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908–932).^[1][3] In December 908, a palace revolt broke out led by the Jarrahids and the Hamdanid al-Husayn ibn Hamdan, aiming to install his more mature and experienced uncle, Abdallah ibn al-Mu'tazz, in his stead. The revolt ultimately failed, but not before the rebels managed to kill Abbas.^[1][4]

References

Sources

• Kennedy, Hugh N. (2004). The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century (Second ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education Ltd. ISBN 0-582-40525-4. 
• Rosenthal, Franz, ed. (1985). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXVIII: The Return of the Caliphate to Baghdad. The Caliphates of al-Mu'tadid, al-Muktafi and al-Muqtadir, A.D. 892–915/A.H. 279–302. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-87395-876-4. 
• Sourdel, Dominique (1991). "al-D̲j̲ard̲j̲arāʾī". The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume II: C–G. Leiden and New York: BRILL. pp. 461–462. ISBN 90-04-07026-5.