al-Saffār, and he went on to seize Nishapur and other towns. He openly aligned himself with the Tahirids, appointed Rāfiʿ ibn Harthama (1) as his atabeg (2), and waged many pitched battles. He captured Yahyā ibn al-Dhuhlī, the senior scholar of Nishapur, killed him and behaved tyrannically; then two of his own mamluks slaughtered him in 268 AH (3). He had held power for seven years.
Among his injustices: when he took control of Nishapur he set up a spear and compelled the people to weigh out in dirhams enough silver to cover the head of the spear, thereby impoverishing and tormenting them. (4)
55 – Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī ibn Khalaf al-Baghdādī al-Ẓāhirī *
The Imām, the vast ocean (of knowledge), the ḥadīth master, the erudite scholar, the authority of his time: Abū Sulaymān al-Baghdādī, better known as al-Iṣbahānī, client of the Commander of the Believers al-Mahdī, and head of the Ẓāhirī school.
= 1/424; Ibar al-muallif, 2/33, 36, 38; al-Wafi bi-l-wafayat, 7/80–81.
Al-Khujistani—with damma on kh and jim and sukun on sin—denotes someone from Khujistan, a mountain district near Herat (al-Lubab).
(1) His biography will appear below on p. 406, no. 196.
(2) Atabeg: a Turkish title meaning “guardian-father.” The Seljuqs used it for certain senior courtiers; here it means that he appointed him commander.
(3) For the full report, see al-Kamil, 7/303.
(4) Ibid., 7/304, which states: “He planted a long spear in the courtyard of his house and said, ‘The people of Nishapur must heap up pearls until they cover the spear.’ They were therefore afraid of him.”
(*) al-Fihrist, sixth treatise, fourth section; Tarikh Baghdad, 8/369–375; Tabaqat al-Fuqaha, p. 92; al-Muntazam, 5/75–77; Wafayat al-Ayan, 2/255–257; Mizan al-Iʿtidal, 2/14–16; Ibar al-muallif, 2/45; Tabaqat al-Subki, 2/284–293; al-Bidaya wa-l-nihaya, 11/47–48; Lisan al-mizan, 2/422–424; al-Nujum al-zahira, 3/47–48; Tabaqat al-huffaz, pp. 253–254; Tabaqat al-mufassirin (al-Mawardi), 1/166–169; Shadharat al-dhahab, 2/158–159; Tarikh Isfahan, 1/312.