Akhbar al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya
- Author died
- 250 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Ṭalīʿah
Akhbar al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya (Reports on the Abbasid Movement) is an early Arabic historical work composed in the mid-3rd century AH (9th century CE) by an anonymous author, providing a detailed history of the clandestine Abbasid mission (al-da'wa) prior to the establishment of the caliphate .
Authorship and Title
The opening folios of the unique surviving manuscript are lost, leaving the author's identity unstated . The modern editors, Abd al-Aziz al-Duri and Abd al-Jabbar al-Muttalibi, proposed attributing the work to the historian, genealogist, and traditionist Muhammad ibn Salih ibn Mihran, known as Ibn al-Nattah (d. 252 AH / 868 CE) . Ibn al-Nattah was a client (mawla) of Ja'far ibn Sulayman ibn Ali ibn Abd Allah ibn Abbas, which would explain the author's close access to inner Abbasid family traditions and confidential mission documents .
In the illumination of the opening pages of the manuscript, the work is introduced as Kitab fihi akhbar al-Abbas wa-fada'iluhu wa-manaqibuhu wa-fada'il waladihi wa-manaqibuhum (A Book Containing Reports on al-Abbas, His Virtues and Merits, and the Virtues and Merits of His Offspring), also referred to as Akhbar al-Abbas wa-waladih . However, comparative evidence from early historical citations and abridgments points to the title Akhbar al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya, where the word dawla was employed in its early sense of a mission (da'wa), turn, or movement rather than an established political state .
Scope and Contents
Structured within a genealogical framework, the book focuses on the lineage of al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and his primary descendants: Abd Allah ibn Abbas, Ali ibn Abd Allah, Muhammad ibn Ali, and Ibrahim al-Imam . Rather than covering the history of the caliphate after its accession to power, the narrative centers on the question of the imamate, the Abbasids' claim and aspiration to leadership, and their secret organizational efforts .
The text concludes just prior to the formal establishment of the Abbasid caliphate, ending with the death of Ibrahim al-Imam, his testament appointing his brother Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah, and al-Saffah's flight to Kufa shortly before Khurasani forces entered the city .
Method and Sources
The author combined the narrative style of historical reports (akhbar) with chains of transmission (isnad), reflecting the methodological influence of the Hadith tradition . The work draws upon earlier historians, genealogists, and traditionists, including Abu Mikhnaf, Awana ibn al-Hakam, al-Haytham ibn Adi, al-Mada'ini, al-Waqidi, Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, and Mus'ab al-Zubayri, as well as contemporaries such as Umar ibn Shabba, al-Abbas ibn Muhammad al-Duri, al-Mubarrad, and Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri .
The work is especially notable for preserving unique insider accounts of the earliest phase of the Abbasid mission down to the year 100 AH, as well as detailed lists recording the names, ranks, and organizational structures of the Abbasid emissaries (nuqaba' and du'at) in Khurasan .
Manuscript and Publication
The unique manuscript of the text was discovered in Baghdad in the library of the Abu Hanifa school in al-A'zamiyya . Copied in Naskh script in 403 pages, the manuscript lacks its initial folios containing the introduction and the early life of al-Abbas . Two supplementary chronological lists of Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs were appended at the end; the second list concludes with the reign of the Abbasid caliph in Cairo, al-Mutawakkil ala Allah Muhammad, dating the copying of the codex to between 763 and 779 AH (1362–1377 CE) .
An anonymous 5th-century AH historical compilation titled Tarikh al-Khulafa'—published in facsimile by Petr Gryaznevich—contains an extensive abridgment of the work that preserves roughly one-quarter of the original text while omitting most of the isnads . The text of Akhbar al-Dawla al-Abbasiyya was edited by Abd al-Aziz al-Duri and Abd al-Jabbar al-Muttalibi and published in Beirut in 1971 .
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