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Al-Sindi ibn Shahak (died 819) was a late 8th-century Abbasid general and administrator who served as the governor of Syria, Damascus and Baghdad under al-Mansur, Harun ar-Rashid and al-Amin. As the head of shurta (military police), he oversaw the destruction and confiscation of properties belonging to the Barmakids during the reign of Harun.

Biography

The origins of Al-Sindi are obscure, was apparently a former slaver from Punjab who had risen to high status. He was a client (mawali) of Abbasid caliph al-Mansur, and served as governor of Syria during his reign. In 792 or 793, he was sent by Harun al Rashid to quell the revolt of Abū al-Hadhām in Damascus as commander of Khurasani troops, where he is mentioned as governor for Musa ibn Isa. He commanded the garrison of Damascus (Jund Dimashq) for a few years.

A decade later, he is mentioned as the governor of Baghdad in 802 (186 H) by Ibn al-Jawzi. During the reign of Harun, Al-Sindi was the sahib al-shurta, and oversaw the destruction of Barmakids in 802. Shi'a traditions also held him responsible for death of seventh Shia Imam, Musa al-Kazim in 799 and Yahya ibn Abdallah, a rebel Alid leader in 803. However, Musa al-Kazim was probably under house arrest in the mansion of Al-Sindi instead of prison. He was treated well, and the sister of Al-Sindi reportedly looked after him. Imam had died in his custody in September 799.

Al-Sindi was one of the leading supporters of al-Amin in his civil war. Not much is known about him after the defeat and execution of al-Amin in 813.

Family

The family of Al-Sindi continued to serve the Abbasid caliphate for multiple decades. His son, Ibrahim ibn al-Sindi, was reportedly a polymath with more than a dozen occupations attributed to him. His friend al-Jahiz stated him to be a philosopher of mutakallimun. According to Jahiz, he was well-versed in grammar, poetry, astrology and medicine. He was also employed in the intelligence service of caliph al-Ma'mun, and served some time as governor of Kufa. His another son, Nasr ibn al-Sindi was also renowned as a historian and traditionist. His grandson, Mahmūd ibn al-Hāsan ibn al-Sindi, commonly known as Kushajim (c. 902 – 970) was a famous court poet and polymath associated with the court of Sayf al-Dawla, the emir of Aleppo. Some of his well-known books include Adab an-nadīm (Etiquette of the Boon-Companion), Kitāb al-maṣāyid wa-l-maṭārid (The Book of Snares and Game), and Khaṣā’iṣ aṭ-ṭarab (The Characteristics of Music).

See also

• Al-Sari ibn al-Hakam
• Abu al-Khaṣīb Marzuq

References

1. ^ Pellat, Ch (2012-04-24), "Ibrāhīm b. al-Sindī", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Brill, doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_3444, retrieved 2023-11-30
2. Ess 2017, p.102: Al-Sindī was the Abbasids’ confidant, apparently a former slaver from Punjab who had risen to high status..
3. ^ Crone 1980, p. 194.
4. Cobb 2001, p. 33, 85.
5. ^ Crone 1980, p. 195.
6. Cobb 2001, p. 137.
7. al-Jawzī, Abū al-Faraj ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʻAlī Ibn (2016-10-04). The Life of Ibn Ḥanbal. NYU Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4798-0530-3.
8. al-Tabari 2015, p. 89.
9. Kohlberg 2012.
10. Madelung 2002, p. 243.
11. Ess 2017, p. 102.
12. Ess 2017, p. 101–102.
13. Kennedy 2016, p. 128.
14. MacLean 1989, p. 281.
15. ^ Ess 2017, p. 71.
16. MacLean 1989, p. 407.
17. "On a Miswak by Kushajim – Y'alla". University Blog Service.
18. Pellat, Ch (2012-04-24), "Kus̲h̲ād̲j̲im", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Brill, doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_sim_4561, retrieved 2023-11-30

Sources

• Crone, Patricia (1980). Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-52940-2.
• Madelung, W. (2002). "Yaḥyā b. ʿAbd Allāh". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume XI: W–Z. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 242–243. ISBN 978-90-04-12756-2.
• al-Tabari (2015). The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 28: 'Abbasid Authority Affirmed: The Early Years of al-Manṣūr A.D. 753-763/A.H. 136-145. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-1232-0.
• Ṭabarī (1988). The Early ʻAbbāsī Empire: The reign of Abū Jaʻfar al-Manṣūr, A.D. 754-775. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-32662-9.
• Cobb, Paul M. (2001). White Banners: Contention in ʿAbbasid Syria, 750-880. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-9109-6.
• MacLean, Derryl N. (1989). Religion and Society in Arab Sind. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-08551-0.
• Ess, Josef van (2017). Theology and Society in the Second and Third Centuries of the Hijra. Volume 3: A History of Religious Thought in Early Islam. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-35640-5.
• Kennedy, Hugh (2016). The Early Abbasid Caliphate: A Political History. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-35807-7.
• Kohlberg, E. (2012). "Mūsā Al-Kāẓim". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second ed.). Brill Reference Online. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5563. ISBN 9789004161214.

• 819 deaths
• Abbasid governors of Damascus