Abu Jaffar Abdallah Al-Mansour, the second Abbasside caliph, born about 712, died Oct. 18, 775. He succeeded his brother Abul Abbas in 754. On his accession the sovereignty was claimed by Abdallah, his uncle. Abdallah, however, was completely defeated by Al-Mansour's lieutenant, Abu Moslem, who was soon after put to death for declining to serve as governor of Egypt. Nor was this the only instance of Al-Mansour's cruelty. In 758 Cufa, then the residence of the caliphs, was the scene of a riot got up by the Ravendites, a sect who believed in metempsychosis. This so displeased Al-Mansour that he founded Bagdad, to which city the seat of government was removed. His reign was again disturbed by a revolt of the descendants of Ali ben Abu Taleb, which was suppressed. His arms were victorious in Asia Minor, Armenia, and further east. Spain, however, was lost to the caliphate of Bagdad during his reign. He was the first of the caliphs who introduced the taste for literature. In his reign many of the best Greek works were translated into Arabic.