Thursday, July 6, 2023

2023: Ba - Baghdadi

 Ba, Mariama

Mariama Ba (b. April 17, 1929, Dakar, Senegal – d. August 17, 1981, Dakar, Senegal) was a Senegalese author and feminist, whose two French-language novels were both translated into more than a dozen languages. Born in Dakar, Senegal, she was raised a Muslim.

Her frustration with the fate of African women is expressed in her first novel, Une se longue lettre (1979; translated into English as So Long a Letter). In this semi-autobiographical epistolary work, Bâ depicts the sorrow and resignation of a woman who must share the mourning for her late husband with his second, younger wife. This short book was awarded the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1980. 

Bâ was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1929, into an educated and well-to-do Senegalese family of Lebu ethnicity. Her father was a career civil servant who became one of the first ministers of state. He was the Minister of Health in 1956 while her grandfather was an interpreter in the French occupation regime. After her mother's death, Bâ was largely raised in the traditional manner by her maternal grandparents. She received her early education in French, while at the same time attending Koranic school. 

Bâ was a prominent student at school. During the colonial revolution period and later, girls faced numerous obstacles when they wanted to have a higher education. Bâ's grandparents did not plan to educate her beyond primary school. However, her father's insistence on giving her an opportunity to continue her studies eventually persuaded them.

In a teacher training college based in Rufisque (a suburb in Dakar), she won the first prize in the entrance examination and entered the École Normale. In this institution, she was prepared for a later career as a schoolteacher. The school's principal began to prepare her for the 1943 entrance examination for a teaching career after he noticed Bâ's intellect and capacity. She taught from 1947 to 1959, before transferring to the Regional Inspectorate of teaching as an educational inspector.

Bâ was married three times and had nine children; her third and longest marriage was to a Senegalese member of Parliament, Obèye Diop, but they too divorced.

Bâ died in 1981 after a protracted illness, before the publication of her second novel, Un Chant ecarlate (Scarlet Song), which is a love story between two star-crossed lovers from different ethnic backgrounds fighting the tyranny of tradition.

Bâ wrote two books: So Long a Letter (1979) and Scarlet Song (1981), in addition to La fonction politique des littératures Africaines écrites (The Political Function of African Written Literature), an article published in 1981.

Bâ neither accepted the label "feminist", which for her was too loaded with Western values, nor agreed with the traditional Senegalese Muslim values for women. According to Rizwana Habib Latha, the character of Ramatoulaye in So Long a Letter does portray a kind of womanism, and Bâ herself saw an important role for African women writers:

The woman writer in Africa has a special task. She has to present the position of women in Africa in all its aspects. There is still so much injustice. . . . In the family, in the institutions, in society, in the street, in political organizations, discrimination reigns supreme. . . . As women, we must work for our own future, we must overthrow the status quo which harms us and we must no longer submit to it. Like men, we must use literature as a non-violent but effective weapon.

A biography of Bâ was published in Dakar in 2007: Mariama Bâ ou les allées d'un destin by her daughter, Mame Coumba Ndiaye. 

Part of Mariama Ba's legacy is he Mariama Bâ Boarding School is a top boarding school on Goree, an island in Senegal.  It was founded in 1977 by Leopold Sedar Senghor, first president of Senegal. The school was named after Mariama Bâ because of what she stood for, spoke and wrote about. It admits young women who obtained the highest scores during the national secondary school entry exam. Each year, about 25 female students from the 11 regions of Senegal, are given the opportunity to attend Mariama Bâ boarding school for the rest of their high school years. The curriculum is similar to secondary education in France in that it has seven levels, and students finish with their baccalaureat. 



Baal
Baal.  (In Hebrew, ba’al, from the Phoenician ba’al -- “owner”, "master" or “lord”.)  Among ancient Semitic peoples, Baal was the name of innumerable local gods controlling fertility of the soil and of domestic animals.  Because the various Baals were not everywhere conceived as identical, they may not be regarded as local variations of the same deity.  In the plural, Baalim means idols or Baals collectively.  

The name Baal formed a part of the names of various gods, as Baal-berith (“the lord of the covenant”) of the Schechemites, and Baalzebub (“the lord of the flies”) of the Philistines.  The Hebrews learned the worship of Baal from the agricultural Canaanites.  Except for the offerings of fruits and the first born of cattle, little is known of the rites employed.  Their shrines were little more than altars with the symbol of the Canaanites and Hebrew female deity Ashtoreth set beside them.  Sacred pillars were often erected near the altars.

The name Baal was compounded with many Hebrew, Chaldean, Phoenician, and Carthaginian personal and place names, such as Baalbek, Eth-baal, Jezebel, Hasdrubal, and Hannibal.

"Ba‛al" can refer to any god and even to human officials; in some texts it is used as a substitute for Hadad, a god of the rain, thunder, fertility and agriculture, and the lord of Heaven. Since only priests were allowed to utter his divine name Hadad, Ba‛al was used commonly. Nevertheless, few if any Biblical uses of "Ba‛al" refer to Hadad, the lord over the assembly of gods on the holy mount of Heaven, but rather refer to any number of local spirit-deities worshipped as cult images, each called ba‛al and regarded by the writers of the Hebrew Bible in that context as a false god.


owner see Baal.
lord see Baal.
master see Baal.


Ba‘ath
Ba‘ath. See Ba‘th.


Bab
Bab.  An honorary title used for spiritual leaders in Sufism, for prominent Shaykhs.  Bab, meaning “gate,” is the one who can lead the believers into communication with the other side, the divine spheres.  Isma‘ili Shi‘a Islam held much the same views on the Bab: he was the one spiritual leader who could open up an access to the mysteries of religion.  The Druze called their first spiritual leader “Bab.” 


Bab
Bab.  Arabic term which means “gate” or “gateway.”  The term denotes the monumental entrance of mosques and the gateways of fortified enclosures.  In early Shi‘ism, the term was applied to the senior authorized disciple of the Imam.   The appellation “Bab” was the title claimed by Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad of Shiraz.  Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad [Mirza 'Ali Muhammad] (1819-1850) was the founder of the new religion of the Babis, a precursor to the faith known as Baha’i.  

Sayyid `Alí Muḥammad Shírází (October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850) was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bahá'í Faith. He was a merchant from Shíráz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four (in May 23, 1844) claimed to be the promised Qá'im (or Mahdi). After his declaration he took the title of Báb meaning "Gate". He composed hundreds of letters and books (often termed tablets) in which he stated his messianic claims and defined his teachings, which constituted a new sharí'ah or religious law. His movement eventually acquired tens of thousands of supporters, was virulently opposed by Iran's Shi'a clergy, and was suppressed by the Iranian government leading to thousands of his followers, termed Bábís, being persecuted and killed. In 1850 the Báb was shot by a firing squad in Tabríz.

Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad was born in Tabriz.  He was the son of a merchant and worked as one himself, while he occupied himse
lf with religious questions.  After a pilgrimage to Karbala he declared himself a reformer of Islam.  This was on June 11, 1844.  The message of Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad was lukewarmly received.  Nevertheless, soon he started getting followers.  The first was Husayn.  

While Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad was on a trip to Mecca, he wrote down divine revelations.  On his return, he included in the Shi‘a creed that he himself was the one who mirrored God, so that God could be seen by man.  Soon the followers of the Bab faced persecution by the local governor of Shiraz.  

The religion of Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad -- the religion of the Bab -- had a strong eschatological focus upon a future figure called “He Whom God Shall Manifest,” later taken by Baha’is to mean Baha’ Ullah.  The religion of the Bab also rejected many of the teachings of the Islamic shari'a and developed a distinctive metaphysic of its own.  

The Bab took Islam as his starting point, but re-defined many of the regulations.  For instance, polygamy and concubinage were forbidden.  However, most importantly, the Bab wanted to have all religions join in with him as the spiritual leader.  Only then could a new era begin for mankind.  

At first the Bab gathered around him 18 disciples, of which one was a woman, and had great success in spreading his message all around Persia.  But when Nasr ud-Din Shah came to power in 1848, he soon decided to start heavy persecution of the Bab and his followers.   Two years of civil war ensued, although the Bab himself was not a part of this rebellion.  In the end, the followers of the Bab lost and the Bab was imprisoned and executed in Tabriz.

The principal teachings of the Bab are contained in the two Bayan (one each in Arabic and Persian).

Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad  see Bab.
Muhammad, Sayyid 'Ali see Bab.
Mirza 'Ali Muhammad see Bab.
Muhammad, Mirza 'Ali see Bab.


Babak
Babak (Babak Khorram Din) (Babak Xoramdin) (795 - January, 838).  Persian revolutionary.  He was the leader of one of the more famous of several anti-'Abbasid insurrections in the Iranian provinces and the reputed head of an antinomian sect called the Khurramiyya.  Probably alarmed by increasing Arab-Muslim colonization and attempts to centralize the administration, Babak led the indigenous mountain peasants and nomads in the area around Badhdh (northwest Azerbaijan) to revolt around 816 and successfully resisted government forces until the rebellion was crushed by the general Afshin in a series of campaigns (835-837).  Babak attempted to flee to Byzantine territory but was betrayed by an Armenian prince, taken captive to Samarra, and executed in January 838.  The revolt is extensively documented in the Muslim sources but so inconsistently and unconvincingly that its significance, especially in its sectarian aspects, is still obscure.  

Bābak Khorram-Din (alternative spelling: Bâbak Xoramdin) was one of the main Persian revolutionary leaders of the Iranian Khorram-Dinān ("Those of the joyous religion"), which was a local freedom movement fighting the Abbasid Caliphate. Khorramdin appears to be a compound analogous to dorustdin (orthodox) and Behdin "Good Religion" (Zoroastrianism), and is considered an offshoot of neo-Mazdakism.. Babak's Iranianizing rebellion, from its base in Azerbaijan in northwestern Iran, spread to the Western and Central parts of the land and lasted more than twenty years before it was defeated.

Bābak was born into a Persian family in Āzerbāijān (northwestern Iran) close to the city of Artavilla (modern Ardabil). Bābak's father was a Persian from Madā'īn (formerly known as Ctesiphon, capital of the Sassanian Persian Empire, 35 km south of modern day Bağhdād in Irāq) who left for the Āzerbāijān frontier zone and settled in the village of Balālābād in the Maymadh district. His mother - a native Persian of Āzerbāijān - was known as Māhrū (meaning Moon-Face/Belle in Persian).

After his father’s death in his early teens, Babak was given the responsibility of his two brothers and mother during a traditional Zoroastrian ceremony in a fire-temple. By the age of 18, Bābak had established himself in the city of Tabriz and was engaged in the arms trade and industry. Later on, this engagement gave him the opportunity to travel to some regions and become familiar with regions like the Caucasia, the Middle East, and the Byzantine Empire...

In 755, Abū Muslim of Khorassan, a famous and popular Persian nationalist, was murdered. Although he had helped the Abbasids to defeat the former Caliphs, the Umayyad dynasty, the ruling Caliph had given the order to kill him, probably because of his increasing popularity among Iranians and Non-Muslims. Many Iranians, who had expected more freedom and more rights from the new rulers, could not believe that their hero was killed by the ruling Caliph whom they had considered a friend of Iran and Iranians.

This incident led to many revolts, mostly by angry Zoroastrians. This, in turn, forced the Caliphs to use more violence against the Iranian population in order to keep the eastern provinces under control. The constant revolts did not come to an end in the following decades, and the Iranian population of the Caliphate was constantly being oppressed.

Under the direction of his mentor Javidan Shahrak, a leader of one of the sects of the Khorramdin, Babak's knowledge of history, geography, and the latest battle tactics strengthened his position as a favorite candidate for commander during the early wars against the Arab occupiers.

Bābak was a highly spiritual person who respected his Zoroastrian heritage. He made every possible effort to bring Iranians together and also with leaders such as Maziar to form a united front against the Arab Caliph.

However, one of the most dramatic periods in the history of Iran was set under Bābak’s leadership between 816-837. During these most crucial years, they not only fought against the Caliphate, but also for the preservation of Persian language and culture.

After the death of Javidan, Babak married Javidan's wife and became the Khorramis' leader, sometime in the year 816-17 during al-Ma'mun's reign. Babak incited his followers to rise in rebellion against the caliphal regime. The reports state that Babak called Persians to arms, seized castles and strong points, thereby barring roads to his enemies. Gradually a large multitude joined him.

There had long been groups of Khorramis scattered in Isfahan, Azerbaijan, Ray, Hamadan, Armenia, Gorgan, and elsewhere in Iran, and there had been some earlier Khorrami revolts, but none had the scale and duration of Babak's revolt, which pinned down caliphal armies for twenty years. After Babak's emergence, the Khorrami movement was centered in Azerbaijan and reinforced with volunteers from elsewhere, probably including descendants of Abu Muslim's supporters and other Iranian enemies of the 'Abbasid caliphate. The figures given for the strength of Babak's Khorramdinan army, such as 100,000 men, 200,000, or innumerable are doubtless highly exaggerated but at least indicate that it was large. At the time of Babak, there were Khorramis scattered in many regions of Iran, besides Azerbaijan, reportedly in Tabarestan, Khorasan, Balkh, Isfahan, Kashan, Qom, Ray, Karaj, Hamadan, Lorestan, Khuzestan as well as in Basra, and Armenia.

Babak claimed he possessed Javadan's spirit. He became active in 816-817. In 819-820 Yahya ibn Mu'adh fought against Babak, but could not defeat him. Two years later Babak vanquished the forces of Isa ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Khalid. In 824-825 the caliphal general Ahmad ibn al Junayd was sent against Babak. Babak defeated and captured him.

In 827-828 Muhammad ibn Humayd Tusi was dispatched to fight Babak. He won a victory and sent some captured enemy, but not Babak, to al-Ma'mun. However, about two years later, on June 9, 829, Babak won a decisive victory over this general at Hashtadsar. Muhammad ibn Humayd lost his life. Many of his soldiers were killed. The survivors fled in disarray.

In 835-836 the caliph al-Mu'tasim sent his outstanding general Afshin against Babak. Afshin rebuilt fortresses. He employed a relay system to protect supply caravans. Babak tried to capture the money being sent to pay Afshin's army, but was himself surprised, lost many men and barely escaped. He did succeed in capturing some supplies and inflicting some hardship on his enemies.

The next year Babak routed the forces of Afshin's subordinate, Bugha al-Kabir. In 837-838 al-Mu'tasim reinforced Afshin and provided him clear military instructions. Patiently following these  instructions enabled Afshin to capture Babak's stronghold of Badhdh, but Babak again escaped. Al-Mu'tasim sent a safety guarantee for Babak to Afshin.

Babak made his way to the Armenian leader Sahl Smbatean (Sahl ibn Sunbat in Arab sources), Prince of Khachen. Sahl Smbatian, however, handed Babak over to Afshin, for a large reward. Al-Mu'tasim commanded his general to bring Babak to him. Afshin informed Babak of this and told Babak that he might never return. This was the time to take a last look around. At Babak's request, Afshin allowed his prisoner to go to Badhdh. There Babak walked through his ruined stronghold one night until dawn.

Eventually, Bābak, his wife, and his warriors were forced to leave Ghaleye Bābak after 23 years of constant campaigns. He was eventually betrayed by Afshin and was handed over to the Abbasid Caliph. During Bābak's execution, the Caliph's henchmen first cut off his legs and hands in order to convey the most devastating message to his followers. The legend says that Bābak bravely rinsed his face with the drained blood pouring out of his cuts, thus depriving the Caliph and the rest of the Abbasid army from seeing his pale face, a result of the heavy loss of blood.


Babak Khorram Din see Babak
Babak Xoramdin see Babak
Xoramdin, Babak see Babak


Babis
Babis.   Followers of the religion founded in 1844 by the Bab (Sayyid ‘Ali Muhammad [Mirza 'Ali Muhammad] of Shiraz).  The religion is known as Babism and, at the convention of Badasht in 1848, the Babis openly declared their total secession from Islam.

Bábism is a religious movement that flourished in Persia from 1844 to 1852, then lingered on in exile in the Ottoman Empire (especially Cyprus) as well as underground. Its founder was Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad (Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad) of Shiraz, who took the title Báb – meaning "Gate" – from a Shi'a theological term. Unlike other Islamic messianic movements, the Bábí movement signalled a break with Islam and attempted to start a new religious system. While the Bábí movement was violently opposed and crushed by the clerical and government establishments in the country in the mid 1850s, the Bábí movement led to the founding of the Bahá'í Faith whose practitioners see the religion brought by the Báb as a predecessor to their own religion, thereby giving a renewed significance to the Bábí movement.

Babis themselves prefer the designation ahl-i bayan -- People of the Bayan.  Due to persecutions from the earliest of times of Babism, the Babis came to constitute a political party.  Around 1848, fights erupted, and in 1850, a large group of Babis were executed.  

The schism between Subh-i Azal and Baha’ullah, left the followers of the former in low numbers, while the latter went on to form Baha’i.  There are still Babis, but they are relatively few in number and  live mostly in southern Uzbekistan.

Babism is a religion that developed as an offshoot of the Shi‘ite sect of Islam.  Its principles were proclaimed at Shiraz, Persia (now Iran), on May 23, 1844, by Mirza 'Ali Muhammad of Shiraz (1819-1850), who became known as the Bab (Persian for “The Gate”) because he was considered the gate, or the door, to spiritual truth.

In opposition to basic Muslim theology, the Bab declared that the prophets were divine manifestations of God and that he, the Bab, was one of the prophets, equal to Muhammad in importance and the precursor of an even greater “Manifestation,” which was to appear 19 years after the founding of Babism.  He also wrote a new holy book, the Bayan (Revelation), to supercede the Qur’an. `Babism forbade polygamy and concubinage and sought to alter many other Muslim customs.  Babism also proclaimed the coming of an era in which all religions would be united under one spiritual head.  The Bab soon founded a group of 18 disciples, 17 men and 1 woman, and the faith spread rapidly in Persia until the accession of Shah Nasr-ed-Din (1831-1896) in 1848.  Persuaded that the tenets of Babism were destructive of Islam and a danger to the state, the Shah initiated violent persecution of the Babists.  The followers of the Bab revolted.  After two years of civil war their rebellion was put down, and the Bab, although he had not taken part in the revolt, was imprisoned and executed at Tabriz on July 9, 1850.

After the death of the Bab, Babism continued to be preached throughout Persia and the Middle East.  In 1863, a follower of the Bab, Mirza Hussein 'Ali Nuri (1817-1892), called Baha’ullah (“the Splendor of God”), proclaimed himself the promised “Manifestation” and, on the basis of Babism, founded a new faith, called Baha’i.

The history of Babism has received relatively little attention from scholars of modern Iran.  Muslim sources available in Persian and Arabic are generally hostile, while distortions and selective omissions abound in accounts written after the Bab’s death by followers of the rival contenders for his succession, the Azalis (followers of Mirza Yahya Nuri Subh-i Azal) and the Baha’is (followers of Azal’s older half-brother Mirza Husain 'Ali Nuri (Baha’ullah).  While Babi/Azali accounts insist on the Bab’s legitimate claims to prophethood, Baha’i sources refer to him merely as the herald, or precursor, of Baha’ullah.

The few scholars who have worked on the early history of Babism generally accepted the account of Lisan al-Mulk Sipihr.  The official Qajar chronicler maintained that Mirza 'Ali Muhammad had opportunistically first declared himself to be the successor of the Shaikhi leader Kazim Rashti, then the Bab (“gate”) to the imam’s teachings, then the expected imam himself, before finally proclaiming a new prophetic revelation.  The Bab’s early writings suggest the adoption of the cautious policy of issuing gradual proclamations.

It was while in prison in Maku in 1847-1848 that the Bab’s views took a more definite shape, written down in what the Babis came to consider as the new holy book, the Bayan.  He abrogated the Qur’an and all prior revealed books, annulled all Muslim and Shi‘ite centers of pilgrimage, and substituted Shiraz for Mecca as a holy center.  The message appealed to religious reformists, the political revolutionists, and the nationalists who rejected Islam as the “religion of the Arabs.”  Unlike the Shaikhis, the Babis resorted to militant means to achieve their goal: the destruction of the traditional Iranian Shi‘ite socio-political order and the announcing of the dawn of a new religious era.  Short-lived but bloody insurrections erupting in Mazandaran (October 1848-May 1849) and in Zanjan, Yazd, and Nairiz in 1850 met with defeat and merciless massacre at the hands of government troops.  A number of Babi leaders lost their lives on the battlefield, others were subsequently executed, and the Bab was finally sentenced to death in July 1850.

The belief in Babism is centered around the Bab, who is considered to be the mirror of God.  Babism has certain elements in common with Islam and has redefined them, thereby introducing the teaching that the world was created with seven attributes: predestination, predetermination, will, volition, permission, doom and revelation.  Numbers play a sacred role in Babism, where “19" is the most sacred number.  Thus, for Babis, the year is divided into 19 months, and every month is made up of 19 days.  There are 19 members of the council that administers the community of the Babis.  Finally, the Bab himself declared that there would be a span of 19 years from the Bab until the next human manifestation of God would arrive.

After the execution of the Bab, the Babism movement went underground but continued through its subversive means to undermine the established order.  In 1863, one of the Bab’s followers, Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri, proclaimed himself the manifestation that the Bab had promised.  This proclamation led to a dispute over succession to the Bab and divided the Babi community.   Many of the Babis chose to follow Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri while others, a group which remained “true” Babis (the Azalis) followed Nuri’s brother Mirza Yahya Nuri Subh-i Azal, who was then under Turkish detention on the island of Cyprus.  

The smaller group of Azalis chose to remain faithful to the original Babi doctrine and keep up the spirit of revolt against both the secular and the religious establishment in Iran, while the majority followed  Mirza Husayn 'Ali Nuri, who in 1866 became Baha’ullah and publicly proclaimed a new dispensation.

Today, the actual number of Babis is very small.  They are generally confined to Uzbekistan.  However, every year, Babis between 11 and 42 years of age perform a fast of one month (19 days).  Prayers are not compulsory, but advisable, and can be performed without ablutions.  Women do not have to carry veils, and enjoy relative freedom.  Travelling is restricted, however, especially sea travel.


ahl-i bayan see Babis.
People of the Bayan see Babis.


Babur
Babur (Mongolian for “tiger”) (Zahir ud-Din Muhammad) (1483-1530).  Founder of the Mughal dynasty of India and its first emperor (1526-1530).  A descendant of Timur on his father’s side and of Jenghiz Khan on his mother’s, Babur was 12 years old when he succeeded his father as sovereign of Ferghana (now in Uzbekistan).   Ferghana lay, in Babur’s own words, “at the limit of settled habitation.” Successes and failures rapidly followed one another until early in the sixteenth century.  The rise of the Uzbek Khan Shaybani obliged him in 1504 to flee over the Hindu Kush to Kabul, Afghanistan.

Babur (February 23 [O.S. February 14] 1483- January 5 [O.S. December 26 1530] 1531) was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of India. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother. Babur identified his lineage as Timurid and Chaghatay-Turkic, while his origin, milieu, training, and culture were steeped in Persian culture. Accordingly, Babur was largely responsible for the fostering of Persian culture by his descendants, and for the expansion of Persian cultural influence in the Indian subcontinent, with brilliant literary, artistic, and historiographical results.

Babur established himself at Kabul in 1504, having lost Ferghana the year before, and from there made repeated attempts to conquer Samarkand, the capital of his Timurid ancestors.  Failing to conquer Samarkand, he turned southeast, to India, where the Delhi sultanate was crumbling.  

Invited into India in 1524 by one faction of warring Muslim rulers, he occupied in succession Lahore, Delhi, Agra and Lucknow, to make himself master of Hindustan.

In 1526, Babur led his fifth raid into India and met Sultan Ibrahim Lodi (r. 1517-1526) in the Battle of Panipat, a township close to Delhi.  North India was, at this time, under the rule of an Afghan dynasty, the Lodis.  Babur, however, was helped by dissension within the ruling family and by his superior war strategy.  Although Sultan Ibrahim Lodi commanded an army of 100,000 men and 100 elephants against Babur’s 21,000, Babur’s tactics as well as his use of artillery made Babur victorious.  

Babur introduced India to the use of mobile field guns in battle, although muskets had been used earlier.  He had learned the use of guns from an Ottoman master and often defeated numerically superior enemies.  

During the next four years, he conquered most of northern India and established his capital at Agra, but he died in 1530 before he could consolidate his rule.  He was succeeded by his son, Humayun.

Mughal India has been fantasized as an era of cultural syncretism and artistic creativity.  In part it was, but in part it was also a continuation of the struggle, already begun during the Delhi sultanate, to maintain and extend Muslim rule in a country whose inhabitants remained doggedly non-Muslim.

Despite his military success, Babur did not succeed in reversing the dissipation of centralized power that had occurred after Timur’s invasion.  His own reign was cut short by his early death.

A born leader, shrewd and determined, convinced that he was born to greatness, he was also chivalrous, tolerant and cultured.   Babur was said to be a man of compassion, who would not allow his troops to plunder or to harm innocent people.  Highly cultured, he wrote poetry both in Persian and his Turkic mother tongue.  His collection of poems (his diwan) was mostly written in a classical tradition with various quantitative metres, but with a few in the popular syllabic metre.

Babur also left a volume of memoirs (in Eastern “Chagatay” Turkish) that have been widely translated.  His Babur-nama records frankly and modestly, the events of Babur’s stormy life.  Its unaffected style and vivid descriptions make it not only a valuable historical source but one of the finest examples of Turkish prose literature.  

The name Babur is also spelled Babar and Baber.  


“tiger” see Babur
Zahir ud-Din Muhammad see Babur
Muhammad, Zahir ud-Din see Babur
Babar see Babur
Baber see Babur


Badauni, 'Abdul Qadir
Badauni, 'Abdul Qadir ('Abdul Qadir Badauni) (Mulla 'Abd-ul-Qadir Bada'uni) (1540, Toda, India - c, 1615, India).  Courtier of Emperor Akbar of India.  An orthodox Muslim theologian who helped Akbar challenge the dominance of other Muslim theologians, Badauni later became a bitter critic of Akbar’s religious eclecticism.  When Abu’l Fazl was commissioned to write an official history of Akbar’s reign reflecting religious liberalism, Badauni set out to write the three volume Muntakhab-ut Tawarikh to counterbalance it.  Realizing that the venture could prove dangerous, he kept the work secret during his lifetime.  

Mulla ʿAbd-ul-Qadir Bada'uni was an Indo-Persian historian and translator living during the Mughal period in India. He was the son of Muluk Shah. He lived in Basavar as a boy studying in Sambhal and Agra. He moved to Badaun, the town of his name, in 1562 before moving on to enter the service of prince Husayn Khan for the next nine years in Patiala. His later years of study were governed by Muslim mystics. Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar appointed him to the religious office in the royal courts in 1574 where he spent much of his career.

'Abdul Qadir Badauni translated the Hindu works, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. However, as an Orthodox Muslim, he strongly resented the reforms of Akbar, and the elevation of Hindus to high offices. He was also renowned for his rivalry with Abul Fazl.

The most notable work of Bada'uni is Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh (Selection of Chronicles) or Tarikh-i-Bada'uni (Bada'uni's History) composed in 1004 AH (1595). This work in three volumes is a general history of the Muslims of India. The first volume contains an account of Babur and Humayun. The second volume exclusively deals with Akbar's reign up to 1595. This volume is an unusually frank and critical account of Akbar's administrative measures, and his conduct. This volume was kept concealed until Akbar's death and was published after Jahangir's accession.  This book is written from the point of view of an orthodox Sunni Muslim and gives the author's view regarding the development of Akbar's views on religion and his religious policy. The third volume describes the lives and works of Muslim religious figures,scholars, physicians and poets.

'Abdul Qadir Badauni see Badauni, 'Abdul Qadir
Mulla 'Abd-ul-Qadir Bada'uni see Badauni, 'Abdul Qadir


Badham
Badham (Badhan).  Persian governor of Yemen towards the end of the Prophet’s lifetime.  He is said to have become a Muslim in 631.  

Badhan was the Persian Governor of Yemen, during the reign of Khosrau II. He ruled from Sana'a. During his rule, he was ordered by Khosrau II to send some men to Medina to bring Muhammad to Khosrau II himself. Badhan sent two men for this task. When these two men met Muhammad and demanded he come with them, Muhammad refused. Instead, he informed them (prophetically) that Khosrau II had been overthrown and murdered by his son Kavadh II. The two men returned to Badhan with the news regarding Khosrau II. Badhan waited to ascertain the truthfulness of this disclosure. When it proved to be true, Badhan converted to Islam. The two men and the Persians living in Yemen followed the example of Badhan and also converted to Islam. Thereafter, Badhan sent a message to Muhammad, informing him of his conversion to Islam. In response Muhammad allowed Badhan to continue ruling over Yemen.

Badhan was succeeded briefly by his son Shahr.


Badhan see Badham


Badhan
Badhan.  See Badham.


Badia y Leblich
Badia y Leblich (Domingo Badia y Leblich) (1766-1818).  Spanish traveler, born in Barcelona.  In 1803, he visited North Africa, disguised as a Muslim and calling himself 'Ali Bey.  He traveled in Morocco, Egypt, and Arabia and was the first European to visit the sacred city of Mecca after the establishment of Islam in the seventh century.  He recorded his travels in a book, Ali Bey en Asie et en Afrique (Ali Bey in Asia and in Africa, 1814).

Badia y Leblich (Ali Bey) was a Spanish explorer in the early 19th century who notably witnessed the Wahhabi conquest of Mecca in 1807.

Ali Bey travelled in and wrote descriptions of Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria (including Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine, then considered part of Syria,) and Turkey during the period of 1803–1807. Ali Bey went to Mecca ostensibly to perform the hajj, pretending to be a descendant of the Abbassid Caliphs of the West.

Ali Bey claimed that he was born in Aleppo; but he was later identified as Domingo Badia y Leblich, a Catalan spy for Joseph Bonaparte. There was much mystery about Ali Bey. Some asserted that he was a Jew while many later writers thought that he was a Muslim of Moroccan origin, but of Spanish education. However, it is known that he alleged to be a Muslim in order to enter places forbidden to non-Muslims, including the Cave of Machpelah at Hebron and Mecca.

In 1816, the account of his travels (Travels of Ali Bey : in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, between the years 1803 and 1807) was published.

When he died in Syria in 1818, Ali Bey was denied a Muslim burial because a cross was found in his vest.

Domingo Badia y Leblich see Badia y Leblich
Leblich, Domingo Badia y see Badia y Leblich
'Ali Bey see Badia y Leblich
Ali Bey al-Abbasi see Badia y Leblich
Abbasi, Ali Bey al- see Badia y Leblich


Badr al-Jamali
Badr al-Jamali (Badr al-Din al-Jamali) (c.1010-1094).  Armenian slave who became a Fatimid commander-in-chief and vizier in Egypt.  He was the vizier for the Fatimids in Cairo from 1074 until his death in 1094. With great though brutal vigor, he brought order into Fatimid affairs and inaugurated a second period of splendor for the Fatimid Empire.  


Badr al-Din al-Jamali see Badr al-Jamali
Jamali, Badr al- see Badr al-Jamali
Jamali, Badr al-Din al- see Badr al-Jamali


Badr, Imam
Badr, Imam (Imam Badr).   A ruler of Yemen.  He was overthrown by a military coup.
Imam Badr see Badr, Imam


Badusbanids
Badusbanids.  Minor Caspian dynasty, noteworthy for its longevity, which lasted from 665 until 1599.


Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-
Ibrahim ibn Awwad ibn Ibrahim ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai (Arabic: إبراهيم ابن عواد ابن إبراهيم ابن علي ابن محمد البدري السامرائي‎), more commonly known by his nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (أبو بكر البغدادي), is the Caliph of the self-proclaimed Islamic State -- previously the Islamic State and the Levant (ISIL) or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)—located in western Iraq and north-eastern Syria.  He was formerly known as Abu Du'a (أبو دعاء).  He also uses the aliases Amir al-Mu'minin Caliph Ibrahim (أمير المؤمنين الخليفة إبراهيم) and, claiming descent from the Islamic prophet MuhammadAbu Bakr Al-Baghdadi Al-Husseini Al-Qurashi (أبو بكر البغدادي الحسيني الهاشمي القرشي).

On October 4, 2011, the United States State Department listed al-Baghdadi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and announced a reward of up to $10 million (USD - United States Dollars) for information leading to his capture or death.  Only the head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had a larger bounty ($25 million USD).

Al-Baghdadi is believed to have been born near Samarra, Iraq, in 1971. According to a biography that circulated on jihadist internet forums in July 2013, he obtained a BA, MA, and PhD in Islamic Studies from the Islamic University of Baghdad.

After the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, al-Baghdadi helped to found the militant group Jamaat Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah (JJASJ), in which he served as head of the sharia committee. Al-Baghdadi and his group joined the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) in 2006, in which he served as a member of the MSC's sharia committee. Following the renaming of the MSC as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in 2006, al-Baghdadi became the general supervisor of the ISI's sharia committee and a member of the group's senior consultative council.

According to the United States Department of Defense records, al-Baghdadi was held at Camp Bucca as a 'civilian internee' by United States Forces - Iraq  from February until December 2004, when he was recommended for release by a Combined Review and Release Board. A number of newspapers have instead stated that al-Baghdadi was interned from 2005 to 2009. These reports originate from an interview with the former commander of Camp Bucca, Colonel Kenneth King, and are not substantiated by Department of Defense records.

The Islamic State of Iraq, also known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, was the Iraqi division of al-Qaeda.  Al-Baghdadi was announced as leader of the ISI on May 16, 2010, following the death of his predecessor Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.  

As leader of the ISI, al-Baghdadi was responsible for masterminding large-scale operations such as the August 28, 2011 attack on the Umm al-Qura Mosque in Baghdad which killed prominent Sunni lawmaker Khalid al-Fahdawi. Between March and April 2011, the ISI claimed 23 attacks south of Baghdad, all allegedly carried out under al-Baghdadi's command.

Following the death of founder and head of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, on May 2, 2011, in Abbottabad, Pakistan,  al-Baghdadi released a statement praising bin Laden and threatening violent retaliation for his death. On May 5, 2011, al-Baghdadi claimed responsibility for an attack in Hilla, 62 miles south of Baghdad, that killed 24 policemen and wounded 72 others.

On August 15, 2011, a wave of ISI suicide attacks beginning in Mosul resulted in 70 deaths. Shortly thereafter, in retaliation for bin Laden's death, the ISI pledged on its website to carry out 100 attacks across Iraq featuring various methods of attack, including raids, suicide attacks, roadside bombs and small arms attacks, in all cities and rural areas across the country.

On December 22, 2011, a series of coordinated car bombings and IED (Improvised Explosive Device) attacks struck over a dozen neighborhoods across Baghdad, killing at least 63 people and wounding 180. The assault came just days after the US completed its troop withdrawal from the country.  On December 26, the ISI released a statement on jihadist internet forums claiming credit for the operation, stating that the targets of the Baghdad attack were "accurately surveyed and explored" and that the "operations were distributed between targeting security headquarters, military patrols and gatherings of the filthy ones of the al-Dajjal Army", referring to the Mahdi Army of Shia warlord Muqtada al-Sadr.  

On December 2, 2012, Iraqi officials claimed that they had captured al-Baghdadi in Baghdad following a two-month tracking operation. Officials claimed that they had also seized a list containing the names and locations of other al-Qaeda operatives.  However, this claim was rejected by the ISI.  In an interview with Al Jazeera, on December 7, 2012, Iraq's Acting Interior Minister said that the arrested man was not al-Baghdadi, but rather a section commander in charge of an area stretching from the northern outskirts of Baghdad to Taji.  

Al-Baghdadi remained leader of the ISI until its formal expansion into Syria in 2013, when in a statement on April 8, 2013, he announced the formation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) -- alternatively translated from the Arabic as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). 

When announcing the formation of ISIS, al-Baghdadi stated that the Syrian Civil War jihadist faction, Jabhat al-Nusra — also known as al-Nusra Front — had been an extension of the ISI in Syria and was now to be merged with ISIS. The leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani, disputed this merging of the two groups and appealed to al-Qaeda emir Ayman al-Zawahiri, who issued a statement that ISIS should be abolished and that al-Baghdadi should confine his group's activities to Iraq.[31] Al-Baghdadi, however, dismissed al-Zawahiri's ruling and took control of a reported eighty percent (80%) of Jabhat al-Nusra's foreign fighters. In January 2014, ISIS expelled Jabhat al-Nusra from the Syrian city of Ar-Raqqah, and in the same month clashes between the two in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate killed hundreds of fighters and displaced tens of thousands of civilians. In February 2014, al-Qaeda disavowed any relations with ISIS.

According to several Western sources, al-Baghdadi and ISIS have received private financing from citizens in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and enlisted fighters through recruitment drives in Saudi Arabia in particular.

On June 29, 2014, ISIS announced the establishment of a caliphate. Al-Baghdadi was named its caliph, to be known as Caliph Ibrahim, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was renamed the Islamic State (IS). 

The declaration of a caliphate was heavily criticized by Middle Eastern governments and other jihadist groups, and by Sunni Muslim theologians and historians.

IOn July 5, 2014, a video was released apparently showing al-Baghdadi making a speech at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, northern Iraq. A representative of the Iraqi government denied that the video was of al-Baghdadi, calling it a "farce". However, both the BBC and the Associated Press quoted unnamed Iraqi officials as saying that the man in the video was believed to be al-Baghdadi. In the video, al-Baghdadi declared himself the world leader of Muslims and called on Muslims everywhere to support him.



On July 8, 2014, ISIS launched its magazine Dabiq.  Its title appears to have been selected for its eschatological connections with the Islamic version of the End times or Malahim. 

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