Abu-Abdallah Mohammed Edrisi was an Arabian geographer. He was born about 1100 and died about 1180. A descendant of the ancient princely family of the Edrisites, he studied at the Moorish University of Cordova, after which he travelled through various countries. At the request of King Roger II of Sicily he constructed a globe with a map of the earth, which represented all the geographical knowledge of the age. He accompanied this with a descriptive treatise completed about 1150, and still extant in the 19th century. Research Abu-Abdallah Edrisi
Abu Al-Fida (Abulfida) was an Arabian historian and geographer. He was born 1273 at Damascus and died in 1331 He took part in the siege of Tripoli in 1289 and the siege of Acre in 1291. In 1310 he was appointed governor of the city of Hamah, which he ruled over with almost absolute power. In 1312 he was made prince, and in 1320 he was given the title of sultan and the right to transmit the title to his descendants. His most important work was 'An Abridgment of the History of the Human Race', a book that traces humanhistory until 1329 and is especially valuable as a source for the period of the Crusades. Research Abu Al-Fida
Abu Bakr was the first caliph from 632 to 634. He was born in 573 at Mecca and died in 634. He was the father of Aisha, the wife of the prophetMohammed. He became Mohammed's most trusted follower, accompanying him on the Hegira. After Mohammed died, Abu Bakr was made caliph, or successor to the Prophet, by an assembly of the faithful. As caliph, he prevented some tribes from reverting to heathenism and fought successfully against Persia and the Byzantine Empire. He was succeeded by Umar I. Research Abu Bakr
Abu Nuwas was a Persian poet. He was born about 760 and died about 814. A favourite at the court of the caliph Harun al-Raschid in Baghdad, he is mentioned in the Arabian Nights. He abandoned older, traditional forms for erotic and witty lyrics and was considered one of the greatest poets of the 'Abbasid period. Research Abu Nuwas
AbuTammam (Abu Tamman Habib ibn Aws) was a Palestinian poet. He was born in 807 near Lake Tiberias and died in 850. He rose to favour under caliphs al-Ma'mun and al-Mutasim as a composer of panegyrics. He travelled extensively and discovered a private library of desert poetry at Hamadhan from which he compiled an anthology of early Arab poetry, the Hamasu. Research Abu Tammam
Aisha (or Ayesha) was the second wife of Mohammed. She was born in 614 and died in 678. The daughter of Abu Bekr she outlived her husband for fifty years and had a major influence on early Islam. Research Aisha
Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed. He was born in 600 and died in 660. He was the first of his converts, and the bravest and most faithful of his adherents. He married Fatima, the daughter of the prophet, but after the death of Mohammed in 632 his claims to the caliphate were set aside in favour successively of Abu-Bekr, Omar, and Othman. On the assassination of Othman, in 656, he became caliph, and after a series of struggles with his opponents, including Ayesha, widow of Mohammed, finally lost his life by assassination at Kufa in 660. A Mohammedan schism arose after his death, and has produced two sects. One sect, called the Shiites, put Ali on a level with Mohammed, and do not acknowledge the three caliphs who preceded Ali. They are regarded as heretics by the other sect, called Sunnites. The Maxims and Hymns of Ali are yet extant. Research Ali
Abu-Abdullah Boabdil was the last Moorish king of Granada. He gained the throne in 1481 by expelling his father, Mulei Hassan; and became the vassal of Ferdinand of Aragon. By his tyranny he provoked the hostility of his own subjects, and Ferdinand, taking advantage of the dissensions which prevailed, laid siege to Granada. The Moors made a valiant defence, but Boabdil capitulated, and retired to a domain of the Alpujarras assigned him by the victor. He afterwards passed into Africa, and fell in battle while assisting the King of Fes in an attempt to dethrone the King of Morocco. Research Boabdil
Caliph, or calif or khalif (vicegerent) is the name assumed by the successors of Mohammed in the government of the faithful and in the high-priesthood. Caliphate is therefore the name given to the empire of these princes which the Arabs founded in Asia, and enlarged, within a few centuries, to a dominion exceeding even the Roman empire in extent. The appellation of caliph has long ago been swallowed up in Shah, Sultan, Emir, and other titles peculiar to the East.
Mohammed having died without naming his successor, three rival parties appeared immediately after his death. The first was headed by Omar, a kinsman of the prophet, who demanded the election of Abu Bekr, Mohammed's father-in-law. The second party was headed by Ali, the husband of Fatima, the prophet's daughter, who declared for himself. The third party consisted of people of Medina, who demanded the election of one of themselves. Abu Bekr was chosen in 632, and prosecuting the conquest of Syria, he defeated the Byzantine emperor Heraclius and took Damascus. His successor, Omar, completed the conquest of Syria, took Jerusalem, subjugated Egypt, and defeated the Persians. He is said to have erected over 1500 mosques. He was succeeded by Othman, or Osman, who completed the conquest of Persia and other Eastern countries, extended his dominion in Africa, and took Cyprus and Rhodes. Othman was succeeded by Ali, who is regarded as the first legitimate possessor of the dignity by a numerous sect of Mohammedans, which gives him and his son, Hassan, almost equal honour with the prophet. During his reign a great schism divided the Mohammedans into two sects called the Sunnites and the Shiites, the former acknowledging the authority of all the caliphs, the latter acknowledging only Ali and his descendants.
Ali was murdered in 660, and his son Hassan in 661, when Moawiyah, the founder of the dynasty of the Ommiyades, became caliph, and transferred his capital from Medina to Damascus. His army continued the conquest of Northern Africa, and twice unsuccessfully attacked Constantinople (Istanbul). Carthage was taken in 698, after which the Mohammedans encountered no serious opposition in Northern Africa.
From the union of the Arabic and Berber races of Africa sprung the Moors of Saracenic history. The conquest of Spain immediately followed, Tarik, the lieutenant of the Saracen general, Musa, having totally defeated the King of the Goths. The caliphate now extended from the Oxus and Indus to the Atlantic. In 732 a great host of Islamic soldiers crossed the Pyrenees and invaded France, but were totally defeated at Tours by Charles Martel. In 755 the Mohammedan dominion split up into the Eastern and Western Caliphates, the western caliph having Spain, with his capital at Cordova; and the eastern including Northern Africa, with the capital at Bagdad. The former was ruled by a series of Ommiyade caliphs; the latter by the dynasty of the Abbasides.
The most celebrated of the Abbaside caliphs of Bagdad was Haroun al Rashid (Aaron the Just), 786-808, under whom learning, science, and art were in a flourishing state. Subsequently the Islamic kingdom lost province after province, and the temporal authority of the caliph of Bagdad was destroyed. Numerous independent dynasties were set up, the most important of which was that of the Fatimites, founded by an African Saracen who claimed descent from Fatima the daughter of the prophet.
This dynasty conquered Sicily and several parts of Italy, Egypt, and Palestine. It came to an end in 1171. In 1031 the Western Caliphate ceased, and the Saracenic dominions in Spain was broken up into several small states. The most brilliant period of the Western Caliphate was in the 9th and 10th centuries, when literature, science, and art were in more flourishing condition than anywhere else in Europe. The Eastern Caliphate lingered on until 1258, when Bagdad was taken and sacked by the Mongols. Research Caliph
El Hariri, (real name AbuMohammedElKasemBenAli), was an Arabic scholar and poet, who lived chiefly at Bassorah in the time of the Abbasside caliphs. He was born in 1054 and died in 1121 or 1123. He is best known by his Mekammat, a collection of tales narrated as incidents in the life of the hero Abu Zeid, a clever impostor who adopts every career in life, and succeeds in all to admiration. Research El Hariri
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Abu-Abdallah Edrisi
