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Al-Mansur

Type Figure Region West Asia Time c. 714–775 Also known as Abu Ja'far Abdallah

Second Abbasid caliph (r. 754–775) who crushed revolts, centralized the state, and founded Baghdad as the imperial capital in 762.

Timeline

  1. c. 714–754Humayma · JordanBorn at Humayma, a settlement of the Abbasid family. He took part in the secret propaganda and military mobilization that overthrew the Umayyads, assisted his brother al-Saffah in completing the revolution, and consolidated Abbasid power in Khorasan and across Iraq.
  2. 754–775Baghdad · IraqAfter his accession he suppressed the power of figures such as Abu Muslim and revolts in various regions, and established hereditary succession to the caliphate. In 762 he ordered the architect Naqshab to design and build the round city of Baghdad (the City of Peace), integrating Persian administrative traditions with Islamic governance and promoting the translation movement and the bureaucracy.

Sources