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Al-Mansur and the Critical Ambassador
- Author(s):
- Alexandre Roberts (see profile)
- Date:
- 2018
- Group(s):
- Byzantine Studies, Graeco-Arabic Studies, Islamicate Studies, Late Antiquity
- Subject(s):
- Byzantine Empire, City planning
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- Tabari, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, political ideology, Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate, al-Mansur (Caliph), diplomacy, Byzantine, Urban planning, Early Islam
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6HQ3RZ38
- Abstract:
- The Arabic narrative sources record a host of tales related to the founding of Baghdad and to its founder, the caliph al-Manṣūr. In one account, reported in several versions by al-Ṭabarī and al-Ḫaṭīb al-Bagdādī, a Byzantine ambassador arrives at al-Manṣūr's court and criticizes the caliph's new capital. The present paper suggests that the tale might have been used in the centuries following Baghdad's founding to explain why the Abbasids behaved like kings by blaming direct Byzantine influence. Keywords: Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid dynasty, Abbasids, al-Mansur (Caliph), Baghdad, Byzantine empire, Byzantine influence
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article Show details
- Pub. DOI:
- 10.4000/beo.406
- Journal:
- Bulletin d\'études orientales
- Volume:
- 60
- Page Range:
- 145 - 160
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 5 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
- Share this:
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