Yusuf al-Kindi

[pp. 144-146]

YŪSUF AL-KINDĪ

(d. 971 A.D.)

Muḥammad b. Yūsuf b. Ya'qūb Abū 'Umar al-Kindī. An Egyptian historian.

Brockelmann S 1, 229 f., Sezgin 1, 358; EI (s.v.)

K. ūmara' Miṣr; K. al-qudat

Ed.: Rh. Guest, The Book of Governors and Judges of Egypt, Leiden - London 1912, Baghdad 1954.

T.: Guest A: 0

'Abdalla b. Sa'd raided the Asāwid as far as Dunqula in the year 31 [652 A.D.]. He fought a hard battle with [p. 145] them. On that day Mu'āwia b. Hudayj, Abū Sahm b. Abraha b. as-Saffāh and Huyuway b. Nashir each lost an eye. Then 'Abdalla b. Sa'd made a truce with them. Their (the Arabs') poet said:

'Never did my eye see a day like Dunqula's.'

The horses advancing loaded with heavy breast-plates. I had the following statement from Ibn Qudayd: [isnad omitted]: 'Between the people of Egypt (ahl Miṣr)<ref>The Arabs of Egypt.</ref> and the Asāwid there exists no peace agreement (ʿahd), but only a truce (hudnat aman) binding both sides. We give them wheat and lentils, and they give us slaves (raqīq). The following statement is from Ibn Lahī'a: - '[The Nubians] do not mind to take slaves from their own people or from others.'

Ibn Lahī'a also said: "I heard Yazīd b. Abī Habīb saying: 'My father was one of the captives of Dunqula.'" (R. Guest, pp. 11 - 13).

[Yazīd b. at-Turki, 856-857 A.D. says:]

The prestige of Jabīr<ref>One of the leaders of the Arab rebels in Egypt.</ref> was growing more and more: people from all parts rallied to him. He was also joined by Abū Harmalah an-Nūbī, an audacious man, whom Jabīr appointed chief of [the district of] Sanhūr. Abū Harmalah then held this district with a very numerous army, associated with himself Ibn Assāmah al-Ma'ārifī and entrusted to him the command over Bānā, Būsīr and Samannud, while Abū Harmalah remained at Sharqiyyūn. (Guest, p.206)

[Ibn Ṭūlūn, 869-884 A.D. says:]

Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī, the Alide, had risen up in the Ṣa'īd of Miṣr. ... This happened in the year 253 [867 A.D.]. He [p. 146] entered Esna in the [month of] Dhū-l-Qa'da of the year 255 [Oct. - Nov. 870 A.D.], pillaged the town and massacred the population. Aḥmad Ibn Ṭūlūn sent against him Ibn Azdād with a troop: aṣ-Ṣūfī attacked him at Hū, on Wednesday 5 Rabī' al-Awwal of the year 256 [10 Febr. 870 A.D.] and Ibn Azdād was defeated. Aḥmad Ibn Ṭūlūn then sent Buhm Ibn Ḥusayn with an army, together with Ibn Ujayf. This army left for the Ṣa'īd on Thursday 19 Rabī'al-Awwal 256 [24.Febr. 870 A.D.] and joined battle with him in the outskirts of Akhmīn, on Thursday 3 Rabī' al-Ākhīr [10 March], and Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī was defeated. Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī, then withdrew towards al-Wāḥ [the Oasis] and settled at Tanis (Tinnis?), and later at Ashmunein in the month of Muḥarram of the year [2]59 [= Nov. - Dec. 872 A.D.]. Ibn Ṭūlūn sent against him Abū Mughīth with a force of five hundred men. [Abū Mughīth marched on him] but found that Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī had left for Aswān to fight against 'Abdalla al-Omari, who is Ibn 'Abd al-Hamīd b. 'Abdalla b. 'Abd al-'Αzīz b. 'Abdalla b. Abdalla b. 'Umar al-Khaṭṭāb. The two fought a battle in which al-Omari beat Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī and his army. ... Then Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī returned to Aswān and cut three hundred thousand palm-trees, [property] of the natives of Aswān. The news of this devastation, spread far and wide. Then Aḥmad Ibn Ṭūlūn sent one Ibn Sīmā with reinforcements to Buhm b. al-Ḥusayn. As trouble developed between Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī and his men, Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī abandoned them and went to 'Aydhāb, whence he embarked for Mecca. He remained there until Ibn Ṭūlūn asked for his extradition and put him in jail, but, later on, he [Ibn Ṭūlūn] freed him. Then Ibn aṣ-Ṣūfī went to Medina, where he died, (ibid., pp. 213 - 214).

<references/>