Then, in 201 AH, al-Maʾmun appointed ʿAli al-Ridha as his heir-apparent and donned green garments. The Abbasid family rose in revolt and deposed him (1). In that same year Babak al-Khurrami rebelled in Azerbaijan (2), killing people and taking captives.

Al-Ridha informed al-Maʾmun of the warfare and turmoil that had beset the people since the slaying of al-Amin, of the reports al-Fadl ibn Sahl had been hiding from him, and that his own relatives had rebelled, voicing grievances and saying, “He is bewitched; he is insane.”

Al-Maʾmun asked, “Who is aware of this?”

He replied, “Several of your commanders; question them.”

They refused to speak unless they were given safe-conduct from al-Fadl, so al-Maʾmun guaranteed it. They then laid the facts before him, adding: “Tahir ibn al-Husayn has rendered outstanding service to you, conquered the provinces, and delivered the caliphate to the Commander of the Faithful, yet he has been stripped of all that and stationed in Raqqa. Had he been governor of Iraq, he would have kept it under control—unlike al-Hasan ibn Sahl.”

They went on, “Travel to Iraq; if the commanders see you, they will submit in obedience.”

He answered, “March.”

When al-Fadl heard of this, he beat some of them and imprisoned others. Al-Maʾmun could not forestall him, so he left Marw for Sarakhs. There, a group set upon al-Fadl and killed him in a bathhouse in Shaʿban of 202 AH, at the age of sixty. Al-Maʾmun offered ten thousand dinars to whoever captured the killers, who turned out to be four of his own mamluks; they said, “You ordered us to kill him.” He denied it and had them beheaded (3).

The cause of Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi weakened after protracted fighting and hardship.

In 203 AH al-Ridha died suddenly (4).