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Abbasid. al-Mahdi (AH 158-169 / AD 775-785) gold Dinar AH 161 (AD 777/8) AU, No mint (likely Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad)), A-214. 4.24gm
Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-Mansur (أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور) 744 or 745 – 785, better known by his regnal name al-Mahdi (المهدي, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 775 to his death in 785. He succeeded his father, al-Mansur.
Al-Mahdi's father, Al-Mansur, died on the hajj to Mecca in 775. Al-Mahdi, whose nickname means "Rightly-guided" or "Redeemer", was proclaimed caliph when his father was on his deathbed. His peaceful reign continued the policies of his predecessors.
Al-Mahdi reigned for ten years. He imprisoned his most trusted vizier Ya'qub ibn Dawud. In the year 167 AH/ 783 AD, al-Mahdi instituted an official inquisition which led to the execution of alleged Zindiq (heretics). He was fond of music and poetry and during his caliphate many musicians and poets received his patronage and he supported musical expression and poetry across his dominion; accordingly, his son Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi (779–839) and his daughter ‘Ulayya bint al-Mahdī (777-825) were both noted poets and musicians.
In 775, a Byzantine envoy, Tarath, travelled to Baghdad to convey the congratulations of the Byzantine emperor to Al-Mahdi on his accession to the throne. Tarath was so pleased with the hospitality he received that he offered to put his engineering knowledge to use and build a mill that would generate annual profits, of 500,000 dirhams (silver coins), equal to the cost of its construction. On completion, the envoy's forecast proved to be correct, and so, delighted, Al-Mahdi ordered that all profits should be given to the envoy, even after he left Baghdad. It is believed this continued to his death, in 780.
In the year this coin was struck, 777 AD (160 AH), al Mahdi put down the insurrection of Yusuf ibn Ibrahim in Khurasan. In the same year al-Mahdi deposed Isa ibn Musa as his successor and appointed his own son Musa al-Hadi in his place and took allegiance (bayah) for him from the nobles. In 778 AD (161 AH), he subdued the rebellion of Abdullah ibn Marwan ibn Muhammad, who was leading the Umayyad remnant in Syria. See the earlier entries in this collection for Umayyad dinars.
The cosmopolitan city of Baghdad blossomed during al-Mahdi's reign. The city attracted immigrants from Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Persia, and lands as far away as Afghanistan and Spain. Baghdad was home to Christians, Jews, Hindus and Zoroastrians, in addition to the growing Muslim population. It became the world's largest city.
The introduction of paper from China after the Battle of Talas in 751 had had a profound effect. Paper had not yet been used in the West, with the Arabs and Persians using papyrus and the Europeans using vellum. The paper-related industry boomed in Baghdad where an entire street in the city center became devoted to sale of paper and books. The cheapness and durability of paper was vital element in the efficient growth of the expanding Abbasid bureaucracy.
Al-Mahdi declared that the caliph had the ability, and indeed the responsibility, to define the orthodox theology of Muslims to protect the umma against heresy.
Al-Mahdi was poisoned by one of his concubines in 785 AD (169 AH).