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In the previous article, we tackled the second tenure of Ali bin Yahya, the Armenian which did not last, except for one year and less than three months, during which Caliph al-Mutawakil issued special orders regarding Jews and Christians. Then, we spoke of Isaac bin Yahya and Abdul Wahid bin Yahya, proconsuls of Egypt to reach the tenure of Anbasah bin Isaac.
At the beginning of Anbasah’s tenure, the Romans raided Damietta, having come with a great fleet. Historians maintain that finding the city void of soldiers, they killed and robbed people. According to Taghribirdi, “The reason why Anbasah neglected Damietta was that on the occasion of Greater Bairam, he wanted to have his two sons circumcised that he might be celebrating both occasions. He wanted to have such a great festivity that he brought over all the soldiers, tax collectors, and hunters at Damietta and Tennis harbors. He also brought the same categories of people from Alexandria.
It came to pass that these incidents coincided with three hundred warships attacking Damietta on the morning of Arafa Day. The Roman fighters found the city void of men and soldiers. Thus, they were not prevented. So, they attacked the city and killed and robbed many people.” He continues, saying that Anbasah had got upset with one of Damietta’s nobles, Abu Ja’far bin al-Akshaf, who he arrested and imprisoned. When the Romans raided Damietta, Abu Ja’far’s associates set him free, after which he gathered some men, fought the Romans and overcame them. So, they left Damietta.
In 240 Hijri (855 A.D.), the Beja people rebelled due to being maltreated by Egyptians. The name “Beja” is ascribed to the dwellers of the region between the Red Sea coast and the Nile in Sudan (southern Upper Egypt). They are one of Africa’s ancient peoples and contemporary to Pharaohs. They were in constant contention.
This people rebelled and did not pay the required taxes which were, as Taghribirdi puts it, “five hundred slaves and maidservants, camels, two giraffes, two elephants, and other things…” These people attacked emerald miners, raided Upper Egyptian cities, such as Esna and Edfu, which made Upper Egyptians flee from their cities in fear of the raids.
When Anbasah got to know of this, he told al-Mutawakil. Yet, the latter was reluctant to send an army to subdue them: for his counselors told him that they were difficult to reach due to the bumpiness of the roads. In fact, it would take anybody two months to reach them. Additionally, they would seek the alliance of a neighboring kingdom.
One of the Caliph’s commanders, namely, Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Qummi, got to know. So, he asked the Caliph to order Egypt’s proconsul to provide him with men, horses, camels, and money to go fight the Beja people, which al-Mutawakil did. He wrote Anbasah, ordering him to appoint al-Qummi ruler of southern Upper Egypt, giving him the upper hand and providing him with the required men and weapons.
Anbasah did what he was ordered, thus providing al-Qummi with whatever he needed, renounced him many Upper Egyptian cities, such as, Qift, al-Qusseir, Esna, Armant, and Aswan. Having got fully prepared, al-Qummi led a fleet of seven warships from Quos to the Beja, approaching Dongola.
When this news reached Ali Baba, the king of Sudan, he got prepared for war. Numerous people joined him. Yet, their weapons were very primitive, such as spears and short and wooden javelins. No sooner had they seen the Abbasid army, than they realized that they would not be able to resist it. So, they contrived to evade it until the soldiers get tired and run out of ammunition.
Thus, they started moving from one place to another, and he followed them. A lot of time elapsed, after which they found no alternative but war. Thus, war broke out between the two armies, and the Abbasids emerged victorious, which made Ali Baba consider reconciliation. So, he asked al-Qummi to make a treaty provided that he pay his dues. Then, al-Qummi asked the Sudanese king to come with him to the Caliph, which the former accepted, assigning his son the country’s affairs. The Caliph pardoned him and restored him to his country.
In 242 Hijri (857 A.D.), Anbasah got to know that the Caliph assigned al-Fath bin Khaqan the affairs of Egypt instead of his son, al-Muntasir and that he be prayed for on minarets after the Caliph. In the self same year, Anbasah was deposed, having ruled Egypt for four years and four months. During his tenure, many incidents took place, such as the earthquake that happened at night and the collapsing of an eighty-cubit-high and fifty-cubit-wide castle from the mountain overlooking Tiberias, which killed numerous people. Likewise, hail fell on Iraq, killing some cattle. Earth crashed in a number of Moroccan villages which amounted to thirteen, killing their inhabitants, except for forty men.
Also, earthquakes took place in many cities, especially Damghan, a great city northern Iran between Rey and Nishapur, killing thousands. The people of Homs rebelled against their ruler. Yet, they were quickly subdued. Both al-Kindi and al-Maqrizi said that Anbasah, “was the last Arab prince to rule Egypt, and the last prince to be prayed for at al-Jami’ Mosque. He left Egypt at the end of Ramadan, 244 Hijir, heading to Iraq.” Likewise, Taghribirdi writes that he treated the people justly and kindly, gave them their rights, and used to walk from his residence at al-Askar to al-Jami’ Mosque and would call out for the dawn meal (sohour) in Ramadan. After, him Egypt was ruled by Yazid bin Abdullah. What a story! Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
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