Al-Mustansir I

This article is about the 13th-century Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. For the Abbasid caliph in Cairo, see al-Mustansir II. For the 11th-century Fatimid caliph, see al-Mustansir Billah. For other uses, see al-Mustansir (disambiguation).

Abu Ja'far al-Mansur ibn al-Zahir^[a] (17 February 1192 – 2 December 1242), commonly known as al-Mustansir I,^[b] was the 36th Abbasid caliph, ruling from 1226 to 1242. He succeeded al-Zahir as caliph in the year 1226, and was the penultimate caliph to rule from Baghdad. He was the second-to-last caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Al-Mānsūr al-Mustansir bi-llah المنصور المستنصر بالله
Khalīfah Amir al-Mu'minin
Dirham of al-Mustansir
36th Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad
Reign	10 July 1226 – 5 December 1242
Predecessor	al-Zahir
Successor	al-Musta'sim
Born	17 February 1192[1] Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate, (now Iraq)
Died	5 December 1242 (aged 50) Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Burial	Baghdad
Consort	Shahan Hajir[2]
Issue	Al-Musta'sim
Names Abu Ja`far al-Mansūr al-Mustansir bi-llah ibn az-Zâhir
Dynasty	Abbasid
Father	al-Zāhīr
Mother	Zahra
Religion	Sunni Islam

Biography

The name of Caliph al-Mustansir appears in this contemporary painting from folio 164v of the Maqamat al-Hariri, 1237 edition (BNF Arabe 5847).^[3]

Al-Mustansir was born in Baghdad on 1192. He was the son of Abu Nasr Muhammad (future caliph al-Zahir). His mother was a Turkish Umm walad.^[4][5] called Zahra. His full name was Mansur ibn Muhammad al-Zahir and his Kunya was Abu Jaʿfar. At the time of his birth, his father was a prince. When his father ascended to the throne in 1225. His father, lowered the taxes of Iraq, and built a strong army to resist invasions. He died on 10 July 1226, nine months after his accession.

On his father's death in 1226 he has succeeded his father Az-Zahir as the thirty-sixth Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. Al-Mustansir is particularly known for establishing the Mustansiriyya Madrasa (currently a part of the Al-Mustansiriya University) in 1227/32/34. The Madrasa, at the time, taught many subjects including medicine, mathematics, literature, grammar and Islamic religious studies, becoming a prominent and high-ranking center for Islamic studies in Baghdad.^[6]

The Madrasas during the Abbasid period were used as the predominant instrument to foster the spread of Islamic thought as well as a way to extend the founder's pious ideals.^[7]

The Courtyard of the Mustansiriyya Madrasa

The ruler of Erbil, Muzaffar ad-Din Gökböri was being without a male heir, Gökböri willed Erbil to the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir.^[8] After the death of Gökböri in 1233, the Erbil city came under Abbasid control.

Al-Mustansir died on 5 December 1242.^[9] His son Al-Musta'sim succeeded him as the thirty-seventh and last Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Family

One of Al-Mustansir's concubines was Shahan. She was a Greek, and had been formerly a slave of Khata Khatun, the daughter of the commander Sunqur al-Nasiri the Tall and the wife of the commander Jamal al-Din Baklak al-Nasiri. After Al-Mustansir's accession to the throne, Khata presented Shahan to him as a gift, as part of a group of slaves. Shahan alone among them became his concubine and favourite.^[10] Another of his concubines was Hajir. She was the mother of the future Caliph Al-Musta'sim.^[11]

See also

• Sixth Crusade (1228–1229), a military expedition to recapture the city of Jerusalem from Muslims.

Notes

1. Arabic: أبو جعفر المنصوربن الظاهر, romanized: ʾAbū Jaʿfar al-Mānṣūr ibn al-Ẓāhir
2. Arabic: المستنصر بالله الأول, romanized: al-Mustanṣir bi-ʾAmr Allāh al-ʾAwwal