Abu Abdallah al-Baridi
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Abu Abdallah al-Hasan al-Baridi (Arabic: الحسن البريدي; fl. 927/8–944) was the most prominent of the Baridi family, Iraqi tax officials who used the enormous wealth gained from tax farming to vie for control of the rump Abbasid Caliphate in the 930s and 940s.
In this contest Abu Abdallah and his two brothers manoeuvred between the military commanders Ibn Ra'iq and Bajkam, the Hamdanids of Mosul, the Buyids of Fars, and the ruler of Oman; they twice occupied the Abbasid capital Baghdad, but were never able to hold it for long; and at different times ruled Khuzistan, Wasit and Basra; Abu Abdallah himself was named vizier of the Abbasid caliph four times in the process. Ultimately, the constant warfare against multiple enemies exhausted the family's resources, and by 943 Abu Abdallah resorted to assassinating his youngest brother to shore up his wealth. Abu Abdallah died in June 944, and was succeeded as governor of Basra by his son Abu'l-Qasim, who ruled the city until the Buyids conquered it in 947.
Abu Abdallah was the oldest of three brothers, members of a Shi'a family from Basra. Their father was post-master in the city, whence the family's nisba of "al-Baridi".[1][2] Abu Abdallah's two younger brothers, Abu Yusuf Ya'qub and Abu'l-Husayn, also played an important role in their brother's life.[1][2] He also had five sons, but only one of them, Abu'l-Qasim, is independently mentioned in the sources.[3] Frugal and chaste in his personal life, just like his brothers Abu Abdallah had a pronounced tendency for self-advancement—it is said that his motto was "My drum has a sound that shall be heard one of these days!".[4] His temporary political ally and son-in-law, the Turkish military commander Bajkam, is said to have remarked of him that his "turban covered the head not of a man but of a devil",[5] while the 20th-century historian Harold Bowen remarked that he was distinguished for his "suppleness and subtlety of mind", and called him "an accomplished villain".[4]
The family first appears in 927/8, when all three brothers had posts as tax farmers in the province of Khuzistan, whose capital was Ahwaz. They had already at that time acquired a bad reputation, and were frequently dismissed and even imprisoned as power in Baghdad changed hands. They managed to recover and prosper largely due to the patronage of the vizier Ibn Muqla.[6] It was Abu Abdallah who, against a bribe of 20,000 dirhams to Ibn Muqla, secured the tax-farming contract for Khuzistan, and further lucrative posts for his brothers.[2] When Ibn Muqla fell from power in 930, the brothers, now very wealthy, were arrested and had to pay a hefty fine in exchange for their liberty.[2]
Abu Abdallah rose to wider prominence in 932, when he offered to finance the expedition sent by Caliph al-Qahir (r. 932–934) to subdue the fugitive supporters of his slain predecessor, al-Muqtadir. For this, the revenue of the entire province of Khuzistan was placed under his control, and through ruthless oppression of the local population, he managed to extract a considerable fortune.[2][7] In late 933 or early 934, shortly before his downfall, Caliph al-Qahir gave him a tax farming contract for the province of Wasit, to the sum of 13 million dirhams.[4]
With the deposition of al-Qahir and the accession of al-Radi (r. 934–940), Ibn Muqla also returned to the vizierate, and the Baridis were restored to their positions in Khuzistan.[8] At Ahwaz, Abu Abdallah managed to become the secretary of the chamberlain Yaqut,[2] whose army had retreated to the city after being defeated by the Buyid warlord Ali ibn Buya and driven from Fars. Soon after, another Iranian warlord, Mardavij, evicted Yaqut from Ahwaz, and Abu Abdallah followed him to Wasit.[8] As the de facto paymaster of Yaqut's army, Abu Abdallah now hatched a plan to suborn the latter's command over his troops. Despite being warned of his intentions, Yaqut refused to believe them until it was too late; marching to confront his colleague, he was ambushed and killed by Abu Abdallah's now much larger army.[9]
Rivalry with Ibn Ra'iq and Bajkam
With this stroke, Abu Abdallah established himself as a de facto independent ruler over Khuzistan.[2][10] He amassed a huge fortune by deferring the dispatch of tax revenues to Baghdad, where his brother Abu Yusuf Ya'qub looked after their interests,[2] and established independent contacts with the Buyids of Fars.[11]
In 936, Muhammad ibn Ra'iq sidelined the powerless caliph and became dictator of what remained of the Abbasid realm, with the title of amir al-umara.[12] Almost immediately he tried to extend the area under his control by attacking the Baridis.[13] Ibn Ra'iq was defeated and forced to leave Basra as well to the Baridis, but his general Bajkam reversed the situation by scoring two major victories, despite being outnumbered, that allowed him to take possession of Khuzistan.[14]
This resulted in Abu Abdallah resuming his contacts with Ali ibn Buya, who in late 937 sent his younger brother Ahmad to assist the Baridis against Bajkam. The allies were successful, and Bajkam was forced to fall back to Wasit. The Baridis and Buyids soon quarrelled, and Bajkam recovered most of the province, while Abu Abdallah fled to Basra.[14][15] In the meantime, however, Bajkam had turned against Ibn Ra'iq, and was positioning himself as an independent warlord. Ibn Ra'iq opened up contacts with Abu Abdallah, in exchange for a renewal of the tax-farming contract and the governorship of Khuzistan.[2] Bajkam moved first, attacked and captured the Baridi, only to conclude an alliance with him. After this, Bajkam marched on Baghdad, defeated Ibn Ra'iq, and on 10/11 September 938, was himself named amir al-umara.[14][16]
"O Sky, to fall, O Earth, to quake, prepare:
Ibn al-Baridi has become Vizier."
In exchange for his support, Abu Abdallah was confirmed as governor of Basra and Wasit, and was given the post of vizier, which he may have also briefly been awarded during his short-lived accommodation with Ibn Ra'iq. Abu Abdallah did not visit Basra to take up his appointment, now an empty and purely honorific title, but remained ensconced in Wasit. The deal was further secured by a marriage between Bajkam and Abu Abdallah's daughter, Sarah.[14][17]
Although no side really trusted the other, this allowed a fragile calm to survive for about a year between Basra and Baghdad.[5] Bajkam engaged in a campaign against the Buyids in the mountains of Jibal, which was beaten back by the third Buyid brother, Hasan.[14] According to the medieval sources, this was actually part of Abu Abdallah's plan: he attacked some Buyid forts near Susa, provoking Ali ibn Buya to retaliate by attacking Wasit. Bajkam left Baghdad on a campaign to defend Wasit, and was victorious. It was then that Abu Abdallah suggested extending the campaign into Jibal, while he would launch a concurrent offensive from the south; in reality, he would use Bajkam's absence to capture Baghdad.[5] The plan was betrayed while Bajkam was on campaign, forcing him to turn back.[5] In late August 940, Bajkam removed al-Baridi from the vizierate and launched an attack on Wasit, which the Baridis abandoned without resistance.[14] In December 940, Caliph al-Radi died, and Bajkam was forced to divert his attention from the Baridis to arrange the succession of al-Muttaqi (r. 940–944).[18]
In spring 941, Bajkam again attacked the Baridis. The latter at first defeated his general, Tuzun, whereupon Bajkam himself left Wasit to take the field. On his way to join his army, however, he was informed that his generals had achieved a major victory over the Baridis, and decided to return to Wasit. On 21 April 941, he was killed by Kurdish brigands during a hunt.[14][19][20]
