Kasem, Casey
Casey Kasem (b. April 27, 1932, Detroit, Mich.— d. June 15, 2014, Gig Harbor, Wash.), was born Kemal Amin Kasem. Kasem was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 27, 1932, to Lebanese Druze immigrant parents. They settled in Michigan, where they worked as grocers.
Kasem became an American disc jockey who filled the airways for 34 years (1970–2004) with his weekly nationally syndicated Top 40 radio shows, including American Top 40, which he created and hosted with a hallmark easygoing style. During the program’s four-hour format, Kasem provided listeners not only with an upbeat analysis of the songs that had made the list (gleaned from Billboard magazine’s most popular singles of the previous week) but also with personal tidbits about the artists behind the music. Kasem’s courtly voice and popular catchphrases, including his signature sign-off, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars,” made him one of the country’s most recognizable radio personalities. Kasem also fronted American Top 20 and American Top 10. He retired as host from those radio shows in 2009. In addition to his radio work, Kasem appeared in a few films, including The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant(1971) and Ghostbusters (1984, as himself), and provided the voice of Shaggy on the cartoon series Scooby-Doo and for Robin “the Boy Wonder” on the animated The Batman/Superman Hour (1968–69). He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1992.
Kashani, Abol-Qasem
Kashani, Abol-Qasem (Ayatollah Abu’l-Qasim Kashani) (1882-1962). More fully, Ayatollah Hajj Sayyid Abu al-Qasim Kashani. Iranian religious and political leader during the national movement in the 1950s. Born in Tehran, Kashani made a pilgrimage to Mecca at the age of fifteen and settled in Najaf, Iraq, to pursue his education. He studied under Ayatollahs Khurasani, Khalili Tihrani, and Kamarah’i and became a mujtahid at twenty-five. His political activity began against British rule in Iraq when his father was killed in an uprising in April 1916. Sentenced to death in absentia, he escaped to Iran around February 1921.
Between 1921 and 1941, Kashani initially enjoyed Reza Shah Pahlavi’s support and was elected to the Constituent Assembly, which approved the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925. However, he soon lost the shah’s friendship, abstained from politics, and confined himself to teaching.
Toward the end of Reza Shah’s reign, Kashani became involved in pro-German activities. In January 1942, Kashani, General Fazlullah Zahedi (Fazi Allah Zahidi), and several army officers and politicians founded the Nahzat-i Milliyun-i Iran (Movement of Iranian Nationalists). The group was soon discovered, its members were arrested, and Kashani was sent into exile.
After World War II, Kashani, in cooperation with the grand mufti of Jerusalem, al-Hajj Amin al-Husayni, and the Iraqi military officer, Rashid ‘Ali al-Kilani, opposed the establishment of Israel, mobilized volunteers to aid Palestine, and collected funds for Palestinians. At home in Iran, Kashani opposed nearly all governments after 1945 either on policy or
personal grounds. Prime Ministers ‘Abd al-Husayn Hazhir and Hossein ‘Ali Razmara were both assassinated by the Fida’iyan-i Islam – presumably with Kashani’s blessing.
On February 4, 1949, after an attempt on the shah’s life, Kashani was exiled to Lebanon. In June 1950, he returned from exile and was elected to the Majlis (“parliament”) from Tehran.
Kashani’s power and popularity increased enormously during the movement to nationalize the Iranian oil industry. In the Majlis and outside, his followers began to mobilize support for the National Front under Mohammad Mossadegh’s leadership. On April 30, 1951, Mossadegh was appointed prime minister.
Kashani’s relations with Mossadegh had three phases: April 1951- July 20, 1952 marked the strengthening of their friendship and cooperation; the July 20, 1952, uprising saw Kashani working actively to remove Qavvam al-Saltanah and bring Mossadegh back to the premiership; October 1952 until the coup d’etat of August 19, 1953, when differences emerged between them. Kashani finally broke with Mossadegh and turned to General Zahedi and the Pahlavi court. The main reasons for the break were: Kashani’s expectation of more power and control over the cabinet; Mossadegh’s desire to keep the clergy out of the governmental process; Mossadegh’s inability to settle the Anglo-Iranian oil dispute; and the clergy’s fear of the growth of communism.
The coup d’etat of August 19, 1953, that overthrew Mossadegh’s government also ended Kashani’s political career. General Zahedi, the new prime minister, offered Kashani a seat in the senate. Kashani rejected the offer and pressured Zahedi to implement the oil nationalization law. Zahedi ignored the ayatollah, who then declared Zahedi a dictator. Kashani’s continued activities against Zahedi’s government resulted in his arrest and imprisonment in July 1956 on charges of cooperation with the Fida‘iyan-i Islam in Razmara’s assassination in 1951. However, Kashani’s old age and the mediation of Ayatollahs Mohammad Hosayn Borujerdi (Muhammad Husayn Burujirdi) and Abu al-Fazl Zanjani saved his life. In 1958, his son, Mustafa, was mysteriously poisoned. This tragic event and disillusionment with politics caused Kashani to leave politics. He died on March 14, 1962.
Kashani was a nationalist, a Constitutionalist, anti-British, anti-colonialist, anti-communist, Pan-Islamist, and a pragmatist. He was combative, loved power, and lacked modesty but did not seek worldly and material possessions. Indeed, he died a poor man. He advocated the unity of the spiritual and the temporal spheres, seeing the separation of religion and politics as a colonial plot. However, he never sought direct rule by the clergy.
Kashani welcomed technological modernization and adoption of certain aspects of Western institutions. He advocated political reform in Iran but did not desire structural change in its political system. He strongly believed in legality and saw a role for both secular and religious law in public life.
Kashani’s major contribution to the status of the Iranian ‘ulama’ was his revival of their traditional leadership role as spokesmen of popular discontent. The clerical opposition toward the government after 1963, and the developments that led to the 1979 revolution, were considerably influenced by Kashani’s ideas and activities. Although his views differed greatly from his clerical successors regarding Iranian nationalism, the place of shari‘a in society, and attitudes toward the West, many of his ideas were elaborated by Ayatollah Khomeini and formed the foundations of his government. The messianic mission for the ‘ulama’ that Kashani so often emphasized was expanded by Khomeini and formulated in the doctrine of vilayat-i faqih (wilayat al-faqih). Finally, Kashani’s most important legacy was his dream of a non-aligned political bloc of all Muslim states, which found resonance in Khomeini’s “neither East nor West” policy.
Abol-Qasem Kashani see Kashani, Abol-Qasem
Abu'l-Qasim Kashani see Kashani, Abol-Qasem
On February 4, 1949, after an attempt on the shah’s life, Kashani was exiled to Lebanon. In June 1950, he returned from exile and was elected to the Majlis (“parliament”) from Tehran.
Kashani’s power and popularity increased enormously during the movement to nationalize the Iranian oil industry. In the Majlis and outside, his followers began to mobilize support for the National Front under Mohammad Mossadegh’s leadership. On April 30, 1951, Mossadegh was appointed prime minister.
Kashani’s relations with Mossadegh had three phases: April 1951- July 20, 1952 marked the strengthening of their friendship and cooperation; the July 20, 1952, uprising saw Kashani working actively to remove Qavvam al-Saltanah and bring Mossadegh back to the premiership; October 1952 until the coup d’etat of August 19, 1953, when differences emerged between them. Kashani finally broke with Mossadegh and turned to General Zahedi and the Pahlavi court. The main reasons for the break were: Kashani’s expectation of more power and control over the cabinet; Mossadegh’s desire to keep the clergy out of the governmental process; Mossadegh’s inability to settle the Anglo-Iranian oil dispute; and the clergy’s fear of the growth of communism.
The coup d’etat of August 19, 1953, that overthrew Mossadegh’s government also ended Kashani’s political career. General Zahedi, the new prime minister, offered Kashani a seat in the senate. Kashani rejected the offer and pressured Zahedi to implement the oil nationalization law. Zahedi ignored the ayatollah, who then declared Zahedi a dictator. Kashani’s continued activities against Zahedi’s government resulted in his arrest and imprisonment in July 1956 on charges of cooperation with the Fida‘iyan-i Islam in Razmara’s assassination in 1951. However, Kashani’s old age and the mediation of Ayatollahs Mohammad Hosayn Borujerdi (Muhammad Husayn Burujirdi) and Abu al-Fazl Zanjani saved his life. In 1958, his son, Mustafa, was mysteriously poisoned. This tragic event and disillusionment with politics caused Kashani to leave politics. He died on March 14, 1962.
Kashani was a nationalist, a Constitutionalist, anti-British, anti-colonialist, anti-communist, Pan-Islamist, and a pragmatist. He was combative, loved power, and lacked modesty but did not seek worldly and material possessions. Indeed, he died a poor man. He advocated the unity of the spiritual and the temporal spheres, seeing the separation of religion and politics as a colonial plot. However, he never sought direct rule by the clergy.
Kashani welcomed technological modernization and adoption of certain aspects of Western institutions. He advocated political reform in Iran but did not desire structural change in its political system. He strongly believed in legality and saw a role for both secular and religious law in public life.
Kashani’s major contribution to the status of the Iranian ‘ulama’ was his revival of their traditional leadership role as spokesmen of popular discontent. The clerical opposition toward the government after 1963, and the developments that led to the 1979 revolution, were considerably influenced by Kashani’s ideas and activities. Although his views differed greatly from his clerical successors regarding Iranian nationalism, the place of shari‘a in society, and attitudes toward the West, many of his ideas were elaborated by Ayatollah Khomeini and formed the foundations of his government. The messianic mission for the ‘ulama’ that Kashani so often emphasized was expanded by Khomeini and formulated in the doctrine of vilayat-i faqih (wilayat al-faqih). Finally, Kashani’s most important legacy was his dream of a non-aligned political bloc of all Muslim states, which found resonance in Khomeini’s “neither East nor West” policy.
Abol-Qasem Kashani see Kashani, Abol-Qasem
Abu'l-Qasim Kashani see Kashani, Abol-Qasem
Kashani, Hajj Mirza Jani
Kashani, Hajj Mirza Jani (d. 1852). Babi historian. He was one of the disciples of the Bab, Sayyid ‘Ali Muhammad of Shiraz.
Hajj Mirza Jani Kashani see Kashani, Hajj Mirza Jani
Kashani, Hajj Mirza Jani (d. 1852). Babi historian. He was one of the disciples of the Bab, Sayyid ‘Ali Muhammad of Shiraz.
Hajj Mirza Jani Kashani see Kashani, Hajj Mirza Jani
Kashghari, Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-
Kashghari, Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al- (Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-Kashghari) (Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari) (c.1005-1102) Turkish scholar and lexicographer of the eleventh century. His Diwan of the Turkish Language (Compendium of the Turkic Dialects) is one of the most significant records of the Turkish language and is also an important source for the history of the Turkish people. Al-Kashgari was born in Barsgan at the beginning of the eleventh century (around 1005). Mahmud became a political refugee around 1057 and finally settled in Baghdad, where he wrote the Compendium of the Turkic Dialects in 1077. Little else is known of his life. The Compendium is a Turkic dictionary/encyclopedia describing the Turkiyya language of the Chigil tribe of the Karakhanid confederation. It also contains information on Turkic grammar, dialectology, folklore, history, and epic poetry; and it includes the first Turkic world map. Al-Kashgari died in Upal, a small city southwest of Kashgar, and was buried there. On May 26, 2006, a mausoleum was erected on his gravesite.
Al-Kashgari's father, Husayn, was the mayor of Barsgan and related to the Qara-Khanid ruling dynasty. His mother, Bibi Rābiy'a al-Basrī, was of Arab origin.
Al-Kashgari studied the Turkic dialects of his time and wrote the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, the Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk (Compendium of the languages of the Turks) in 1072. It was intended for use by the Caliphs of Baghdad, the new, Arab allies of the Turks. Mahmud Kashgari's comprehensive dictionary contains specimens of old Turkic poetry in the typical form of quatrains (Persio-Arabic rubāiyāt; Turkish: dörtlük), representing all the principal genres: epic, pastoral, didactic, lyric, and elegiac. His book also included the first known map of the areas inhabited by Turkic peoples.
Mahmud al-Kashgari died in 1102 at the age of 97 in Upal, a small city southwest of Kashgar, and was buried there. There is now a mausoleum erected on his gravesite. He is remembered as a prominent Uyghur scholar.
Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-Kashgari see Kashghari, Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-
Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari see Kashghari, Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-
Kashghari, Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al- (Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-Kashghari) (Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari) (c.1005-1102) Turkish scholar and lexicographer of the eleventh century. His Diwan of the Turkish Language (Compendium of the Turkic Dialects) is one of the most significant records of the Turkish language and is also an important source for the history of the Turkish people. Al-Kashgari was born in Barsgan at the beginning of the eleventh century (around 1005). Mahmud became a political refugee around 1057 and finally settled in Baghdad, where he wrote the Compendium of the Turkic Dialects in 1077. Little else is known of his life. The Compendium is a Turkic dictionary/encyclopedia describing the Turkiyya language of the Chigil tribe of the Karakhanid confederation. It also contains information on Turkic grammar, dialectology, folklore, history, and epic poetry; and it includes the first Turkic world map. Al-Kashgari died in Upal, a small city southwest of Kashgar, and was buried there. On May 26, 2006, a mausoleum was erected on his gravesite.
Al-Kashgari's father, Husayn, was the mayor of Barsgan and related to the Qara-Khanid ruling dynasty. His mother, Bibi Rābiy'a al-Basrī, was of Arab origin.
Al-Kashgari studied the Turkic dialects of his time and wrote the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, the Dīwānu l-Luġat al-Turk (Compendium of the languages of the Turks) in 1072. It was intended for use by the Caliphs of Baghdad, the new, Arab allies of the Turks. Mahmud Kashgari's comprehensive dictionary contains specimens of old Turkic poetry in the typical form of quatrains (Persio-Arabic rubāiyāt; Turkish: dörtlük), representing all the principal genres: epic, pastoral, didactic, lyric, and elegiac. His book also included the first known map of the areas inhabited by Turkic peoples.
Mahmud al-Kashgari died in 1102 at the age of 97 in Upal, a small city southwest of Kashgar, and was buried there. There is now a mausoleum erected on his gravesite. He is remembered as a prominent Uyghur scholar.
Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-Kashgari see Kashghari, Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-
Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari see Kashghari, Mahmud ibn al-Husayn al-
Kashi
Kashi (al-Kashani) (Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi) (Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd ibn Masʾūd al-Kāshī) (Jamshīd Kāshānī) (c. 1380 Kashan, Persia (Iran) – June 22, 1429 Samarkand, Transoxania (Uzbekistan)) (c.1380 - June 22, 1429). Persian mathematician and astronomer. He wrote in Persian and in Arabic. He gives a description of the test undergone by poets when they were admitted to the sovereign’s court. He also assisted in the establishment of Ulugh Beg’s astronomical tables, and established the value of pi with extraordinary exactitude.
The first event known with certainty in al-Kāshī’s life is his observation of a lunar eclipse on June 2, 1406, from Kāshān. His earliest surviving work is Sullam al-samāʾ (1407; “The Stairway of Heaven”), an astronomical treatise dedicated to a local vizier. He dedicated the Mukhtaṣar dar ʿilm-i hayʾat (1410–11; “Compendium of the Science of Astronomy”) to Iskander (executed in 1414), the sultan of Eṣfahan and Fārs (both now located in Iran) and a member of the Timurid dynasty. About 1413–14 al-Kāshī finished the Khāqānī Zīj. The first of his major works, this set of astronomical tables (zīj) was dedicated to Ulūgh Beg, the Khāqānī (“Supreme Ruler”) of Samarkand and grandson of the founder of the Timurid dynasty, the great Islamic leader Timur (1336–1405). Still seeking a patron, al-Kāshī completed two works in 1416, Risāla dar sharḥ-i ālāt-i raṣd (“Treatise on the Explanation of Observational Instruments”) and Nuzha al-ḥadāiq fī kayfiyya ṣanʾa al-āla al-musammā bi ṭabaq al-manāṭiq (“The Garden Excursion, on the Method of Construction of the Instrument Called Plate of Heavens”), which describes a device (now known as an equatorium) that he invented for determining planetary positions. Al-Kāshī worked for some time in Herāt (now in Afghanistan) before finally receiving an invitation from Ulūgh Beg to go to Samarkand.
From 1417 to 1420, Ulūgh Beg founded a madrasah (Islamic school for the study of theology, law, logic, mathematics, and natural science) in Samarkand to which he invited the greatest scholars of his realm. Following his arrival in about 1420, there can be no doubt that al-Kāshī was the leading astronomer and mathematician at the new institution. (Until the assassination of Ulūgh Beg in 1449, and the subsequent political repression, Samarkand was the most important center of science in the Islamic realm.) In 1424, Ulūgh Beg, who was also an astronomer, began the construction of a great observatory at Samarkand, provisioned with the best equipment available. Al-Kāshī gives a vivid account of scholarly life at Samarkand during construction of the observatory in two undated letters to his father in Kāshān. In addition to including interesting information on the construction of the observatory building and the astronomical instruments, these letters characterize al-Kāshī as the closest collaborator and consultant of Ulūgh Beg.
Al-Kāshī produced his greatest mathematical works after his arrival in Samarkand. In 1424 he completed the Risāla al-muḥīṭīyya (“Treatise on the Circumference”), a computational masterpiece in which he determined the value of 2π to 9 sexagesimal places. (Al-Kāshī worked exclusively in base 60; his result is equivalent to 16 decimal places of accuracy, far eclipsing the 6 decimal places achieved by the Chinese mathematician Tsu Ch’ung-chih (430–501) and setting a record that lasted for almost 200 years.) In the introduction al-Kāshī observes that a small error in the estimated value of π results in a large error when calculating the circumference of enormous circles, such as the celestial sphere. In order to calculate the size of the universe with an error smaller than the width of a horse’s hair (a standard Persian unit of measurement ≅ 1/36 inch), al-Kāshī used a polygon with 3 × 228 sides to estimate π.
Al-Kāshī’s best-known work is the Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb (“Key of Arithmetic”), completed in 1427 and also dedicated to Ulūgh Beg. This encyclopedic work instructs in the solution of a wide range of problems from astronomy, surveying, and finance through the use of arithmetic—defined by al-Kāshī as “the science consisting of basic rules to find numerical unknowns from relevant known quantities.” The pedagogical excellence of the Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb is attested by the numerous copies made of it over the following centuries.
In his third masterpiece, Risāla al-watar waʾl-jaib (“Treatise on the Chord and Sine”), he calculates the sine of 1° correct to 10 sexagesimal places. This precision was essential for the accuracy of Ulūgh Beg’s Astronomical Tables. It is unclear, however, whether al-Kāshī completed the treatise himself or whether it was completed after his death by his colleague Qādī Zāde ar-Rūmī (c. 1364–1436). Al-Kāshī was murdered outside the Samarkand observatory on June 22, 1429, probably on the command of Ulūgh Beg.
Kashani, al- see Kashi
Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi see Kashi
Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd ibn Masʾūd al-Kāshī see Kashi
Jamshīd Kāshānī see Kashi
Kashi (al-Kashani) (Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi) (Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd ibn Masʾūd al-Kāshī) (Jamshīd Kāshānī) (c. 1380 Kashan, Persia (Iran) – June 22, 1429 Samarkand, Transoxania (Uzbekistan)) (c.1380 - June 22, 1429). Persian mathematician and astronomer. He wrote in Persian and in Arabic. He gives a description of the test undergone by poets when they were admitted to the sovereign’s court. He also assisted in the establishment of Ulugh Beg’s astronomical tables, and established the value of pi with extraordinary exactitude.
The first event known with certainty in al-Kāshī’s life is his observation of a lunar eclipse on June 2, 1406, from Kāshān. His earliest surviving work is Sullam al-samāʾ (1407; “The Stairway of Heaven”), an astronomical treatise dedicated to a local vizier. He dedicated the Mukhtaṣar dar ʿilm-i hayʾat (1410–11; “Compendium of the Science of Astronomy”) to Iskander (executed in 1414), the sultan of Eṣfahan and Fārs (both now located in Iran) and a member of the Timurid dynasty. About 1413–14 al-Kāshī finished the Khāqānī Zīj. The first of his major works, this set of astronomical tables (zīj) was dedicated to Ulūgh Beg, the Khāqānī (“Supreme Ruler”) of Samarkand and grandson of the founder of the Timurid dynasty, the great Islamic leader Timur (1336–1405). Still seeking a patron, al-Kāshī completed two works in 1416, Risāla dar sharḥ-i ālāt-i raṣd (“Treatise on the Explanation of Observational Instruments”) and Nuzha al-ḥadāiq fī kayfiyya ṣanʾa al-āla al-musammā bi ṭabaq al-manāṭiq (“The Garden Excursion, on the Method of Construction of the Instrument Called Plate of Heavens”), which describes a device (now known as an equatorium) that he invented for determining planetary positions. Al-Kāshī worked for some time in Herāt (now in Afghanistan) before finally receiving an invitation from Ulūgh Beg to go to Samarkand.
From 1417 to 1420, Ulūgh Beg founded a madrasah (Islamic school for the study of theology, law, logic, mathematics, and natural science) in Samarkand to which he invited the greatest scholars of his realm. Following his arrival in about 1420, there can be no doubt that al-Kāshī was the leading astronomer and mathematician at the new institution. (Until the assassination of Ulūgh Beg in 1449, and the subsequent political repression, Samarkand was the most important center of science in the Islamic realm.) In 1424, Ulūgh Beg, who was also an astronomer, began the construction of a great observatory at Samarkand, provisioned with the best equipment available. Al-Kāshī gives a vivid account of scholarly life at Samarkand during construction of the observatory in two undated letters to his father in Kāshān. In addition to including interesting information on the construction of the observatory building and the astronomical instruments, these letters characterize al-Kāshī as the closest collaborator and consultant of Ulūgh Beg.
Al-Kāshī produced his greatest mathematical works after his arrival in Samarkand. In 1424 he completed the Risāla al-muḥīṭīyya (“Treatise on the Circumference”), a computational masterpiece in which he determined the value of 2π to 9 sexagesimal places. (Al-Kāshī worked exclusively in base 60; his result is equivalent to 16 decimal places of accuracy, far eclipsing the 6 decimal places achieved by the Chinese mathematician Tsu Ch’ung-chih (430–501) and setting a record that lasted for almost 200 years.) In the introduction al-Kāshī observes that a small error in the estimated value of π results in a large error when calculating the circumference of enormous circles, such as the celestial sphere. In order to calculate the size of the universe with an error smaller than the width of a horse’s hair (a standard Persian unit of measurement ≅ 1/36 inch), al-Kāshī used a polygon with 3 × 228 sides to estimate π.
Al-Kāshī’s best-known work is the Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb (“Key of Arithmetic”), completed in 1427 and also dedicated to Ulūgh Beg. This encyclopedic work instructs in the solution of a wide range of problems from astronomy, surveying, and finance through the use of arithmetic—defined by al-Kāshī as “the science consisting of basic rules to find numerical unknowns from relevant known quantities.” The pedagogical excellence of the Miftāḥ al-ḥisāb is attested by the numerous copies made of it over the following centuries.
In his third masterpiece, Risāla al-watar waʾl-jaib (“Treatise on the Chord and Sine”), he calculates the sine of 1° correct to 10 sexagesimal places. This precision was essential for the accuracy of Ulūgh Beg’s Astronomical Tables. It is unclear, however, whether al-Kāshī completed the treatise himself or whether it was completed after his death by his colleague Qādī Zāde ar-Rūmī (c. 1364–1436). Al-Kāshī was murdered outside the Samarkand observatory on June 22, 1429, probably on the command of Ulūgh Beg.
Kashani, al- see Kashi
Ghiyath al-Din al-Kashi see Kashi
Ghiyāth al-Dīn Jamshīd ibn Masʾūd al-Kāshī see Kashi
Jamshīd Kāshānī see Kashi
Kashif al-Ghita’
Kashif al-Ghita’. A family of Shiʿite ulama and mujtahidun originating in the Shiʿite holy city of al-Najaf in southern Iraq.
The founder of the family, Jaʿfar ibn Khidr al-Najafi (1743/1751 - 1812), was an alim (singular of ulama) who wrote the fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) textbook Kashif al-Ghita (The uncoverer of the error), from which the family surname was derived. In 1807, he led the defense of Najaf against the raiding Wahhabis, a Sunni fundamentalist and purist movement led by amirs of the house of Al Saʿud, based in Najd. Ja'far led the resistance in al-Najaf during the the siege by the Wahhabis in 1805 and became involved in a bloody conflict between two factions of the inhabitants of this native town, which led to a feud lasting over a century.
Jaʿfar's sons, Shaykh Musa ibn Jaʿfar (1766 - 1827), Shaykh Ali ibn Jaʿfar (d. 1837), and Shaykh Hasan ibn Jaʿfar (1776 - 1848), were mujtahidun (senior Shiʿite religious authorities empowered to issue religious decrees based on primary sources; singular mujtahid) in Najaf, where they were involved in political developments. Shaykh Musa ibn Jaʿfar Kashif al-Ghita mediated between the Ottoman Empire and the Persians during the 1820s.
The most prominent scion of the Kashif al-Ghita family in the twentieth century was Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita (1877 - 1954), who received the title and status of marja (supreme religious authority). He was the author of numerous books on religious topics, printed in Arabic and Persian, and had adherents throughout the Shiʿa world. In his books he showed the need for Islamic unity and expressed his views about the ideal Islamic society. He maintained a correspondence with the Maronite intellectual Amin Rihani. He traveled to Hijaz, Syria, and Egypt, and lectured at al-Azhar University in Cairo. In 1909, he published a book, al-Din wa al-Islam aw al-Daʿwa al-Islamiyya (Religion and Islam, or The Islamic call), which called for a revival of Islam and its purification from recent trends of extremism and superstition.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Muhammad Husayn was an active Shiʿite politician in Iraq. In the period of unrest and tribal rebellions (1934 - 1935), he formulated the Shiʿite demands, but refused - due to the strife among the Shiʿite tribes and politicians - to commit himself to the tribal rebellion under Abd al-Wahid Sikkar, which was backed and manipulated by Sunni Baghdadi politicians of the Ikha al-Watani Party. Starting from the late 1930s, he introduced moderate reforms and modernization in his madrasa (religious college) in Najaf.
In 1931, Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita attended the Muslim Congress in Jerusalem - the first Shiʿite mujtahid to take part in a Muslim Congress - and led the prayers at the opening ceremony at the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Following World War II Muhammad Husayn began to warn against the dangers of communism. In 1953, he held talks with the British and American ambassadors on the communist influences among young Shiʿites in Iraq.
Ghita', Kashif al- see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Musa ibn Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Ali ibn Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Hasan ibn Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Kashif al-Ghita’. A family of Shiʿite ulama and mujtahidun originating in the Shiʿite holy city of al-Najaf in southern Iraq.
The founder of the family, Jaʿfar ibn Khidr al-Najafi (1743/1751 - 1812), was an alim (singular of ulama) who wrote the fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) textbook Kashif al-Ghita (The uncoverer of the error), from which the family surname was derived. In 1807, he led the defense of Najaf against the raiding Wahhabis, a Sunni fundamentalist and purist movement led by amirs of the house of Al Saʿud, based in Najd. Ja'far led the resistance in al-Najaf during the the siege by the Wahhabis in 1805 and became involved in a bloody conflict between two factions of the inhabitants of this native town, which led to a feud lasting over a century.
Jaʿfar's sons, Shaykh Musa ibn Jaʿfar (1766 - 1827), Shaykh Ali ibn Jaʿfar (d. 1837), and Shaykh Hasan ibn Jaʿfar (1776 - 1848), were mujtahidun (senior Shiʿite religious authorities empowered to issue religious decrees based on primary sources; singular mujtahid) in Najaf, where they were involved in political developments. Shaykh Musa ibn Jaʿfar Kashif al-Ghita mediated between the Ottoman Empire and the Persians during the 1820s.
The most prominent scion of the Kashif al-Ghita family in the twentieth century was Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita (1877 - 1954), who received the title and status of marja (supreme religious authority). He was the author of numerous books on religious topics, printed in Arabic and Persian, and had adherents throughout the Shiʿa world. In his books he showed the need for Islamic unity and expressed his views about the ideal Islamic society. He maintained a correspondence with the Maronite intellectual Amin Rihani. He traveled to Hijaz, Syria, and Egypt, and lectured at al-Azhar University in Cairo. In 1909, he published a book, al-Din wa al-Islam aw al-Daʿwa al-Islamiyya (Religion and Islam, or The Islamic call), which called for a revival of Islam and its purification from recent trends of extremism and superstition.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Muhammad Husayn was an active Shiʿite politician in Iraq. In the period of unrest and tribal rebellions (1934 - 1935), he formulated the Shiʿite demands, but refused - due to the strife among the Shiʿite tribes and politicians - to commit himself to the tribal rebellion under Abd al-Wahid Sikkar, which was backed and manipulated by Sunni Baghdadi politicians of the Ikha al-Watani Party. Starting from the late 1930s, he introduced moderate reforms and modernization in his madrasa (religious college) in Najaf.
In 1931, Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita attended the Muslim Congress in Jerusalem - the first Shiʿite mujtahid to take part in a Muslim Congress - and led the prayers at the opening ceremony at the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Following World War II Muhammad Husayn began to warn against the dangers of communism. In 1953, he held talks with the British and American ambassadors on the communist influences among young Shiʿites in Iraq.
Ghita', Kashif al- see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Musa ibn Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Ali ibn Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Hasan ibn Ja'far ibn Khidr al-Najafi see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Muhammad Husayn Kashif al-Ghita see Kashif al-Ghita’.
Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn
Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn (Kamal al-Din Husayn Kashifi) (al-Wa‘iz -- “the preacher”) (d. 1504/1505). Persian writer and preacher. Among other works he wrote a new Persian version of Kalila wa-Dimna. The Ottoman Turkish translation of this work became widely known in Europe. Its translation into French is one of the sources of La Fontaine’s Fables.
Kamal al-Din Husayn Kashifi see Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn
Wa'iz, al- see Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn
The Preacher see Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn
Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn (Kamal al-Din Husayn Kashifi) (al-Wa‘iz -- “the preacher”) (d. 1504/1505). Persian writer and preacher. Among other works he wrote a new Persian version of Kalila wa-Dimna. The Ottoman Turkish translation of this work became widely known in Europe. Its translation into French is one of the sources of La Fontaine’s Fables.
Kamal al-Din Husayn Kashifi see Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn
Wa'iz, al- see Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn
The Preacher see Kashifi, Kamal al-Din Husayn
Kashmiri
Kashmiri. See Kashmiris.
Kashmiri. See Kashmiris.
Kashmiris
Kashmiris. There are several Muslim groups, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, now divided unequally between India (where it is the only state with a Muslim majority) and Pakistan (where it is called Azad Kashmir). The largest Muslim group speaks Kashmiri, an Indo-Iranian language. Its members are culturally distinguishable and think of themselves as distinct not only from Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists but also from other Muslims of the region who speak Punjabi, Pashto, Dogri, Pahari, and Shina.
Kashmiri speakers, who are ninety-five percent Muslim, are heavily concentrated in the Vale of Kashmir, the heart of the former princely state located high in the Himalayan Mountains of north India.
Although there was an independent Muslim sultanate in Kashmir for two centuries (1346-1586) and it was a province of the Mughal empire for another century and a half (1586-1752), its more recent history is one of subjugation, first to the Pushtun of Afghanistan (1752-1819), then to the Sikh kingdom of Ranjit Singh (1819-1846) and lastly to the British, ruling through a Hindu Dogra dynasty from neighboring Jammu State (1846-1947). Under these three sets of alien rulers, the Muslim ruling class disappeared, and the peasantry and artisans were systematically exploited through oppressive taxation, forced labor and usurious debts. Kashmiri Muslims were excluded from the state’s army, civil service and education in favor of outsiders, so they naturally developed a deep suspicion of all governments. Only Hindu Pandits (Brahmins) among the Kashmiri-speaking subjects of the maharaja had some opportunity in the later years of Dogra rule to join the ruling elite. Thus, there has been, until the generation which entered politics in 1931, no Muslim Kashmiri leadership comparable to the Muslim aristocracy and professional upper middle class of the United Provinces in British India which played such a conspicuous part in the founding of Pakistan. It was this difference in elite, in conjunction with the fear of plundering Pushtun tribesmen, which probably accounts for the unwillingness of most Kashmiri Muslims to take the side of Pakistan in the three wars that country has fought with India over this territory (1947-1948, 1965, 1971).
The Muslims and Hindus of Kashmir lived in relative harmony, since the Sufi-Islamic way of life that Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the Rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits.[citation needed] This led to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines[citation needed]. Famous sufi saint Bulbul Shah was able to convert Rinchan Shah who was then prince of Kashgar Ladakh to an Islamic lifestyle, thus founding the Sufiana composite culture. Under this rule, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Kashmiris generally co-existed peacefully. Over time, however, the Sufiana governance gave way to outright Muslim monarchs.
Kashmiris. There are several Muslim groups, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, now divided unequally between India (where it is the only state with a Muslim majority) and Pakistan (where it is called Azad Kashmir). The largest Muslim group speaks Kashmiri, an Indo-Iranian language. Its members are culturally distinguishable and think of themselves as distinct not only from Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists but also from other Muslims of the region who speak Punjabi, Pashto, Dogri, Pahari, and Shina.
Kashmiri speakers, who are ninety-five percent Muslim, are heavily concentrated in the Vale of Kashmir, the heart of the former princely state located high in the Himalayan Mountains of north India.
Although there was an independent Muslim sultanate in Kashmir for two centuries (1346-1586) and it was a province of the Mughal empire for another century and a half (1586-1752), its more recent history is one of subjugation, first to the Pushtun of Afghanistan (1752-1819), then to the Sikh kingdom of Ranjit Singh (1819-1846) and lastly to the British, ruling through a Hindu Dogra dynasty from neighboring Jammu State (1846-1947). Under these three sets of alien rulers, the Muslim ruling class disappeared, and the peasantry and artisans were systematically exploited through oppressive taxation, forced labor and usurious debts. Kashmiri Muslims were excluded from the state’s army, civil service and education in favor of outsiders, so they naturally developed a deep suspicion of all governments. Only Hindu Pandits (Brahmins) among the Kashmiri-speaking subjects of the maharaja had some opportunity in the later years of Dogra rule to join the ruling elite. Thus, there has been, until the generation which entered politics in 1931, no Muslim Kashmiri leadership comparable to the Muslim aristocracy and professional upper middle class of the United Provinces in British India which played such a conspicuous part in the founding of Pakistan. It was this difference in elite, in conjunction with the fear of plundering Pushtun tribesmen, which probably accounts for the unwillingness of most Kashmiri Muslims to take the side of Pakistan in the three wars that country has fought with India over this territory (1947-1948, 1965, 1971).
The Muslims and Hindus of Kashmir lived in relative harmony, since the Sufi-Islamic way of life that Muslims followed in Kashmir complemented the Rishi tradition of Kashmiri Pandits.[citation needed] This led to a syncretic culture where Hindus and Muslims revered the same local saints and prayed at the same shrines[citation needed]. Famous sufi saint Bulbul Shah was able to convert Rinchan Shah who was then prince of Kashgar Ladakh to an Islamic lifestyle, thus founding the Sufiana composite culture. Under this rule, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Kashmiris generally co-existed peacefully. Over time, however, the Sufiana governance gave way to outright Muslim monarchs.
Kashshi, Abu ‘Amr al-
Kashshi, Abu ‘Amr al- (Abu ‘Amr al-Kashshi) (d. c. 951). Imami transmitter of traditions (hadith) during the tenth century. He wrote a work on the reliability of the transmitters from the Imams.
Abu 'Amr al-Kashshi see Kashshi, Abu ‘Amr al-
Kashshi, Abu ‘Amr al- (Abu ‘Amr al-Kashshi) (d. c. 951). Imami transmitter of traditions (hadith) during the tenth century. He wrote a work on the reliability of the transmitters from the Imams.
Abu 'Amr al-Kashshi see Kashshi, Abu ‘Amr al-
Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad (Sayyid Ahmad Kasrawi Tabrizi) (Ahmad Kasravi) (1890/1891-1946). Iranian historian, linguist, jurist and ideologist. Charges of slander of Islam were brought against him because of his views on religion. He was assassinated by the Fida’iyyan-i Islam. Kasrawi was born in Tabriz to an extremely religious family and received his primary education in a religious establishment. Turning against the hypocrisy, superficiality, and rigidity that he saw in the curriculum, he left the clerical establishment and joined the constitutionalists in 1911. Mainly for his ardently anti-Shi‘ite stand, he was assassinated in 1946 by a member of an extremist religious organization, the Fida’iyan-i Islam, which had formed in 1945 under the leadership Ayatollah Kashani in Qom. Kasrawi is also known as the writer of several works on Iranian political and social history.
Sayyid Ahmad Kasrawi Tabrizi see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad Kasrawi see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Kasravi, Ahmad see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Ahmad Kasravi see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad (Sayyid Ahmad Kasrawi Tabrizi) (Ahmad Kasravi) (1890/1891-1946). Iranian historian, linguist, jurist and ideologist. Charges of slander of Islam were brought against him because of his views on religion. He was assassinated by the Fida’iyyan-i Islam. Kasrawi was born in Tabriz to an extremely religious family and received his primary education in a religious establishment. Turning against the hypocrisy, superficiality, and rigidity that he saw in the curriculum, he left the clerical establishment and joined the constitutionalists in 1911. Mainly for his ardently anti-Shi‘ite stand, he was assassinated in 1946 by a member of an extremist religious organization, the Fida’iyan-i Islam, which had formed in 1945 under the leadership Ayatollah Kashani in Qom. Kasrawi is also known as the writer of several works on Iranian political and social history.
Sayyid Ahmad Kasrawi Tabrizi see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad Kasrawi see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Kasravi, Ahmad see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Ahmad Kasravi see Kasrawi Tabrizi, Sayyid Ahmad
Kathrada, Ahmed Mohamed
Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada (b. August 21, 1929, Schweizer-Reneke, Western Transvaal, South Africa – d. March 28, 2017, Johannesburg, South Africa), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician, former political prisoner and anti-apartheid activist.
Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African National Congress (ANC) led him to his long-term imprisonment following the Rivonia Trial, in which he was held at Robben Island and Pollsmoor Prison. Following his release in 1990, he was elected to serve as a member of parliament, representing the ANC. He authored a book, No Bread for Mandela- Memoirs of Ahmed Kathrada, Prisoner No. 468/64.
Born into an Indian Muslim family, Kathrada was born in the small country town of Schweizer-Reneke in the Western Transvaal, the fourth of six children in a Gujarati Bohra family of South African Indian immigrant parents from Surat, Gujarat.
Owing to his Indian origin and the policies of the time, he could not be admitted to any of the "European" or "African" schools in the area and thus he had to move to Johannesburg, 200 miles to the east, to be educated. Once in Johannesburg, he was influenced by leaders of the Transvaal Indian Congress such as Dr.Yusuf Dadoo, I. C. Meer, Moulvi and Yusuf Cachalia, and J. N. Singh. Consequently, he became a political activist at the early age of 12 when he joined the Young Communist League of South Africa.. He took part in various activities such as handing out leaflets and performing volunteer work in the individual passive resistance against the Pegging Act in 1941. During World War II, he was involved in the anti-war campaign of the Non-European United Front.
At the age of 17, Kathrada left school to work full-time for the Transvaal Passive Resistance Council in order to work against the Asiatic Land Tenure and Indian Representation Act, commonly referred to as the "Ghetto Act", which sought to give Indians limited political representation and defined the areas where Indians could live, trade and own land.
Kathrada was one of the two thousand volunteers imprisoned as a result of the campaign; he spent a month in a Durban jail. This was his first jail sentence for civil disobedience. Reportedly, he gave an incorrect age to the police so that he would not be treated as a juvenile, but sent to an adult prison instead. Later, he was elected as secretary-general of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress.
While Kathrada was a student at the University of the Witwatersrand he was sent as a delegate of the Transvaal Indian Youth Congress to the Third World Festival of Youth and Students in East Berlin in 1951. He was elected as the leader of the large multi-racial South African delegation. He remained in Europe in order to attend a congress of the International Union of Students in Warsaw, and finally travelled to Budapest and worked at the headquarters of the World Federation of Democratic Youth for nine months.
As a result of the growing co-operation between the African and Indian Congresses in the 1950s, Kathrada came into close contact with African National Congress leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu. Kathrada was one of 156 accused in the four-year Treason Trial which lasted from 1956 to 1960. Eventually, all of the accused were found not guilty.
After the ANC and various other anti-apartheid organizations were banned in 1960, Kathrada continued his political activities despite repeated detentions and increasingly severe house arrest measures against him. In order to be free to continue his activities, Kathrada went underground early in 1963.
On July 11, 1963, Kathrada was arrested at the South African internal headquarters of Umkhonto we Sizwe ("The Spear of the Nation" - the military wing of the ANC) in Rivonia near Johannesburg. Although Kathrada was not a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, he became one of the accused in the famous Rivonia Trial, which started in October 1963. He was charged with sabotage and attempting to overthrow the government by violent means.
The trial ended in June 1964; Kathrada was sentenced to life imprisonment along with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Andrew Mlangeni, Billy Nair, Elias Motsoaledi, Raymond Mhlaba and Denis Goldberg.
For the following 18 years, Kathrada was confined to the Robben Island Maximum Security Prison along with most of his Rivonia Trial "colleagues". In October 1982, he was moved to Pollsmoor Maximum Prison near Cape Town to join others such as Mandela, Sisulu, Mhlaba and Mlangeni who had been moved there a few months before.
While in jail on Robben Island and in Pollsmoor, Kathrada completed a bachelor's degree in History/Criminology and Bibliography as well as Honours degrees in History and African Politics through the University of South Africa. (However, the prison authorities refused to allow him or the other prisoners to pursue postgraduate studies.)
On October 15, 1989, Kathrada, along with Jeff Masemola, Raymond Mhlaba, Billy Nair, Wilton Mkwayi, Andrew Mlangeni, Elias Motsoaledi, Oscar Mpetha, and Walter Sisulu were released from Johannesburg prison.
After the unbanning of the ANC in February 1990, Kathrada served on the interim leadership committees of both the ANC and the South African Communist Party. He resigned from the latter position when he was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in July 1991. During the same year, he was appointed as head of ANC public relations as well as a fellow of the University of the Western Cape's Mayibuye Centre.
Kathrada went on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1992.
In the first all-inclusive democratic South African elections in 1994, Kathrada was elected as a member of parliament for the ANC. In September 1994, Kathrada was appointed as the political advisor to President Mandela in the newly created post of Parliamentary Counsellor. In June 1999, Kathrada left parliamentary politics.
In 1994 and 1995, Kathrada was elected as chairperson of the Robben Island Museum Council. He remained the chairperson of the Robben Island Museum Council. On October 27, 2013, on the island, he launched the International Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouthi and All Palestinian Prisoners.
Kathrada's life partner was Barbara Hogan, a Minister of Public Enterprises.
Kathrada died at a medical center in Johannesburg from complications of a cerebral embolism on 28 March 28, 2017, at the age of 87.
In addition to receiving the Isitwalandwe Award (the ANC’s highest possible accolade) whilst still in prison, Kathrada has also been awarded four Honorary Doctorates, including the University of Missouri, Michigan State University, and the University of Kentucky.
Kathrada was also voted 46th in the Top 100 Great South Africans in 2004.
He was awarded the Pravasi Bharativa Samman by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in 2005.
Katib Celebi
Katib Celebi (Katib Chelebi) (Katip Celebi) (Hajji Khalifa) (Haji Khalifa) (Mustafa ibn ‘Abdullah) (Mustafa bin Abdallah) (1609, Istanbul - 1657, Istanbul). Ottoman historian, bibliographer and geographer. He was one of the most conspicuous and productive Ottoman scholars of his time, particularly in the non-religious sciences. He wrote some twenty-two (22) works. Katib Celebi was the son of a soldier. He was apprenticed to one of the government accounts departments and accompanied the army on various Eastern campaigns. In about 1635, legacies enabled him to devote most of his time to study, and the rest of his short life was spent in Istanbul composing works on nearly every branch of learning. His monumental bibliography of Muslim literature is still an indispensable work of reference. Katib Celebi also wrote a Universal History in Arabic from the Creation to his own day, a more detailed chronicle of the years 1591-1655 in Turkish, and a history of Ottoman naval campaigns.
Katib Celebi was one of the first Ottoman scholars to be receptive to learning about the sciences of Renaissance Europe. Aided by a renegade French priest, he translated into Turkish a Latin edition of Johann Carion’s Chronicle; selections from the Corpus universae historiae praesertim byzantinae; and the Atlas minor of Mercator and Hondius. His work on translating the Atlas minor enabled Katib Celebi to embark on a new version of a great geographical work Jihan-numa (Cosmorama) of which he had had to leave the first version unfinished for lack of material on Western Europe. His last work, Mizan al-Haqq (The Balance of Truth), is a collection of essays seeking to reconcile the contradictions between orthodox dogma and popular practice.
Celebi, Katib see Katib Celebi
Chelebi, Katib see Katib Celebi
Hajji Khalifa see Katib Celebi
Khalifa, Hajji see Katib Celebi
Mustafa ibn 'Abdullah see Katib Celebi
Katip Celebi see Katib Celebi
Katib Celebi (Katib Chelebi) (Katip Celebi) (Hajji Khalifa) (Haji Khalifa) (Mustafa ibn ‘Abdullah) (Mustafa bin Abdallah) (1609, Istanbul - 1657, Istanbul). Ottoman historian, bibliographer and geographer. He was one of the most conspicuous and productive Ottoman scholars of his time, particularly in the non-religious sciences. He wrote some twenty-two (22) works. Katib Celebi was the son of a soldier. He was apprenticed to one of the government accounts departments and accompanied the army on various Eastern campaigns. In about 1635, legacies enabled him to devote most of his time to study, and the rest of his short life was spent in Istanbul composing works on nearly every branch of learning. His monumental bibliography of Muslim literature is still an indispensable work of reference. Katib Celebi also wrote a Universal History in Arabic from the Creation to his own day, a more detailed chronicle of the years 1591-1655 in Turkish, and a history of Ottoman naval campaigns.
Katib Celebi was one of the first Ottoman scholars to be receptive to learning about the sciences of Renaissance Europe. Aided by a renegade French priest, he translated into Turkish a Latin edition of Johann Carion’s Chronicle; selections from the Corpus universae historiae praesertim byzantinae; and the Atlas minor of Mercator and Hondius. His work on translating the Atlas minor enabled Katib Celebi to embark on a new version of a great geographical work Jihan-numa (Cosmorama) of which he had had to leave the first version unfinished for lack of material on Western Europe. His last work, Mizan al-Haqq (The Balance of Truth), is a collection of essays seeking to reconcile the contradictions between orthodox dogma and popular practice.
Celebi, Katib see Katib Celebi
Chelebi, Katib see Katib Celebi
Hajji Khalifa see Katib Celebi
Khalifa, Hajji see Katib Celebi
Mustafa ibn 'Abdullah see Katib Celebi
Katip Celebi see Katib Celebi
Ka’ti, Mahmud ibn al-Hajj
Ka’ti, Mahmud ibn al-Hajj (Mahmud ibn al-Hajj Ka’ti) (d. 1593). Songhai scholar. He wrote a work of history concerned with the Songhai.
Mahmud ibn al-Hajj Ka'ti see Ka’ti, Mahmud ibn al-Hajj
Ka’ti, Mahmud ibn al-Hajj (Mahmud ibn al-Hajj Ka’ti) (d. 1593). Songhai scholar. He wrote a work of history concerned with the Songhai.
Mahmud ibn al-Hajj Ka'ti see Ka’ti, Mahmud ibn al-Hajj
Kattani, al-
Kattani, al-. Name of an important and celebrated family of Fez, Morocco, belonging to the Sharifian branch of the Idrisids.
Kattani, al-. Name of an important and celebrated family of Fez, Morocco, belonging to the Sharifian branch of the Idrisids.
Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al- (1854/1855-1902). Islamic revivalist and advocate of an Arab caliphate. Al-Kawakibi was born to a prominent family in Aleppo, Syria, and was educated in religion, Ottoman administrative law, Arabic, Turkish, and Farsi. He began his career in journalism and the law and from 1879 to 1896 held several senior public posts. After suffering from the intrigues of Ottoman officials, in 1898 al-Kawakibi fled to Egypt where he remained until his death in 1902.
Al-Kawakibi is best known for his two books Umm al-qura (The Mother of the Villages), one of the names of Mecca, and Taba’i‘ al-istibdad (The Attributes of Tyranny). He published them in Cairo under the pen names of al-Sayyid al-Furati and Traveller K, respectively, to avoid the harassment of the Ottoman authorities. Published in 1899, Umm al-qura is an account of the proceedings of a fictitious secret congress (The Congress of Islamic Revival) in Mecca attended by twenty-two Muslim delegates from Arab, Muslim, European, and Asian countries. The participants’ purpose was to discuss the causes of the decline of the Muslim peoples and design a reform program for their recovery.
Al-Kawakibi attributed this decline to religious, political, and moral factors. Influenced by the reform ideas of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad ‘Abduh, he advocated a return to the original purity of Islam, which had been distorted by alien concepts and currents such as mysticism, fatalism, sectarian divisions, and imitation. These distortions had led to ignorance among the Muslims and their submission to stagnant theologians and despotic rulers who suppressed freedoms, promoted false religion, and corrupted the moral, social, educational, and financial systems of the Muslim nation.
Al-Kawakibi proposed the formation of a society, with branches throughout the Muslim world, to educate Muslims and promote in them the aspiration for progress. Holding non-Arabs, namely the Turks, accountable for the degeneration of Islam, he called for an Arab caliphate, which would exercise religious and cultural leadership, not temporal authority, and become the basis for the revival of Islam and an Islamic federation. He stipulated that the caliph be from the tribe of Quraysh, have limited powers, and be subject to election every three years and accountable to an elected council. He viewed the true Islamic state as one based on political freedoms and government accountability.
Alluding to the autocratic rule of the Ottomans, Taba’i‘ al-istibdad is an outright attack on tyranny. Al-Kawakibi discussed the nature of despotism and its devastating effects on society as a whole. A despotic state conducts the affairs of its citizens without fear of accountability or punishment, suppresses their rights, and prevents their education and enlightenment. Its purpose is to keep the people acquiescent and inactive. Consequently, it destroys their moral, religious, and national bonds. Al-Kawakibi advocated education and gradualism as the means to uproot tyranny.
Al-Kawakibi contributed greatly to the evolution of Arab nationalist thought. Unlike the proponents of Pan-Islam at the time, he drew a clear distinction between the Arab and non-Arab Muslims, exalted the former on the basis of their language, descent, and moral attributes, and explicitly called for an Arab state. His fictional congress in Umm al-qura inspired many reformers who later adopted the idea and put it into practice. Thus, he gave an organizational form and a political content to the cause of reform and to the Arabs’ aspiration for independence from the Ottomans. Al-Kawakibi was far from being a secularist. In his endorsement of an Arab spiritual leadership and a restricted caliphate, however, he separated the temporal and spiritual, a division that represented a break from classical Islamic thought.
'Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi see Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Sayyid al-Furati, al- see Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Traveller K see Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al- (1854/1855-1902). Islamic revivalist and advocate of an Arab caliphate. Al-Kawakibi was born to a prominent family in Aleppo, Syria, and was educated in religion, Ottoman administrative law, Arabic, Turkish, and Farsi. He began his career in journalism and the law and from 1879 to 1896 held several senior public posts. After suffering from the intrigues of Ottoman officials, in 1898 al-Kawakibi fled to Egypt where he remained until his death in 1902.
Al-Kawakibi is best known for his two books Umm al-qura (The Mother of the Villages), one of the names of Mecca, and Taba’i‘ al-istibdad (The Attributes of Tyranny). He published them in Cairo under the pen names of al-Sayyid al-Furati and Traveller K, respectively, to avoid the harassment of the Ottoman authorities. Published in 1899, Umm al-qura is an account of the proceedings of a fictitious secret congress (The Congress of Islamic Revival) in Mecca attended by twenty-two Muslim delegates from Arab, Muslim, European, and Asian countries. The participants’ purpose was to discuss the causes of the decline of the Muslim peoples and design a reform program for their recovery.
Al-Kawakibi attributed this decline to religious, political, and moral factors. Influenced by the reform ideas of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad ‘Abduh, he advocated a return to the original purity of Islam, which had been distorted by alien concepts and currents such as mysticism, fatalism, sectarian divisions, and imitation. These distortions had led to ignorance among the Muslims and their submission to stagnant theologians and despotic rulers who suppressed freedoms, promoted false religion, and corrupted the moral, social, educational, and financial systems of the Muslim nation.
Al-Kawakibi proposed the formation of a society, with branches throughout the Muslim world, to educate Muslims and promote in them the aspiration for progress. Holding non-Arabs, namely the Turks, accountable for the degeneration of Islam, he called for an Arab caliphate, which would exercise religious and cultural leadership, not temporal authority, and become the basis for the revival of Islam and an Islamic federation. He stipulated that the caliph be from the tribe of Quraysh, have limited powers, and be subject to election every three years and accountable to an elected council. He viewed the true Islamic state as one based on political freedoms and government accountability.
Alluding to the autocratic rule of the Ottomans, Taba’i‘ al-istibdad is an outright attack on tyranny. Al-Kawakibi discussed the nature of despotism and its devastating effects on society as a whole. A despotic state conducts the affairs of its citizens without fear of accountability or punishment, suppresses their rights, and prevents their education and enlightenment. Its purpose is to keep the people acquiescent and inactive. Consequently, it destroys their moral, religious, and national bonds. Al-Kawakibi advocated education and gradualism as the means to uproot tyranny.
Al-Kawakibi contributed greatly to the evolution of Arab nationalist thought. Unlike the proponents of Pan-Islam at the time, he drew a clear distinction between the Arab and non-Arab Muslims, exalted the former on the basis of their language, descent, and moral attributes, and explicitly called for an Arab state. His fictional congress in Umm al-qura inspired many reformers who later adopted the idea and put it into practice. Thus, he gave an organizational form and a political content to the cause of reform and to the Arabs’ aspiration for independence from the Ottomans. Al-Kawakibi was far from being a secularist. In his endorsement of an Arab spiritual leadership and a restricted caliphate, however, he separated the temporal and spiritual, a division that represented a break from classical Islamic thought.
'Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi see Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Sayyid al-Furati, al- see Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Traveller K see Kawakibi, ‘Abd al-Rahman al-
Kayacan, Feyyaz
Kayacan, Feyyaz (Feyyaz Kayacan) (1919-1993). Turkish poet.
Feyyaz Kayacan see Kayacan, Feyyaz
Kayacan, Feyyaz (Feyyaz Kayacan) (1919-1993). Turkish poet.
Feyyaz Kayacan see Kayacan, Feyyaz
Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal
Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal (Osman Cemal Kaygili) (1890, Istanbul - 1945, Istanbul). Turkish novelist, short story writer and humorous essayist. His works were inspired by traditional Turkish folk literature and enjoyed by large audiences.
The works of Osman Cemal Kaygili include:
Novels:
* Çingeneler (Gypsies) (1939)
* Aygır Fatma (Fatma Stallion) (1944)
* Bekri Mustafa (Sot Mustafa) (1944)
Stories:
* Eşkıya Güzeli (Miss bandit) (1925)
* Sandalım Geliyor Varda (My boat coming Varda) (1938)
* Altın Babası (Under his father) (1923)
* Bir Kış Gecesi (A Winter's Night) (1923)
* Çingene Kavgası (Gypsy Fight) (1925)
* Goncanın İntiharı (Bud's suicide) (1925)
'Othman Jemal Kaygili see Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal
Kaygili, Osman Cemal see Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal
Osman Cemal Kaygili see Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal
Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal (Osman Cemal Kaygili) (1890, Istanbul - 1945, Istanbul). Turkish novelist, short story writer and humorous essayist. His works were inspired by traditional Turkish folk literature and enjoyed by large audiences.
The works of Osman Cemal Kaygili include:
Novels:
* Çingeneler (Gypsies) (1939)
* Aygır Fatma (Fatma Stallion) (1944)
* Bekri Mustafa (Sot Mustafa) (1944)
Stories:
* Eşkıya Güzeli (Miss bandit) (1925)
* Sandalım Geliyor Varda (My boat coming Varda) (1938)
* Altın Babası (Under his father) (1923)
* Bir Kış Gecesi (A Winter's Night) (1923)
* Çingene Kavgası (Gypsy Fight) (1925)
* Goncanın İntiharı (Bud's suicide) (1925)
'Othman Jemal Kaygili see Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal
Kaygili, Osman Cemal see Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal
Osman Cemal Kaygili see Kaygili, ‘Othman Jemal
Kayi
Kayi. Central Asian tribe from which the Ottomans claimed descent. Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, was a member of the Kayi tribe.
Kayi. Central Asian tribe from which the Ottomans claimed descent. Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, was a member of the Kayi tribe.
Kaykawus I
Kaykawus I (ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kāʾūs I) . Saljuq sultan of Rum (r.1211-1220). He combined a policy of peace towards the Greeks of Nicaea with interventions against the Armenians of Cilicia in the south, against Sinop on the Black Sea in the north, which he acquired, and against the Ayyubids in the east.
ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kāʾūs I see Kaykawus I
Kaykawus I (ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kāʾūs I) . Saljuq sultan of Rum (r.1211-1220). He combined a policy of peace towards the Greeks of Nicaea with interventions against the Armenians of Cilicia in the south, against Sinop on the Black Sea in the north, which he acquired, and against the Ayyubids in the east.
ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kāʾūs I see Kaykawus I
Kay Kawus ibn Iskandar
Kay Kawus ibn Iskandar. Prince of the Ziyarid dynasty in Persia during the eleventh century. He was the author of the well-known Mirror for Princes in Persian.
Kay Kawus ibn Iskandar. Prince of the Ziyarid dynasty in Persia during the eleventh century. He was the author of the well-known Mirror for Princes in Persian.
Kaykhusraw I
Kaykhusraw I (Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Qilij Arslān) (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev). Saljuq (Seljuk) sultan of Rum (r.1192-1196 and 1204/1205-1210/1211). In 1207, he acquired Antalya, the first real maritime (Mediterranean) outlet of the Saljuqid state.
Kaykhusraw I (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev), the eleventh and youngest son of Kilij Arslan II, was Seljuk Sultan of Rum. He succeeded his father in 1192, but had to fight his brothers for control of the Sultanate. He ruled it 1192-1196 and 1205-1211.
He married a daughter of Manuel Maurozomes, son of Theodore Maurozomes and of an illegitimate daughter of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Manuel Maurozomes fought on behalf of Kaykhusraw in 1205 and 1206.
In 1207, he seized Antalya from its Frankish garrison and furnished the Seljuq state with a port on the Mediterranean.
Kaykhusraw I was killed in single combat by Theodore I Laskaris, the emperor of Nicaea, during the Battle of Antioch on the Meander.
His son by Manuel Maurozomes' daughter, Kayqubad I, ruled the Sultanate from 1220 to 1237, and his grandson, Kaykhusraw II, ruled from 1237 to 1246.
Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Qilij Arslān see Kaykhusraw I
Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev see Kaykhusraw I
Kaykhusraw I (Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Qilij Arslān) (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev). Saljuq (Seljuk) sultan of Rum (r.1192-1196 and 1204/1205-1210/1211). In 1207, he acquired Antalya, the first real maritime (Mediterranean) outlet of the Saljuqid state.
Kaykhusraw I (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev), the eleventh and youngest son of Kilij Arslan II, was Seljuk Sultan of Rum. He succeeded his father in 1192, but had to fight his brothers for control of the Sultanate. He ruled it 1192-1196 and 1205-1211.
He married a daughter of Manuel Maurozomes, son of Theodore Maurozomes and of an illegitimate daughter of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Manuel Maurozomes fought on behalf of Kaykhusraw in 1205 and 1206.
In 1207, he seized Antalya from its Frankish garrison and furnished the Seljuq state with a port on the Mediterranean.
Kaykhusraw I was killed in single combat by Theodore I Laskaris, the emperor of Nicaea, during the Battle of Antioch on the Meander.
His son by Manuel Maurozomes' daughter, Kayqubad I, ruled the Sultanate from 1220 to 1237, and his grandson, Kaykhusraw II, ruled from 1237 to 1246.
Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Qilij Arslān see Kaykhusraw I
Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev see Kaykhusraw I
Kaykhusraw II
Kaykhusraw II (Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II) (Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Kayqubād) (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev). Saljuq (Seljuk) (Seljuq) sultan of Rum (r.1237-1245). He (along with his Christian allies) was utterly defeated by the Mongols in 1243 at the Battle of Kose Dag.
Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II was the sultan of the Seljuqs of Rum from 1237 until his death in 1246. He ruled at the time of the Baba Ishak uprising and the Mongol invasion of Anatolia. He lead the Seljuq army with its Christian allies at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243. He was the last of the Seljuq sultans to wield any significant power and died a vassal of the Mongols.
Kaykhusraw was the son of Kayqubad I and his Armenian wife, the daughter of Kir Fard. Although Kaykhusraw was the eldest, the sultan had chosen as heir the younger ‘Izz al-Din, one of his two sons by an Ayyubid princess. In 1226 Kayqubad assigned the newly annexed Erzincan to Kaykhusraw. With the general Kamyar, the young prince participated in the conquest of Erzurum and later Ahlat.
In 1236-37, raiding Mongols assisted by the Georgians devastated the Anatolian countryside as far as the walls of Sivas and Malatya. Since the Mongol horsemen disappeared as quickly as they had come, Kayqubad moved to punish their Georgian allies. As the Seljuq army approached, Queen Russudan of Georgia sued for peace, offering her daughter Tamar in marriage to Kaykhusraw. This marriage took place in 1240.
Upon the death of Kayqubad in 1237, Kaykhusraw seized the throne with the support of the great emirs of Anatolia. The architect of his early reign was a certain Sa'd al-Din Köpek, master of the hunt and minister of works under Kayqubad. Köpek excelled at political murder and sought to protect his newfound influence at the court with a series of executions. He captured Diyarbekir from Ayyubids in 1241.
While the Mongols threatened the Seljuq state from the outside, a new danger appeared from within: a charismatic preacher, Baba Ishak, was fomenting rebellion among the Turkmen of Anatolia.
Nomadic Turkmen had begun moving into Anatolia a few years prior to the Battle of Manzikert. After 1071, Turkic migration into the region went largely unchecked. Both their number and the persuasive power of their religious leaders, nominally Islamized shamans known as babas or dedes, played a large part in the conversion of formerly Christian Anatolia. The Persianized Seljuq military class expended considerable effort keeping these nomads from invading areas inhabited by farmers and from harassing neighboring Christian states. The Turkmen were pushed into marginal lands, mostly mountainous and frontier districts.
Baba Ishak was one such religious leader. Unlike his predecessors, whose influence was limited to smaller tribal groups, Baba Ishak’s authority extended over a vast population of Anatolian Turkmen. It is not known what he preached, but his appropriation of the title rasul, normally applied to Muhammad, suggests something beyond orthodox Islam.
The revolt began around 1240 in the remote borderland of Kafarsud in the eastern Taurus Mountains and quickly spread north to the region of Amasya. Seljuq armies at Malatya and Amasya were destroyed. Soon the very heart of Seljuq Anatolia, the regions around Kayseri, Sivas, and Tokat, were under the control of Baba Ishak’s supporters. Baba Ishak himself was killed, but the Turkmen continued their rebellion against the central Seljuq authority. The rebels were finally cornered and defeated near Kırşehir, probably in 1242 or early 1243. Simon of Saint-Quentin credits the victory to a large number of Frankish mercenaries employed by the sultan.
In the winter of 1242-43, the Mongols under Bayju attacked Erzurum. The city fell without a siege. The Mongols prepared to invade Rum in the spring. To meet the threat, Kaykhusraw assembled soldiers from his allies and vassals. Simon of Saint-Quentin, an envoy of Pope Innocent IV on his way to the Great Khan, offers an account of the sultan’s preparations. He reports that the king of Armenia was required to produce 1400 lances and the Greek Emperor of Nicaea 400 lances. Both rulers met the sultan in Kayseri to negotiate details. The Grand Komnenos of Trebizond contributed 200, while the young Ayyubid prince of Aleppo supplied 1000 horsemen. In addition to these, Kaykhusraw commanded the Seljuq army and irregular Turkmen cavalry, though both had been weakened by the Baba Ishak rebellion.
The army, except for the Armenians who were then considering an alliance with (or submission to) the Mongols, assembled at Sivas. Kaykhusraw and his allies set out to the east along the trunk road towards Erzurum. On June 26, 1243, they met the Mongols at the pass at Köse Dağ, between Erzincan and Gümüşhane. A feigned retreat by the Mongol horsemen disorganized the Seljuqs, and Kaykhusraw’s army was routed. The sultan collected his treasury and harem at Tokat and fled to Ankara. The Mongols seized Sivas, sacked Kayseri, but failed to move on Konya, the capital of the sultanate.
In the months following the battle, Muhadhdhab al-Din, the sultan’s vizier, sought out the victorious Mongol leader. Since the sultan had fled, the diplomatic mission appears to have been the vizier’s own initiative. The vizier succeeded in forestalling further Mongol devastation in Anatolia and saved Kaykhusraw’s throne. Under conditions of vassalage and a substantial annual tribute, Kaykhusraw, his power much diminished, returned to Konya.
Kaykhusraw died leaving three sons: 'Izz al-Din Kaykaus, aged 11, son of the daughter of a Greek priest; 9-year-old Rukn al-Din Kilij Arslan, son of a Turkish woman of Konya; and 'Ala al-Din Kayqubadh, son of the Georgian princess Tamar and at age 7 youngest of the three boys.
Kaykhusraw had named his youngest child Kayqubad as his successor, but because he was a weakly child, the new vizier Shams al-Din al-Isfahani placed Kayqubad's two underage brothers Kaykaus II and Kilij Arslan IV on the throne as well, as co-rulers. This was an attempt to maintain Seljuq control of Anatolia in the face of the Mongol threat.
Although weakened, Seljuq power remained largely intact at the time of Kaykhusraw’s death in 1246. The Mongols failed to capture either the sultan’s treasury or his capital when they had the chance, and his Anatolian lands escaped the worst of the invaders’ depredations. The real blow to the dynasty was Kaykhusraw's inability to name a competent successor. With the choice of the three young brothers, Seljuq power in Anatolia no longer lay with Seljuq princes but instead devolved into the hands of Seljuq court administrators.
Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II see Kaykhusraw II
Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Kayqubād see Kaykhusraw II
Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev see Kaykhusraw II
Kaykhusraw II (Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II) (Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Kayqubād) (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev). Saljuq (Seljuk) (Seljuq) sultan of Rum (r.1237-1245). He (along with his Christian allies) was utterly defeated by the Mongols in 1243 at the Battle of Kose Dag.
Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II was the sultan of the Seljuqs of Rum from 1237 until his death in 1246. He ruled at the time of the Baba Ishak uprising and the Mongol invasion of Anatolia. He lead the Seljuq army with its Christian allies at the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243. He was the last of the Seljuq sultans to wield any significant power and died a vassal of the Mongols.
Kaykhusraw was the son of Kayqubad I and his Armenian wife, the daughter of Kir Fard. Although Kaykhusraw was the eldest, the sultan had chosen as heir the younger ‘Izz al-Din, one of his two sons by an Ayyubid princess. In 1226 Kayqubad assigned the newly annexed Erzincan to Kaykhusraw. With the general Kamyar, the young prince participated in the conquest of Erzurum and later Ahlat.
In 1236-37, raiding Mongols assisted by the Georgians devastated the Anatolian countryside as far as the walls of Sivas and Malatya. Since the Mongol horsemen disappeared as quickly as they had come, Kayqubad moved to punish their Georgian allies. As the Seljuq army approached, Queen Russudan of Georgia sued for peace, offering her daughter Tamar in marriage to Kaykhusraw. This marriage took place in 1240.
Upon the death of Kayqubad in 1237, Kaykhusraw seized the throne with the support of the great emirs of Anatolia. The architect of his early reign was a certain Sa'd al-Din Köpek, master of the hunt and minister of works under Kayqubad. Köpek excelled at political murder and sought to protect his newfound influence at the court with a series of executions. He captured Diyarbekir from Ayyubids in 1241.
While the Mongols threatened the Seljuq state from the outside, a new danger appeared from within: a charismatic preacher, Baba Ishak, was fomenting rebellion among the Turkmen of Anatolia.
Nomadic Turkmen had begun moving into Anatolia a few years prior to the Battle of Manzikert. After 1071, Turkic migration into the region went largely unchecked. Both their number and the persuasive power of their religious leaders, nominally Islamized shamans known as babas or dedes, played a large part in the conversion of formerly Christian Anatolia. The Persianized Seljuq military class expended considerable effort keeping these nomads from invading areas inhabited by farmers and from harassing neighboring Christian states. The Turkmen were pushed into marginal lands, mostly mountainous and frontier districts.
Baba Ishak was one such religious leader. Unlike his predecessors, whose influence was limited to smaller tribal groups, Baba Ishak’s authority extended over a vast population of Anatolian Turkmen. It is not known what he preached, but his appropriation of the title rasul, normally applied to Muhammad, suggests something beyond orthodox Islam.
The revolt began around 1240 in the remote borderland of Kafarsud in the eastern Taurus Mountains and quickly spread north to the region of Amasya. Seljuq armies at Malatya and Amasya were destroyed. Soon the very heart of Seljuq Anatolia, the regions around Kayseri, Sivas, and Tokat, were under the control of Baba Ishak’s supporters. Baba Ishak himself was killed, but the Turkmen continued their rebellion against the central Seljuq authority. The rebels were finally cornered and defeated near Kırşehir, probably in 1242 or early 1243. Simon of Saint-Quentin credits the victory to a large number of Frankish mercenaries employed by the sultan.
In the winter of 1242-43, the Mongols under Bayju attacked Erzurum. The city fell without a siege. The Mongols prepared to invade Rum in the spring. To meet the threat, Kaykhusraw assembled soldiers from his allies and vassals. Simon of Saint-Quentin, an envoy of Pope Innocent IV on his way to the Great Khan, offers an account of the sultan’s preparations. He reports that the king of Armenia was required to produce 1400 lances and the Greek Emperor of Nicaea 400 lances. Both rulers met the sultan in Kayseri to negotiate details. The Grand Komnenos of Trebizond contributed 200, while the young Ayyubid prince of Aleppo supplied 1000 horsemen. In addition to these, Kaykhusraw commanded the Seljuq army and irregular Turkmen cavalry, though both had been weakened by the Baba Ishak rebellion.
The army, except for the Armenians who were then considering an alliance with (or submission to) the Mongols, assembled at Sivas. Kaykhusraw and his allies set out to the east along the trunk road towards Erzurum. On June 26, 1243, they met the Mongols at the pass at Köse Dağ, between Erzincan and Gümüşhane. A feigned retreat by the Mongol horsemen disorganized the Seljuqs, and Kaykhusraw’s army was routed. The sultan collected his treasury and harem at Tokat and fled to Ankara. The Mongols seized Sivas, sacked Kayseri, but failed to move on Konya, the capital of the sultanate.
In the months following the battle, Muhadhdhab al-Din, the sultan’s vizier, sought out the victorious Mongol leader. Since the sultan had fled, the diplomatic mission appears to have been the vizier’s own initiative. The vizier succeeded in forestalling further Mongol devastation in Anatolia and saved Kaykhusraw’s throne. Under conditions of vassalage and a substantial annual tribute, Kaykhusraw, his power much diminished, returned to Konya.
Kaykhusraw died leaving three sons: 'Izz al-Din Kaykaus, aged 11, son of the daughter of a Greek priest; 9-year-old Rukn al-Din Kilij Arslan, son of a Turkish woman of Konya; and 'Ala al-Din Kayqubadh, son of the Georgian princess Tamar and at age 7 youngest of the three boys.
Kaykhusraw had named his youngest child Kayqubad as his successor, but because he was a weakly child, the new vizier Shams al-Din al-Isfahani placed Kayqubad's two underage brothers Kaykaus II and Kilij Arslan IV on the throne as well, as co-rulers. This was an attempt to maintain Seljuq control of Anatolia in the face of the Mongol threat.
Although weakened, Seljuq power remained largely intact at the time of Kaykhusraw’s death in 1246. The Mongols failed to capture either the sultan’s treasury or his capital when they had the chance, and his Anatolian lands escaped the worst of the invaders’ depredations. The real blow to the dynasty was Kaykhusraw's inability to name a competent successor. With the choice of the three young brothers, Seljuq power in Anatolia no longer lay with Seljuq princes but instead devolved into the hands of Seljuq court administrators.
Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw II see Kaykhusraw II
Ghīyāth al-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Kayqubād see Kaykhusraw II
Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev see Kaykhusraw II
Kaykhusraw III
Kaykhusraw III (Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw ibn Qilij Arslan) (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev) (d. March 1284). Saljuq (Seljuq) sultan of Rum (r.1265-1284). He reigned in name only under the tutelage of the Mongols or their lieutenants. In 1283, he was co-opted by the Mongol Kangirtay in a revolt against his brother, the new Ilkhan sovereign Ahmad. Kaykhusraw III was executed in March of 1284.
Kaykhusraw III was between two and six years old when in 1265 he was named Seljuq Sultan of Rum. He was the son of Kilij Arslan IV, the weak representative of the Seljuq line who was controlled by the Pervane, Mu’in al-Din Suleyman.
The Pervane, quarreling with the father of the sultan and empowered by the Mongol khan Abagha to deal with his Turkish subjects however he liked, had Kilij Arslan strangled in 1265. The young Kaykhusraw became no more than a figurehead. He played no part in the events of his reign which were dominated first by the Pervane and later by the Mongol vizier of Rum, Fakhr al-Din Ali. In 1283 Kaykhusraw was co-opted by the Mongol Kangirtay in a revolt against his brother, the new Ilkhan sovereign Ahmad. He was executed in March of 1284. Kaykhusraw III was the last Seljuq sultan buried in the dynastic mausoleum at the Alaeddin Camii in Konya.
Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw ibn Qilij Arslan see Kaykhusraw III
Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev see Kaykhusraw III
Kaykhusraw III (Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw ibn Qilij Arslan) (Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev) (d. March 1284). Saljuq (Seljuq) sultan of Rum (r.1265-1284). He reigned in name only under the tutelage of the Mongols or their lieutenants. In 1283, he was co-opted by the Mongol Kangirtay in a revolt against his brother, the new Ilkhan sovereign Ahmad. Kaykhusraw III was executed in March of 1284.
Kaykhusraw III was between two and six years old when in 1265 he was named Seljuq Sultan of Rum. He was the son of Kilij Arslan IV, the weak representative of the Seljuq line who was controlled by the Pervane, Mu’in al-Din Suleyman.
The Pervane, quarreling with the father of the sultan and empowered by the Mongol khan Abagha to deal with his Turkish subjects however he liked, had Kilij Arslan strangled in 1265. The young Kaykhusraw became no more than a figurehead. He played no part in the events of his reign which were dominated first by the Pervane and later by the Mongol vizier of Rum, Fakhr al-Din Ali. In 1283 Kaykhusraw was co-opted by the Mongol Kangirtay in a revolt against his brother, the new Ilkhan sovereign Ahmad. He was executed in March of 1284. Kaykhusraw III was the last Seljuq sultan buried in the dynastic mausoleum at the Alaeddin Camii in Konya.
Ghiyath al-Din Kaykhusraw ibn Qilij Arslan see Kaykhusraw III
Gıyaseddin Keyhüsrev see Kaykhusraw III
Kayqubad II
Kayqubad II ('Ala al-Din Kayqubad ibn Kaykhusraw) (Alâeddin Keykubad) . Saljuq (Seljuk) sultan of Rum (r.1249-1257).
Kayqubad II was the youngest of the three sons of the Seljuq Sultan of Rum Kaykhusraw II. As son of the sultan’s favorite wife, the Georgian princess Tamar, he was designated heir. He had a weak constitution and was likely seven years old at the time of his father’s death in 1246.
The vizier Shams al-Din al-Isfahani, seeking to defend a degree of Seljuk sovereignty in Anatolia from the Mongols, put Kayqubad on the throne together with his two elder brothers, Kaykaus II and Kilij Arslan IV.
In 1254 the Mongols asked that Kaykaus, then nineteen years old, come in person to Möngke, the Great Khan. The brothers, at a conference in Kayseri, decided that Kayqubad should go in his stead. The voyage to Möngke’s capital at Karakhorum would be arduous. Kayqubad delayed his trip until 1256. He witnessed Bayju assembling his horsemen for the migration to Anatolia and sent messages advising his brothers to comply with the Mongol’s demands. One day on the road Kayqubad was found dead. The vizier Baba Tughra’i, who had joined the embassy in route, was accused but nothing came of it. Kayqubad was buried somewhere in the wastelands between Anatolia and Mongolia.
'Ala al-Din Kayqubad ibn Kaykhusraw see Kayqubad II
Alâeddin Keykubad see Kayqubad II
Kayqubad II ('Ala al-Din Kayqubad ibn Kaykhusraw) (Alâeddin Keykubad) . Saljuq (Seljuk) sultan of Rum (r.1249-1257).
Kayqubad II was the youngest of the three sons of the Seljuq Sultan of Rum Kaykhusraw II. As son of the sultan’s favorite wife, the Georgian princess Tamar, he was designated heir. He had a weak constitution and was likely seven years old at the time of his father’s death in 1246.
The vizier Shams al-Din al-Isfahani, seeking to defend a degree of Seljuk sovereignty in Anatolia from the Mongols, put Kayqubad on the throne together with his two elder brothers, Kaykaus II and Kilij Arslan IV.
In 1254 the Mongols asked that Kaykaus, then nineteen years old, come in person to Möngke, the Great Khan. The brothers, at a conference in Kayseri, decided that Kayqubad should go in his stead. The voyage to Möngke’s capital at Karakhorum would be arduous. Kayqubad delayed his trip until 1256. He witnessed Bayju assembling his horsemen for the migration to Anatolia and sent messages advising his brothers to comply with the Mongol’s demands. One day on the road Kayqubad was found dead. The vizier Baba Tughra’i, who had joined the embassy in route, was accused but nothing came of it. Kayqubad was buried somewhere in the wastelands between Anatolia and Mongolia.
'Ala al-Din Kayqubad ibn Kaykhusraw see Kayqubad II
Alâeddin Keykubad see Kayqubad II
Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din (‘Ala’ al-Din Kayqubad I) ('Alā al-Dīn Kayqubād bin Kaykā'ūs) (Alâeddin Keykubad). Saljuq sultan of Rum (r.1220-1237). His foreign policy made his dynasty one of the most powerful of his time. In the south he occupied a great part of the Cilician Taurus, on the Black Sea in the north he assured a Saljuq protectorate over the Crimean harbor of Sughdaq, and in the east he annexed the Artuqid possessions on the right bank of the Middle Euphrates. He defeated the Khwarazmians and, in 1233, the Ayyubid al-Malik al-Kamil I.
Kayqubad I was the Seljuk Sultan of Rum who reigned from 1220 to 1237. He expanded the borders of the sultanate at the expense of his neighbors, particularly the Mengujek emirate and the Ayyubids, and established a Seljuk presence on the Mediterranean with his acquisition of the port of Kalon Oros, later renamed Ala'iyya in his honor. He also brought the southern Crimea under Turkish control for a brief period as a result of a raid against the Black Sea port of Sudak. The sultan, sometimes styled "Kayqubad the Great," is remembered today for his rich architectural legacy and the brilliant court culture that flourished under his reign.
Kayqubad's reign represented the apogee of Seljuk power and influence in Anatolia, and Kayqubad himself was considered the most illustrious prince of the dynasty. In the period following the mid-13th century Mongol invasion, inhabitants of Anatolia frequently looked back on his reign as a golden age, while the new rulers of the Turkish beyliks sought to justify their own authority through pedigrees traced to him.
Kayqubad was the second son of Sultan Kaykhusraw I, who bestowed upon him at an early age the title malik and the governorship of the important central Anatolian town of Tokat. When the sultan died following the battle of Alaşehir in 1211, both Kayqubad and his elder brother Kaykaus struggled for the throne. Kayqubad initially garnered some support among the neighbors of the sultanate: Leo I, the king of Cilician Armenia and Tughrilshah, the brothers' uncle and the independent ruler of Erzurum. Most of the emirs, as the powerful landed aristocracy of the sultanate, supported Kaykaus. Kayqubad was forced to flee to the fortress at Ankara, where he sought aid from the Turkman tribes of Kastamonu. He was soon apprehended and imprisoned by his brother in a fortress in western Anatolia.
Upon Kaykaus' unexpected death in 1219 (or 1220), Kayqubad, released from captivity, succeeded to the throne of the sultanate.
In foreign policy, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was reduced and became a vassal of the sultanate. The sultan settled Turcomans along the Taurus Mountains frontier, in a region later called İçel. At the end of the 13th century, these Turcomans established the Karamanoğlu beylik.
In 1227/1228, Kayqubad advanced into eastern Anatolia, where the arrival of Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, who was fleeing the destruction of his Khwarezmian Empire by the Mongols, had created an unstable political situation. The sultan defeated the Artukids and the Ayyubids and absorbed the Mengujek emirate into the sultanate, capturing the fortresses of Hısn Mansur, Kahta, and Çemişgezek along his march. He also put down a revolt by the Empire of Trebizond and, although he fell short of capturing their capital, forced the Komnenos dynasty family to renew their pledges of vassalage.
At first Kayqubad sought an alliance with his Turkish kinsman Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu against the Mongol threat. The alliance could not be achieved, and afterwards Jalal ad-Din took the important fortress at Ahlat. Kayqubad finally defeated him at the Battle of Yassıçimen between Sivas and Erzincan in 1230. After his victory, he advanced further east, establishing Seljuk rule over Erzurum, Ahlat and the region of Lake Van (formerly part of Ayyubids). The Artukids of Diyarbekir and the Ayyubids of Syria recognized his sovereignty. He also captured a number of fortresses in Georgia, whose queen sued for peace and gave her daughter Tamar in marriage to Kayqubad's son, Kaykhusraw II.
Mindful of the increasing presence and power of the Mongols on the borders of the Sultanate of Rum, he strengthened the defenses and fortresses in his eastern provinces. He died at an early age in 1237, the last of his line to die in independence.
Kayqubad had three sons:'Izz al-Din, son of his Ayyubid wife; Rukn al-Din, son of his Ayyubid wife; and Kaykhusraw II, the eldest. Kayqubad originally had his subjects swear allegiance to his son Izz al-Din, but the emirs generally preferred to rally behind the more powerful Kaykhusraw. With no clear successor, conflict broke out between the various factions upon Kayqubad's death.
Kayqubad sponsored a large scale building campaign across Anatolia. Apart from reconstructing towns and fortresses, he built many mosques, medreses, caravanserais, bridges and hospitals, many of which are preserved to this day. Besides completing the construction of the Seljuk Palace in Konya, he also built the Kubadabad Palace on the shore of Lake Beyşehir and Keykubadiye Palace near Kayseri.
'Ala' al-Din Kayqubad I see Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
'Alā al-Dīn Kayqubād bin Kaykā'ūs see Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
Alâeddin Keykubad see Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din (‘Ala’ al-Din Kayqubad I) ('Alā al-Dīn Kayqubād bin Kaykā'ūs) (Alâeddin Keykubad). Saljuq sultan of Rum (r.1220-1237). His foreign policy made his dynasty one of the most powerful of his time. In the south he occupied a great part of the Cilician Taurus, on the Black Sea in the north he assured a Saljuq protectorate over the Crimean harbor of Sughdaq, and in the east he annexed the Artuqid possessions on the right bank of the Middle Euphrates. He defeated the Khwarazmians and, in 1233, the Ayyubid al-Malik al-Kamil I.
Kayqubad I was the Seljuk Sultan of Rum who reigned from 1220 to 1237. He expanded the borders of the sultanate at the expense of his neighbors, particularly the Mengujek emirate and the Ayyubids, and established a Seljuk presence on the Mediterranean with his acquisition of the port of Kalon Oros, later renamed Ala'iyya in his honor. He also brought the southern Crimea under Turkish control for a brief period as a result of a raid against the Black Sea port of Sudak. The sultan, sometimes styled "Kayqubad the Great," is remembered today for his rich architectural legacy and the brilliant court culture that flourished under his reign.
Kayqubad's reign represented the apogee of Seljuk power and influence in Anatolia, and Kayqubad himself was considered the most illustrious prince of the dynasty. In the period following the mid-13th century Mongol invasion, inhabitants of Anatolia frequently looked back on his reign as a golden age, while the new rulers of the Turkish beyliks sought to justify their own authority through pedigrees traced to him.
Kayqubad was the second son of Sultan Kaykhusraw I, who bestowed upon him at an early age the title malik and the governorship of the important central Anatolian town of Tokat. When the sultan died following the battle of Alaşehir in 1211, both Kayqubad and his elder brother Kaykaus struggled for the throne. Kayqubad initially garnered some support among the neighbors of the sultanate: Leo I, the king of Cilician Armenia and Tughrilshah, the brothers' uncle and the independent ruler of Erzurum. Most of the emirs, as the powerful landed aristocracy of the sultanate, supported Kaykaus. Kayqubad was forced to flee to the fortress at Ankara, where he sought aid from the Turkman tribes of Kastamonu. He was soon apprehended and imprisoned by his brother in a fortress in western Anatolia.
Upon Kaykaus' unexpected death in 1219 (or 1220), Kayqubad, released from captivity, succeeded to the throne of the sultanate.
In foreign policy, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was reduced and became a vassal of the sultanate. The sultan settled Turcomans along the Taurus Mountains frontier, in a region later called İçel. At the end of the 13th century, these Turcomans established the Karamanoğlu beylik.
In 1227/1228, Kayqubad advanced into eastern Anatolia, where the arrival of Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, who was fleeing the destruction of his Khwarezmian Empire by the Mongols, had created an unstable political situation. The sultan defeated the Artukids and the Ayyubids and absorbed the Mengujek emirate into the sultanate, capturing the fortresses of Hısn Mansur, Kahta, and Çemişgezek along his march. He also put down a revolt by the Empire of Trebizond and, although he fell short of capturing their capital, forced the Komnenos dynasty family to renew their pledges of vassalage.
At first Kayqubad sought an alliance with his Turkish kinsman Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu against the Mongol threat. The alliance could not be achieved, and afterwards Jalal ad-Din took the important fortress at Ahlat. Kayqubad finally defeated him at the Battle of Yassıçimen between Sivas and Erzincan in 1230. After his victory, he advanced further east, establishing Seljuk rule over Erzurum, Ahlat and the region of Lake Van (formerly part of Ayyubids). The Artukids of Diyarbekir and the Ayyubids of Syria recognized his sovereignty. He also captured a number of fortresses in Georgia, whose queen sued for peace and gave her daughter Tamar in marriage to Kayqubad's son, Kaykhusraw II.
Mindful of the increasing presence and power of the Mongols on the borders of the Sultanate of Rum, he strengthened the defenses and fortresses in his eastern provinces. He died at an early age in 1237, the last of his line to die in independence.
Kayqubad had three sons:'Izz al-Din, son of his Ayyubid wife; Rukn al-Din, son of his Ayyubid wife; and Kaykhusraw II, the eldest. Kayqubad originally had his subjects swear allegiance to his son Izz al-Din, but the emirs generally preferred to rally behind the more powerful Kaykhusraw. With no clear successor, conflict broke out between the various factions upon Kayqubad's death.
Kayqubad sponsored a large scale building campaign across Anatolia. Apart from reconstructing towns and fortresses, he built many mosques, medreses, caravanserais, bridges and hospitals, many of which are preserved to this day. Besides completing the construction of the Seljuk Palace in Konya, he also built the Kubadabad Palace on the shore of Lake Beyşehir and Keykubadiye Palace near Kayseri.
'Ala' al-Din Kayqubad I see Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
'Alā al-Dīn Kayqubād bin Kaykā'ūs see Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
Alâeddin Keykubad see Kayqubad I, ‘Ala’ al-Din
Kaysan, Abu ‘Amra
Kaysan, Abu ‘Amra (Abu ‘Amra Kaysan) (d. 686). Prominent Shi‘a in Kufa during the revolt of al-Mukhtar ibn Abi ‘Ubayd al-Thaqafi.
Kaysanites
The Kaysanites were a once dominant Shia Ghulat sect (among the Shia of the time) that formed from the followers of Al-Mukhtar. They believed in the Imamate of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. They also held some extremist Shia views. Following the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah the sect split up into numerous sub-sects, each with their own Imam and unique beliefs. The Kaysanites would have a continual history of splitting up into smaller sub-sects following the death of their leaders. One Kaysanite sub-sect was lead by the Abbasids, who successfully revolted against the Umayyad Caliphate and then established the Abbasid Caliphate. However, following the establishment of the Abbasids as Caliphs and their disavowal of their Kaysanite origins, the majority of the Kaysanites responded by abandoning the Kaysanite Shia sect and instead switched their allegiances to other Shia sects. Thereafter, the Kaysanite Shia sect became extinct despite its once dominant position among the Shia.
The followers of Al-Mukhtar who emerged from his movement (including all subsequent sub-sects which evolved from his movement) who upheld the Imamate of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and his descendents or any other alleged designated successors were initially named the Mukhtariyya (after Al-Mukhtar), but were soon more commonly referred to as the Kaysaniyya (i.e. Kaysanites). The name Kaysaniyya seems to have been based on the kunya (surname) Kaysan, allegedly given to Al-Mukhtar by Ali, or the name of a freed Mawali of Ali who was killed at the Battle of Siffin called Kaysan, from whom it is claimed Al-Mukhtar acquired his ideas. However, it is much more probably named after Abu ‘Amra Kaysan, a prominent Mawali and chief of Al-Mukhtar’s personal bodyguard.
The Kaysanites were also known as Hanafis (after Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah), Fourer Shia (i.e. they recognized only 4 Imams after Muhammad) and Khashabiyya (i.e. men armed with clubs, because they were armed with wooden clubs or staffs).
The Kaysanites as a collective sect held the following common beliefs:
* They condemned the first 3 Caliphs before Ali as illegitimate usurpers and also held that the community had gone astray by accepting their rule.
* They believed Ali and his 3 sons Hasan ibn Ali, Husayn ibn Ali and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah were the successive Imams and successors to Muhammad by divine appointment and that they were endowed with supernatural attributes.
* They believed that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was the Mahdi (as initially declared by Al-Mukhtar).
* They believed in Bada’.
* The seepage of Iranian beliefs into the Kaysanite beliefs.
Furthermore, some Kaysanite sub-sects established their own unique beliefs, such as:
* Some believed Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was concealed (ghayba) at Mount Radwa near Medina, guarded by lions and tigers and fed by mountain goats and will return (Raj`a i.e. the return to life of the Mahdi with his supporters for retribution before the Qiyama) as the Mahdi.
* Some referred to dar al-taqiyya (i.e. the domain of Taqiyya) as those territories that were not their own. Their own territories were referred to as dar al-‘alaniya (i.e. the domain of publicity).
* Some began to use ideas of a generally Gnostic nature which were current in Iraq during the 8th century.
* Some interpreted Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah’s temporary banishment to Mount Radwa and concealment as chastisement for his mistake of travelling from Mecca to Damascus to pledge allegiance and pay a visit to the false Caliph Abd al-Malik.
The Kaysanites pursued an activist anti-establishment policy against the Ummayads, aiming to transfer leadership of the Muslims to Alids and accounted for the bulk allegiance of the Shia populace (even overshadowing the Imamis) until shortly after the Abbasid revolution. Initially they broke away from the religiously moderate attitudes of the early Kufan Shia. Most of the Kaysanites support came from superficially Islamicized Mawalis in southern Iraq, Persia and elsewhere, as well as other supporters in Iraq, particularly in Kufa and Al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon).
Following the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, the bulk of the Kaysanites acknowledged the Imamate of Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (a.k.a. Abu Hashim, the eldest son of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, d. 716). This sub-sect (a.k.a. Hashimiyya, named after Abu Hashim), which comprised the majority of the Kaysanites was the earliest Shiite group whose teachings and revolutionary stance were disseminated in Persia, especially in Khuurasaan, where it found adherents among the Mawalis and Arab settlers.
By the end of the Ummayad period the majority of the Hashimiyya, transferred their allegiance to the Abbasid family and they played an important role in the propaganda campaign that eventually lead to the successful Abbasid revolution.
However, the Kaysanites did not survive as a sect, even though they occupied a majority position among the Shia until shortly after the Abbasid revolution. The remaining Kaysanites who had not joined the Abbasid party sought to align themselves with alternative Shia communities. Therefore, in Khurasan and other eastern lands many joined the Khurramites. In Iraq they joined Ja'far al-Sadiq or Muhammad ibn Abdallah An-Nafs Az-Zakiyya, who were then the main Alid claimants to the Imamate. However, with the demise of the activist movement of An-Nafs Az-Zakiyya, Ja'far al-Sadiq emerged as their main rallying point. Hence, By the end of the 8th century the majority of the Kaysanites had turned to other Imams.
The Kaysanite Shia sect split into numerous sub-sects throughout its history. These splits would occur after a Kaysanite leader died and his followers would divide by pledging their allegiance to different leaders, with each sub-sect claiming the authenticity of its own leader.
When Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah died in 700 the Kaysanites split into at least 3 distinct sub-sects:
* Karibiyya or Kuraybiyya, named after their leader Abu Karib (or Kurayb) al-Darir. They refused to acknowledge Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah’s death and believed he was concealed (gha’ib) in the Radwa Mountains near Medina, from whence he would eventually emerge as the Mahdi to fill the earth with justice and equity, as it had formerly been filled with injustice and oppression.
* Another sub-sect was under the leadership of a man named Hayyan al-Sarraj. They affirmed the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, but maintained that he and his partisans would return to life in the future when he will establish justice on earth.
* Another sub-sect founded by Hamza ibn ‘Umara al-Barbari asserted divinity for Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and prophethood for Hamza ibn ‘Umara al-Barbari and acquired some supporters in Kufa and Medina.
* Another sub-sect was the Hashimiyya. The Hashimiyya comprised the majority of the Kaysanites after the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. They accepted Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah’s death and recognized his eldest son Abu Hashim as his successor. The Hashimiyya believed that Abu Hashim was personally designated by Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah as his successor. Therefore, Abu Hashim became the Imam of the majority of the Shia of that time even though he was slightly younger than his cousin Zayn al-Abidin. From their Kufa base, the Hashimiyya managed to recruit adherents in other provinces, especially among the Mawali in Khurasan.
After the death of Abu Hashim, no less than 4 to 5 sub-sects claimed succession to Abu Hashim from the original Hashimiyya:
* The Harbiyya, which would later be known as the Janahiyya, were the followers of Abdallah ibn Muawiya ibn Abdullah ibn Ja'far. Abdullah ibn Muawiya was Abu Hashim’s cousin and the grandson of Ja`far ibn Abī Tālib. According to the Harbiyya/Janahiyya, he was the legitimate successor of Abu Hashim. He revolted after the death of his cousin Zayd ibn Ali and his nephew Yahya ibn Zayd ibn Ali. His revolt spread through Iraq into Isfahan and Fārs from 744 to 748. He was also joined by the Zaidiyyah, Abbasids, and Kharijites in revolt. For a while, Abdallah ibn Muawiya established himself at Estakhr from where he ruled for a few years over Fārs and other parts of Persia,[46] including Ahvaz, Jibal, Isfahan and Kerman from 744 to 748 until fleeing to Khurasan from the advancing Umayyad forces. When fleeing to Khurasan, he was killed (on behalf of the Abbasids) by Abu Muslim Khorasani in 748 while imprisoned. The Harbiyya/Janahiyya sub-sect expounded many extremist and Gnostic ideas such as the pre-existence of souls as shadows (azilla), the transmigration of souls (tanaukh al-arwah i.e. the return in a different body while having the same spirit) and a cyclical history of eras (adwar) and eons (akwar). Some of these ideas were adopted by other early Shia Ghulat groups.
o After the death of Abdullah ibn Muawiya, a sub-sect of the Harbiyya/Janahiyya claimed that he was alive and hiding in the mountains of Isfahan.
* Another sub-sect of the Hashimiyya recognized the Abbasid Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib as the legitimate successor of Abu Hashim. This Abbasid sub-sect comprised the majority of the original Hashimiyya. The Abbasids alleged that Abu Hashim (who died childless in 716) had named his successor to be Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah (d. 744). Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah became the founder of the Abbasid Caliphate. He had three sons; Ibrahim (who was killed by the Ummayads), As-Saffah (who became the first Abbasid Caliph) and Al-Mansur (who became the second Abbasid Caliph). Therefore, the ideological engine of the Abbasid revolt was that of the Kaysanites.
o Another sub-sect was the Abu Muslimiyya sub-sect (named after Abu Muslim Khorasani). This sub-sect maintained that the Imamate had passed from As-Saffah to Abu Muslim. They also believed that Al-Mansur did not kill Abu Muslim, but instead someone who resembled Abu Muslim and that Abu Muslim was still alive.
o Another sub-sect was the Rizamiyya. They refused to repudiate Abu Muslim, but also affirmed that the Imamate would remain in the Abbasid family until the Qiyama, when a descendent of ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib would be the Mahdi.
Abu 'Amra Kaysan see Kaysan, Abu ‘Amra
Kaysan, Abu ‘Amra (Abu ‘Amra Kaysan) (d. 686). Prominent Shi‘a in Kufa during the revolt of al-Mukhtar ibn Abi ‘Ubayd al-Thaqafi.
Kaysanites
The Kaysanites were a once dominant Shia Ghulat sect (among the Shia of the time) that formed from the followers of Al-Mukhtar. They believed in the Imamate of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. They also held some extremist Shia views. Following the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah the sect split up into numerous sub-sects, each with their own Imam and unique beliefs. The Kaysanites would have a continual history of splitting up into smaller sub-sects following the death of their leaders. One Kaysanite sub-sect was lead by the Abbasids, who successfully revolted against the Umayyad Caliphate and then established the Abbasid Caliphate. However, following the establishment of the Abbasids as Caliphs and their disavowal of their Kaysanite origins, the majority of the Kaysanites responded by abandoning the Kaysanite Shia sect and instead switched their allegiances to other Shia sects. Thereafter, the Kaysanite Shia sect became extinct despite its once dominant position among the Shia.
The followers of Al-Mukhtar who emerged from his movement (including all subsequent sub-sects which evolved from his movement) who upheld the Imamate of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and his descendents or any other alleged designated successors were initially named the Mukhtariyya (after Al-Mukhtar), but were soon more commonly referred to as the Kaysaniyya (i.e. Kaysanites). The name Kaysaniyya seems to have been based on the kunya (surname) Kaysan, allegedly given to Al-Mukhtar by Ali, or the name of a freed Mawali of Ali who was killed at the Battle of Siffin called Kaysan, from whom it is claimed Al-Mukhtar acquired his ideas. However, it is much more probably named after Abu ‘Amra Kaysan, a prominent Mawali and chief of Al-Mukhtar’s personal bodyguard.
The Kaysanites were also known as Hanafis (after Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah), Fourer Shia (i.e. they recognized only 4 Imams after Muhammad) and Khashabiyya (i.e. men armed with clubs, because they were armed with wooden clubs or staffs).
The Kaysanites as a collective sect held the following common beliefs:
* They condemned the first 3 Caliphs before Ali as illegitimate usurpers and also held that the community had gone astray by accepting their rule.
* They believed Ali and his 3 sons Hasan ibn Ali, Husayn ibn Ali and Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah were the successive Imams and successors to Muhammad by divine appointment and that they were endowed with supernatural attributes.
* They believed that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was the Mahdi (as initially declared by Al-Mukhtar).
* They believed in Bada’.
* The seepage of Iranian beliefs into the Kaysanite beliefs.
Furthermore, some Kaysanite sub-sects established their own unique beliefs, such as:
* Some believed Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was concealed (ghayba) at Mount Radwa near Medina, guarded by lions and tigers and fed by mountain goats and will return (Raj`a i.e. the return to life of the Mahdi with his supporters for retribution before the Qiyama) as the Mahdi.
* Some referred to dar al-taqiyya (i.e. the domain of Taqiyya) as those territories that were not their own. Their own territories were referred to as dar al-‘alaniya (i.e. the domain of publicity).
* Some began to use ideas of a generally Gnostic nature which were current in Iraq during the 8th century.
* Some interpreted Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah’s temporary banishment to Mount Radwa and concealment as chastisement for his mistake of travelling from Mecca to Damascus to pledge allegiance and pay a visit to the false Caliph Abd al-Malik.
The Kaysanites pursued an activist anti-establishment policy against the Ummayads, aiming to transfer leadership of the Muslims to Alids and accounted for the bulk allegiance of the Shia populace (even overshadowing the Imamis) until shortly after the Abbasid revolution. Initially they broke away from the religiously moderate attitudes of the early Kufan Shia. Most of the Kaysanites support came from superficially Islamicized Mawalis in southern Iraq, Persia and elsewhere, as well as other supporters in Iraq, particularly in Kufa and Al-Mada'in (Ctesiphon).
Following the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, the bulk of the Kaysanites acknowledged the Imamate of Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (a.k.a. Abu Hashim, the eldest son of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, d. 716). This sub-sect (a.k.a. Hashimiyya, named after Abu Hashim), which comprised the majority of the Kaysanites was the earliest Shiite group whose teachings and revolutionary stance were disseminated in Persia, especially in Khuurasaan, where it found adherents among the Mawalis and Arab settlers.
By the end of the Ummayad period the majority of the Hashimiyya, transferred their allegiance to the Abbasid family and they played an important role in the propaganda campaign that eventually lead to the successful Abbasid revolution.
However, the Kaysanites did not survive as a sect, even though they occupied a majority position among the Shia until shortly after the Abbasid revolution. The remaining Kaysanites who had not joined the Abbasid party sought to align themselves with alternative Shia communities. Therefore, in Khurasan and other eastern lands many joined the Khurramites. In Iraq they joined Ja'far al-Sadiq or Muhammad ibn Abdallah An-Nafs Az-Zakiyya, who were then the main Alid claimants to the Imamate. However, with the demise of the activist movement of An-Nafs Az-Zakiyya, Ja'far al-Sadiq emerged as their main rallying point. Hence, By the end of the 8th century the majority of the Kaysanites had turned to other Imams.
The Kaysanite Shia sect split into numerous sub-sects throughout its history. These splits would occur after a Kaysanite leader died and his followers would divide by pledging their allegiance to different leaders, with each sub-sect claiming the authenticity of its own leader.
When Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah died in 700 the Kaysanites split into at least 3 distinct sub-sects:
* Karibiyya or Kuraybiyya, named after their leader Abu Karib (or Kurayb) al-Darir. They refused to acknowledge Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah’s death and believed he was concealed (gha’ib) in the Radwa Mountains near Medina, from whence he would eventually emerge as the Mahdi to fill the earth with justice and equity, as it had formerly been filled with injustice and oppression.
* Another sub-sect was under the leadership of a man named Hayyan al-Sarraj. They affirmed the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, but maintained that he and his partisans would return to life in the future when he will establish justice on earth.
* Another sub-sect founded by Hamza ibn ‘Umara al-Barbari asserted divinity for Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah and prophethood for Hamza ibn ‘Umara al-Barbari and acquired some supporters in Kufa and Medina.
* Another sub-sect was the Hashimiyya. The Hashimiyya comprised the majority of the Kaysanites after the death of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. They accepted Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah’s death and recognized his eldest son Abu Hashim as his successor. The Hashimiyya believed that Abu Hashim was personally designated by Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah as his successor. Therefore, Abu Hashim became the Imam of the majority of the Shia of that time even though he was slightly younger than his cousin Zayn al-Abidin. From their Kufa base, the Hashimiyya managed to recruit adherents in other provinces, especially among the Mawali in Khurasan.
After the death of Abu Hashim, no less than 4 to 5 sub-sects claimed succession to Abu Hashim from the original Hashimiyya:
* The Harbiyya, which would later be known as the Janahiyya, were the followers of Abdallah ibn Muawiya ibn Abdullah ibn Ja'far. Abdullah ibn Muawiya was Abu Hashim’s cousin and the grandson of Ja`far ibn Abī Tālib. According to the Harbiyya/Janahiyya, he was the legitimate successor of Abu Hashim. He revolted after the death of his cousin Zayd ibn Ali and his nephew Yahya ibn Zayd ibn Ali. His revolt spread through Iraq into Isfahan and Fārs from 744 to 748. He was also joined by the Zaidiyyah, Abbasids, and Kharijites in revolt. For a while, Abdallah ibn Muawiya established himself at Estakhr from where he ruled for a few years over Fārs and other parts of Persia,[46] including Ahvaz, Jibal, Isfahan and Kerman from 744 to 748 until fleeing to Khurasan from the advancing Umayyad forces. When fleeing to Khurasan, he was killed (on behalf of the Abbasids) by Abu Muslim Khorasani in 748 while imprisoned. The Harbiyya/Janahiyya sub-sect expounded many extremist and Gnostic ideas such as the pre-existence of souls as shadows (azilla), the transmigration of souls (tanaukh al-arwah i.e. the return in a different body while having the same spirit) and a cyclical history of eras (adwar) and eons (akwar). Some of these ideas were adopted by other early Shia Ghulat groups.
o After the death of Abdullah ibn Muawiya, a sub-sect of the Harbiyya/Janahiyya claimed that he was alive and hiding in the mountains of Isfahan.
* Another sub-sect of the Hashimiyya recognized the Abbasid Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib as the legitimate successor of Abu Hashim. This Abbasid sub-sect comprised the majority of the original Hashimiyya. The Abbasids alleged that Abu Hashim (who died childless in 716) had named his successor to be Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah (d. 744). Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah became the founder of the Abbasid Caliphate. He had three sons; Ibrahim (who was killed by the Ummayads), As-Saffah (who became the first Abbasid Caliph) and Al-Mansur (who became the second Abbasid Caliph). Therefore, the ideological engine of the Abbasid revolt was that of the Kaysanites.
o Another sub-sect was the Abu Muslimiyya sub-sect (named after Abu Muslim Khorasani). This sub-sect maintained that the Imamate had passed from As-Saffah to Abu Muslim. They also believed that Al-Mansur did not kill Abu Muslim, but instead someone who resembled Abu Muslim and that Abu Muslim was still alive.
o Another sub-sect was the Rizamiyya. They refused to repudiate Abu Muslim, but also affirmed that the Imamate would remain in the Abbasid family until the Qiyama, when a descendent of ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib would be the Mahdi.
Abu 'Amra Kaysan see Kaysan, Abu ‘Amra
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