Luis Lopez Garcia

Perm 5408513
The Abbasid Caliphate in Masudi
Al-Masudi was among the most prominent Islamic historians of the 10
th
century, nevertheless,
only one of his major works survived, The Golden Meadows and Gem-filled Mines. In said book,
the author offers a history both of the Abbasid Caliphate as a socio-political institution, and of
the territories that it occupied at the time of his writing. The way, in which he presents his text,
greatly differs from other Islamic historians of previous generations, such as al-Tabari. Masudi
is concerned not only with what he is saying, but also how he is saying it. This tending to style
related aspects, such as the use of language and other literary resources, is a very interesting and
particular trait of Masudis book that can be appreciated in his description of the Abbasid
Caliphs before 861.
In this part of the text, which is the focus of the present essay, the author uses a fictional
conversation between two real persons, historian Muhammad ibn Ali al-Misri and the Caliph
Qahir, as an introduction to the narration but also as a way to legitimize his account of the
history of the Caliphate. The fact that he decides to include a fictional story inside his historic
narration should not suggest a lack of seriousness, but rather a necessity to make the reading
more interesting and engaging. The story told, as every other text, responds to a particular socio-
historical context and the objective pursued by Masudi; in this case, the historian tries to portray
the Golden Era of the Abbasid Caliphate, and therefore his selection of the events included and
omitted are aimed to achieve this goal. This essay will try to explain the authors reasons to
highlight certain events and characteristics of the Caliphs and omit others.
The text consists of the narration of the lives of the Abbasid Caliphs from Abu-al Abbas
al Saffah to Mutawakki. Masudi begins with the request from the Caliph to Muhammad ibn Ali
al-Misri to tell the story of the Abbasid Caliphs, starting with Abu-al Abbas al Saffah. The author
emphasizes that the events narrated will be as close as possible to what actually happening by
making the Caliph order to Muhammad ibn Ali that he should not Hide nothing from me. I want
no embellishing touches, no rhymed prose in your story. But also I will tolerate no omissions
1
,
there is no way that Masudi could know the words that the Qahir used so what he presents is a
dramatization; nevertheless, it fulfills the purposes of making the reading more interesting and
adding credibility to what is narrated, it is also possible to observe this by the reactions the
Caliph has to the different parts of the account, even threating Muhammad ibn Ali al Misri with
death for shortening the narration about Umm Jafar
2
.
Masudi presents himself as an impartial narrator, but he is actually writing a panegyric
and therefore is possible to see what types of behavior did he, and likely also the society in
which he lived, considered positive and admirable, and also what was considered a defect in a
leader. Also, the adulatory nature of the text, may explain the lack of political history and the
great amount of personal and cultural interests of the Caliphs, in Masudis narration. He focuses
his story in several figures, the majority of the caliphs, such as Mamun and Mahdi, and one
princess, Zubaida, using them as example of the glory of the Abbasid Caliphate and its leaders;
on the other hand, the caliphs that he considers less fit to be imitated, are only quickly mentioned
and dismissed. Although the author states what made each caliph a good leader, such as Mansur

1
Masudi Qahir demands a True story of the Caliphate, p. 234
2
Ibid. p. 238
and his interest in astrology
3
. He shows some common traits among them that are considered
positive or negative in the Abbasid society of the early 10
th
century.
The first characteristic that Masudi attacks is violence; he mentions it both in his
description of Abu al-Abbas al Saffah and Hadi. In the first case we can see he does not hold
violence in high esteem, when he says, Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah was quick to spill blood
4
and
immediately adds that Saffah atoned for this defect by considerable nobility of mind and great
generosity
5
; when he writes about Hadi he only dedicates a few lines to his whole caliphate
mentioning only his affection for arms and his haughty character
6
, in this way he shows his
disdain towards violence and its public display. This shows us the contact between the Abbasids
and the Hellenistic World that regarded more the cultural and intellectual superiority to the
physical demonstrations of power; also and perhaps more importantly the Quranic teachings do
not condone violence.
Among the positive characteristics, he puts a lot of emphasis on charity, which is one of
the most important values in the Quran and demonstrates the prosperity of the Abbasid
Caliphate without bragging about it. In almost all of his characterizations of the caliphs, Masudi
highlights how open handed and generous they were and their preoccupation with helping the
persons in need. This is particularly noticeable in Mahdis story, which according to the text
always walked with purses filled with gold and silver to give out to his subjects
7
. Culture is the
other major characteristic denoted and praised, the author shows the individual cultural
achievements and interests of the caliphs. For Mansur culture flourishes in the forms of astrology

3
Ibid. p. 235
4
Ibid. p. 234
5
Idem.
6
Ibid. p. 237
7
Ibid p. 235
and the translation of Greek and Persian works
8
; in Mahdis case we can see theological
concerns and the reconstruction of Meccas mosque; Harun al-Rashid is fond of sports like polo
and chess and also along with Zubaida brought refinement and protocol to the court
9
; finally
another great example is Mamun which is credited with the maximum splendor of the Abbasid
Caliphate theologically, politically and culturally
10
.
The last theme that is present throughout the whole text, but is not regarded as either
good or bad but unquestionable is Islamic religion; it does not matter what mistakes the caliph
may have, he still needs to be a jealous guardian of the Quran, even though Masudi refers to the
traditionalist- Mutasim debate
11
, he still makes it very clear that the only true religion is Islam.
The author uses these three themes, religion and good and bad traits, to demonstrate the
Golden Era of the Abbasid Caliphate, and to reflect what he wanted to be perceived as the reality
of the time period he is giving account of. He also makes the caliphs more than purely political
leaders, granting them the ability to influence their subjects behavior, for example if a caliph
liked weapons people would be aggressive, in contrast if a caliph was charitable and patient, the
rest of the population would try to imitate him; Masudi is so concerned with providing role
models that he dedicates one of the most extensive passages of his story to Zubaida who is meant
to serve as an example to the Abbasid women. Perhaps more interesting that what he says, is
what the author omits, because it reflects not his disinterest or ignorance about the political
events but instead his commitment to present an engaging story and a panegyric following the

8
Ibid. p. 237
9
Ibid. p.p. 238-239
10
Ibid. p. 240
11
Ibid p. 241
Hellenistic style codes. This can be seen even in his choice to delimitate the narration to
Mutawakki who was assassinated and deposed by a military coup dtat in 861.
In synthesis, Masudis account of the Abbasid Caliphate reflects the idealization of the
past, in a time of crisis for the caliphate and an attempt to uplift the spirit of the Abbasids,
reminding them of the splendor they once had and that they could have again. Also it is a great
example of the influences of the different cultures dominated by the Muslims, such as Persian
and Greco Roman societies. Finally is a demonstration of the changes that the society had
suffered, the Arab hegemony in the public offices had gradually disappeared, and the Abbasids
would never again enjoy the undisputed supremacy they did in this period.