al-Barjami

البرجمي كبير العيارين

c. August 1034 CE · Ramadan 425 AH

Chief of the ayyarun of Baghdad in the two years of the Buyid state's decline; he raided the houses of Abu al-Rabi' and plundered their stores, and made himself a stronghold in the thicket (a reed-bed five farsakhs across), where he lived on al-Tall. He almost had the khutba read for him in the Rusafa mosque, with the words 'preach for al-Barjami, or else preach for no caliph or king', and the amirs met him with gifts. He held the contract for the army of Upper Mosul, owned two boats and a commission, and plundered the Khan al-Qawarir at Bab al-Taq. In the end the followers of Mu'tamid al-Dawla drowned him at the mouth of the Dujayl on 16 Ramadan 425, when he refused to release him for money, and his brother was killed in revenge ¹.

Summary

al-Barjami, chief of the ʿayyārūn (urban gangs) of Baghdad in the years when the Buyid state was declining, to the point that he was almost given the khutba in the Rusafa mosque. He ended up drowned in the Tigris at the hands of the companions of Muʿtamid al-Dawla in 425 AH, one of the clearest scenes of the age of the ʿayyār that Ibn al-Jawzi portrays. ¹

Raids of the ʿayyārs

He raided the houses of Abu al-Rabiʿ and plundered their storehouses, and he made a stronghold for himself in a thicket extending five farsakhs, where al-Tall lay. It was said to the preacher: "If you do not give the khutba for al-Barjami, then do not give it for any caliph or king." The amirs received him with gifts. He took on the revenue contract of the upper Mosul army and had two boats and an appointment. ²

The end

He plundered the Khan al-Qawarir at Bab al-Taq, until the companions of Muʿtamid al-Dawla drowned him at the mouth of the Dujayl on the sixteenth of Ramadan 425 AH, when he refused to vacate it for money. His brother was then killed in revenge for him. Ibn al-Jawzi relates his news on pages that could serve as the heading of an age in which the ʿayyār grew stronger than authority. ³

The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad

The Nizamiyya of Baghdad, first and most famous of the madrasas founded by the vizier Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi: building began in 457 and sisters rose at Nishapur, Isfahan, Herat, Basra, Mosul and Amid; the Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni then Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi taught in it, and it mothered the Sunni institutional model that the later madrasas of Baghdad followed — the caliphs prayed there and Nizam al-Mulk himself visited to inspect its library.

al-Barjami

At a glance

Life in time

In space

Summary

Raids of the ʿayyārs

The end

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

People

The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad