The Blogs: Exilarchs of the Jews

From approximately the mid-second century to the mid-13^th century of the Common Era, Babylonian Jewry was subject to a series of imperial regimes (two based in Persia, one in Arabia)—the Parthian (Arsacid) Empire, the Sassanid Empire, and the Islamic Empire. For more than 12 centuries, Jews were internally managed by a succession of hereditary exilarchs (rashei galut), each of whom served as a political leader administering the Jewish community’s affairs while also representing the Jews to their various overlords. The exilarch (head of the exile) was known in Aramaic as the reish galuta (in Hebrew, rosh golah; in Arabic, ras al-jalut), and recognized as a royal scion of Davidic lineage; thus was each exilarch in the Diaspora acknowledged as the counterpart of each patriarch/president (nasi) in the Land of Israel (the title was also analogous to that of ethnarch, which obtained in the Hellenistic and Roman periods). The imperial regimes accorded the exilarch an official status equivalent to that of the Catholicos (leader of the mostly Nestorian Christian communities in Persia), and exilarchs wore a distinguishing sash of office known as a kamara.

The exilarch’s induction ceremony was a grand occasion accompanied by week-long festivities, the height of which was a Sabbath assembly in synagogue wherein hymns (pizmonim) and liturgical poems (piyutim) were recited and blessings pronounced in the appointee’s honor. His name was specially inserted in the “Kaddish” prayer, and he sermonized or else authorized the head of the academy to do so on his behalf. The cantor (hazzan) lowered a Torah scroll before him while the congregation rose to its feet. For the duration of the festivities, he hosted in his home well-wishers, who proffered presents.

Thereafter, whenever out and about, the exilarch was conveyed in a state carriage accompanied by a large retinue. If the exilarch desired an audience with the emperor, he first sought permission, and when he reached the imperial palace he was greeted by servants to whom he distributed gratuities. Inside, he would be assigned a seat and questioned regarding his communal needs by the emperor, upon whom the exilarch lavished praise and blessings. After ingratiating himself and soliciting the emperor on behalf of the Jewish community, the exilarch would obtain the emperor’s written consent to his demands and, after displaying his gratitude, depart the imperial palace.

Throughout their collective tenure, the exilarchs were forced to contend for influence within the Babylonian Jewish community with its religious leaders—rabbinical sages who regulated Judaic law (halakhah) and custom (minhag) and who were revered for their rectitude and erudition—especially after the advent of the academies (y’shivot/metivtot) in N’hard’a (Iraq), N’tzivin/Nisibis (Nusaybin, Turkey), Sura (Tel al-Aswad, Al-Qasim District, Iraq), Pumbedita (Fallujah, Iraq), Mahoza (Al-Mada’in, Iraq), Naresh (Narsa, Al-Hillah District, Iraq), Pum Nahara (Iraq), and Mata Mehasya (Al-Qasim District, Iraq) in the first through the fourth centuries. Jewish political and religious leaders were seldom identical; exilarchs were counseled on religious matters by the leading sages, in which role the latter were officially referred to as hakhamim. The relationship between the exilarchate and the gaonate was often amicable, sometimes disputatious, but always interdependent. Exilarchs appointed the rabbinical principals (geonim), but the rabbis exerted influence over the appointment of the exilarchs. Judges (dayyanim) who served on a rabbinical court (beit din) were sometimes appointed by rabbinical principals, sometimes by exilarchs. The exilarch oversaw trade and commerce between Jewish merchants and consumers. He might have also served as the imperial regime’s chief tax collector for Babylonian Jewry: the Jerusalem Talmud cites an instance when the exilarch was required to furnish the Persian emperor with a roomful of grain (Sotah 5:3), though it remains unclear whether this case was representative or exceptional. Exilarchs earned income primarily from communal taxation, and for issuing marriage contracts (ktubot), divorce writs (gitin), and official writs, as well as from gifts. Exilarchs were authorized to penalize their constituents by imposing the ban of excommunication (heirem), and at times also through fines, flogging, or durance.

Tradition traces the origins of the exilarchate to the exiled King Yehoiakhin of Judah and the Babylonian Captivity, and thus would include the Davidic descendants enumerated in I Chronicles 3:17–24. However, the dignity is usually reckoned to have officially been instituted only in the Roman period, shortly after the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 CE). Information on the exilarchate is primarily derived from the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, Midrash Rabbah, Seider Olam Zuta, Igeret Rabbi Sherira Ben Hannaniah, Simhah of Vitry’s Mahzor Vitry, Nathan ben Isaac HaKohen HaBavli’s Akhbar Baghdad, Abraham ibn Daud’s Seifer HaKabbalah, Abraham Zacuto’s Seifer Yuhasin, Benjamin of Tudela’s Massaot Shel Rabbi Binyamin, Ptahyah of Regensburg’s Sibuv, and the Arab chroniclers al-Jahiz, Ibn Hazm, and Ibn al-Jawzi. Regrettably, due to the general paucity of historical information and the divergent accounts among extant sources, there remains considerable confusion regarding the precise pedigree of known exilarchs (esp. whether certain relationships were fraternal, filial, or avuncular); the following list, therefore, including its names and dates, can be but a considered approximation.

Nahum (r. 140–170 CE) – Perhaps identical to the Ahiyah/Nehunyon cited in the Talmuds. Nahum served Babylonian Jewry during the period of the Hadrianic persecutions (135–138 CE) in the Land of Israel. Nahum might have shared power for a time with, or been succeeded by, his brother Yohanan then the latter’s son Shaphat.
Huna (Anan) I (r. 170–210 CE) – Huna was a contemporary and rival of Judah HaNasi, in whose lifetime Huna’s body was conveyed to the Land of Israel for burial in Beit Sh’arim.
Mar Ukba I (Nathan Ukban I) (r. 210–240 CE) – Perhaps the son of Huna (Anan) I, and a disciple of the sages Mar Samuel, Abba ben Abba HaKohen, and Levi ben Sisi. He might also have been known as Nathan DeTzutzita. Mar Ukba served as chief justice on the rabbinical court (beit din) of Kafri (Iraq), and regularly rendered verdicts in the presence of his master Mar Samuel, but routinely accompanied the latter to his home out of respect. He once decided a dispute between Mar Samuel and Karna, and once arrested Rav when the latter served for a time as market commissioner and declined to regulate the price of goods. His scholarly colleagues in the Land of Israel wrote to him and addressed him as “the one whose nobility equals the nobility of Moses, who was like a son to Batyah, the pharaoh’s daughter”. Mar Samuel instructed him in concocting medicinal cures, and Mar Ukba received a request from Yannai (Rabbah) for some of Samuel’s eye salve. He similarly attended to his colleague Aha bar Joseph who suffered from chest pain. He was wealthy, and along with his wife earned a reputation for philanthropy. He mourned a nephew for 30 days and was consoled by Huna. His wife died during his lifetime, and he outlived Rav and Mar Samuel as well. During his reign the relatively liberal Parthian (Arsacid) Empire fell and the religiously inspired Sassanid Empire (224–651) arose in its stead. Before he died, Mar Ukba consulted his accounts and discovered that in total he had donated 7,000 gold dinars to charity, prompting him to remark, “it is a light meal for a distant journey”, whereupon he ordered that half of his fortune be distributed to charity upon his decease. His sons Mari and Nathan also became Torah scholars. His disciples included Hisda. A later exilarch of the same name lived in the early 10^th
Huna II (r. 240–260 CE) – Son of Mar Ukba I (Nathan Ukban I), and son-in-law of the sage Rav. He was counseled by the sages Rav and Mar Samuel. It was during his reign that N’hard’a (Iraq), a town amid the contested border region of the Roman and Sassanid empires, was destroyed by Roman vassal King Odainat (Odenathus) of Palmyra during his military campaign against the Sassanids in 259.
Nathan I (r. 260–270 CE) – Son of Huna II, brother of Nehemiah, and grandson of the sage Rav. He was counseled by the sages Judah bar Ezekiel and Sheshet. He corresponded with the sage Elazar ben Pdat.
Nehemiah (r. 270–313 CE) – Son of Huna II, brother of Nathan I, and grandson of the sage Rav. He was said to have dressed entirely in silk attire.
Mar Ukba II (Nathan Ukban II) (r. 313–337 CE) – Son of Nehemiah, and brother of Huna III. He was counseled by the sages Rabbah bar Nahmani and Abba. Emperor Shapur II the Great of Persia recaptured Armenia from the Romans during his reign (337). He is perhaps to be identified with the contrite sinner Nathan DeTzutzita mentioned in the Talmud.
Huna (Mar Huna) III (r. 337–350 CE) – Son of Nehemiah, and brother of Mar Ukba II (Nathan Ukban II). He was counseled by the sages Abbaye and Ravva.
Abba Mari (r. 350–370 CE) – Son of Mar Ukba II and nephew of Huna (Mar Huna) III. He was counseled by the sages Ravva and Ravina. Emperor Shapur II the Great of Persia conquered N’tzivin/Nisibis (Nusaybin, Turkey) in northern Babylonia during his reign.
Nathan II (r. 370–400 CE) – Son of Abba Mari, and brother of Kahana I.
Kahana (Hannan) I (r. 400–415 CE) – Son of Abba Mari, and brother of Nathan II.
Huna IV (r. 415–441/442 CE) – Son of Kahana (Hannan) I (or Nathan II), and brother of Mar Zutra I. He was personally girded with his kamara by Emperor Yazdegerd I of Persia. As an amora, Huna IV combined scholarship and high office, although he was counseled by the sage Ashi, to whom he subordinated himself. Ashi arrogated the duty of fixing the Judaic calendar, and his prestige prompted Huna to leave N’hard’a (Iraq) to be nearer to neighboring Sura, center of Jewish activity. He married a woman from neighboring Mahoza (Al-Mada’in). He had many halakhic discussions with Ravva, and his halakhic dicta are often cited in the Babylonian Talmud. Huna IV was a close colleague of the sages Nahman bar Isaac, Pappa, and Ameimar.
Mar Zutra I (r. 441/442–450/455 CE) – Son of Kahana (Hannan) I (or Nathan II), and brother of Huna IV. He was counseled by the sage Ahai of Diphti (Iraq), a defeated candidate for head of the Sura academy (455). On the Sabbath before each of the three pilgrimage festivals (Shabbta D’Rigla), he was borne aloft on the shoulders of the crowd and proclaimed: “For riches are not forever; and does the crown endure throughout all generations?”
Kahana (Hannan) II (r. 455–465 CE) – Son of Mar Zutra I, and brother of Huna V. He was counseled by the sage Ravina. He may be identical to the Mareimar listed by Sherira ben Hannaniah.
Huna V (r. 465–470 CE) – Son of Mar Zutra I, and brother of Kahana (Hannan) II. During the Sassanid (Zoroastrian) persecutions, he was executed by Emperor Peroz (Pheroses, Firuz) I of Persia, who slew half of the Jews of Isfahan (Iran), forcibly converted Jewish children, closed the academies, and pillaged Sura (Tel al-Aswad, Al-Qasim District, Iraq). The exilarchate and the academies were in abeyance for an interregnum during the persecutions under Peroz, whose decease (484) enabled their restoration.
Huna VI (r. 484–508 CE) – Son of Kahana (Hannan) II, and nephew of Huna V.
Mar Zutra II (r. 508–520 CE) – Son of Huna VI, and grandson of Mar Hannina, head of the Sura academy. He became exilarch aged 15, at a time when the Zoroastrian major priest (mobad) and reformer Mazdak the Younger was promoting communism in Persia with imperial approval. In 513, in response to this radical movement and to religious persecution, Mar Zutra went on to lead an armed rebellion against the Sassanid Empire and achieved for seven years political independence for Babylonian Jewry. He and his grandfather Mar Hannina were decapitated then crucified by Emperor Kavadh I of Persia on the bridge of Mahoza (Al-Mada’in, Iraq). He had a son, Mar Zutra bar Mar Zutra, who was born the day of his father’s decease and, instead of becoming exilarch, immigrated to the Land of Israel, where he became head of the Tiberias academy and bore the title “Reish Pirka”, also known as an archipherecite.
Mar Ahunai (r. c. 520–550 CE) – He reportedly avoided appearing in public for 30 years in the aftermath of his predecessor’s failed rebellion.
Huna VII Mar Hannan (r. 550–560 CE) – He may be identical to Mar Ahunai.
Kafnai (Hofnai) (r. 560–581 CE) – Son of Huna VII Mar Hannan. In 581, during the recurrent Sassanid (Zoroastrian) persecutions, the academies were closed by Emperor Hormizd IV of Persia, and many Jews moved to Bei-Shabur, also known as Peroz-Shapur (Anbar, Iraq), where eventually an academy was established.
Hanninai (r. 581–590 CE) – Son of Kafnai (Hofnai). He was put to death by Emperor Khosrow II of Persia for supporting the imperial usurper Bahram VI Chobin.
Bustanai (r. c. 610/618–660/670 CE) – Son of Hanninai. He was born after his father’s decease, and his name derives from the Persian word denoting a garden or a grove (bostan). In 642, the Arabs under the banner of Islam conquered the Sassanid Empire during Bustanai’s reign, and he was confirmed in his role by Caliph Ali (or by Caliph Omar). Although he already had Jewish wives and children, he was given Izdundad (Azdaudar, Dara), a daughter of Emperor Yazdegerd III (or of Emperor Khosrow II) of Persia, as a wife, and she bore him either three or five sons. The exilarchate regained its prestige with the tenure of Bustanai, but much controversy was generated regarding whether or not his Persian wife ever converted to Judaism. For 300 years, his children by the Persian princess were regarded as slaves and illegitimate officeholders. He was buried in or near Pumbedita (Fallujah, Iraq), where his tomb was a pilgrimage site until the 1100s.
Hisdai (Hasdai) I (r. 660–665 CE) – Son of Bustanai, and brother of Bar Adai (Bardai). He and his brother attempted to undermine the status of their half brothers from their father’s Persian wife, whom they deemed a female unmanumitted prisoner of war.
Bar Adai (Bardai) (r. 665–689 CE) – Son of Bustanai, and brother of Hisdai (Hasdai) I. He and his brother attempted to undermine the status of their half brothers from their father’s Persian wife, whom they deemed a female unmanumitted prisoner of war.
Hannina (r. 689–700 CE) – Son of Bar Adai (Bardai), and brother of Hisdai (Hasdai) II.
Hisdai (Hasdai) II (r. 700–730 CE) – Son of Bar Adai (Bardai), and brother of Hannina. He had at least two sons, Solomon I and David (whose son Anan founded Karaism). His son-in-law was Natronai ben Nehemiah, head of the Pumbedita academy for 20 years. He is believed to be the exilarch quoted in the 13^th century Arabic geographer al-Kazwini’s Athar al-Bilad.
Solomon I (r. 730/733–759 CE) – Son of Hisdai (Hasdai) II. He wielded much influence on the Sura gaonate and appointed three geonim to the academies of Sura (Tel al-Aswad, Al-Qasim District, Iraq) and neighboring Pumbedita (Fallujah), among whom were his brother-in-law Natronai Kahana ben Emmunah (to Pumbedita) and Yehudai ben Nahman (to Sura). His nephew Anan ben David was the founder of the Karaite sect.
Isaac Iskoi (Iskawi) I (r. 759–767 CE) – Son of Solomon I. His life and reign were short-lived, which engendered a contested succession between his rivalrous first cousins, the brothers Anan and Hannaniah, the latter of whom prevailed but apparently did not ultimately reign.
Judah I Zakkai (Babawai) (r. 767–771/800 CE) – Son of Isaac Iskoi (Iskawi) I (or Ahunai), and brother of Moses. In 767, he had to contend with the anti-exilarch Anan, his kinsman and the founder of Karaism, and in 771 with Natronai I ben Havivai. He might have been the exilarch who reportedly participated in a religious disputation hosted by Caliph Harun al-Rashid of the Abbasid Empire.
Natronai I (r. 771–773 CE) – Son of Havivai, and a disciple of Yehudai ben Nahman. He was a recognized Talmud scholar, and contested the reign of Judah I Zakkai (Babawai). It is unclear whether he was supported by Malkha ben Aha, head of the Pumbedita academy, or opposed by him and his counterpart Hanninai Kahana ben Huna, head of the Sura academy. It seems that once Malkha died in 773, Natronai was banished westward via North Africa to Spain, where he reportedly wrote down the Babylonian Talmud from memory for the sake of Spanish Jewry.
Moses (r. 800–810 CE) – Son of Isaac Iskoi (Iskawi) I, and brother of Judah I Zakkai (Babawai).
Isaac Iskoi (Iskawi) II (r. 810–820 CE) – Son of Moses, and first cousin of David I. He possessed an exilarchic coat of arms. He might have participated in a religious disputation hosted by Caliph al-Ma’mun of the Abbasid Empire.
David I (r. 820–834/840/857 CE) – Son of Judah I Zakkai (Babawai), and first cousin of Isaac Iskoi (Iskawi) II. His position was contested by his brother Daniel, a Karaite, but Caliph al-Ma’mun of the Abbasid Empire intervened and decided in David’s favor (825). The caliph’s edict permitting 10 men of any minority group to establish a distinct community and appoint their own leader weakened the exilarchate, and thereafter David was compelled to visit the Pumbedita academy to receive both the homage and the support of its sages on the Sabbath before each of the three pilgrimage festivals (Shabbta D’Rigla), whereas formerly they visited him at his home. In 833/834, David appointed Isaac ben Hiya (or Hunai/Hannina/Hannaniah) as head of the Pumbedita academy. In 834, he issued an epistle confirming the authority of the sages in the Land of Israel to regulate the sanctification of the new moon and to intercalate the Judaic calendar.
Natronai II (r. 840–865 CE) – Perhaps the son of Judah I Zakkai (Babawai) and the brother of David I, or else the grandson of Natronai I.
Judah II (r. c. 857 CE) – Son of David I, and brother of Zakkai II.
Hisdai (Hasdai) III (r. 865–880 CE) – Son of Natronai II.
Zakkai II (r. 880–890 CE) – Son of David I, and brother of Judah II.
Mar Ukba III (r. c. 890/900–913/917; 918 CE) – Son of Judah II, nephew of Zakkai II, and cousin of David II. As a result of a dispute regarding the revenues from Khorasan (Iran and Central Asia), and at the instigation of Kohen Tzeddek II (or of Judah ben Samuel), head of the Pumbedita academy, and of his affluent associates the merchants and financiers Netira, Joseph ben Pinhas, and Aaron ben Amram, Mar Ukba was deposed and banished to Kermanshah (western Iran) until he was briefly reinstated in 918 by Caliph al-Muqtadir of the Abbasid Empire on account of some Arabic verses with which he greeted him. Thereafter he was deposed anew and moved to Kairouan, Tunisia, where he was accorded great respect: a special synagogal platform was installed for him near the holy Ark, and he was permanently designated the third to read the weekly Torah reading, with the Torah scroll being conveyed to him in his seat.
David II (r. 918–940 CE) – Son of Zakkai II, brother of Josiah (Hassan), and cousin of Mar Ukba III. David proved to be a chronic controversialist. He either appointed Kohen Tzeddek II Kahana ben Joseph to head the Pumbedita academy instead of his opponent Mivvaseir (Mubashshir) Kahana ben Kimoi, or Kohen Tzeddek was the incumbent gaon who was appointed by the academy and who opposed Mar Ukba III and his relative and successor David, who consequently sought to replace him with Mivvaseir. In 922, David and Mivvaseir were on good terms, and Kohen Tzeddek succeeded Mivvaseir as head of the Pumbedita academy upon the latter’s decease in 925. When Aaron ben Meir, head of the Jerusalem academy, sought to alter the Judaic calendar, David (along with Sa’adiah ben Joseph) opposed this measure and later excommunicated Aaron. David was soon involved in another controversy with Kohen Tzeddek, this time featuring his erstwhile ally Sa’adiah (whom David had meanwhile appointed head of the Sura academy), when Sa’adiah declined to endorse the terms of a will benefiting David, despite Kohen Tzeddek’s endorsement thereof. A feud ensued wherein David and Sa’adiah each excommunicated the other and appointed a replacement: David replaced Sa’adiah with Jacob ben Joseph ben Satia, and Sa’adiah returned the favor by replacing David with the latter’s brother Josiah. In 933, after both parties had appealed to Caliph al-Muqtadir of the Abbasid Empire, the dispute was settled by the last-named’s successor Caliph al-Qahir, who sided with David, eventuating in the banishment of Josiah to Khorasan (Iran and Central Asia) and the deposal of Sa’adiah from the Sura gaonate. Sa’adiah thereafter sojourned for four years in Baghdad (Iraq) and devoted himself to his writing. In 937, David and Sa’adiah finally reconciled during the Purim festival, and Sa’adiah was reinstated as gaon. David owned vast estates, mansions, hospices, and businesses. Despite his stormy temperament and excessive severity against adversaries, David is credited with reinvigorating the declining Sura academy at a time when it was near its demise, and with restoring the exilarchate’s authority over the wealthy among Babylonian Jewry. In 940, when David and his son Judah III died in quick succession, Sa’adiah raised David’s grandson Hezekiah in his own home until his decease in 942.
Josiah (Hassan) (r. 930–933 CE) – Son of Zakkai II, brother of David II, and cousin of Mar Ukba III. In 930, he became exilarch at the instigation of Sa’adiah ben Joseph, head of the Sura academy. His brief reign ended when Caliph al-Qahir of the Abbasid Empire issued a verdict against him, resulting in his banishment to Khorasan (Iran and Central Asia). His descendants, however, were to serve as exilarchs as well.
Judah III (r. 940 CE) – Son of David II, nephew of Josiah (Hassan), and first cousin of Solomon II. He reigned for only seven months and died soon after his father. His 12-year-old son Hezekiah was raised for a time by his father’s gracious opponent, the sage Sa’adiah ben Joseph.
Solomon II (r. 945/951–953/955 CE) – Son of Josiah (Hassan), nephew of David II, and first cousin of Judah III.
Hezekiah I (r. 955–987 CE) – Son of Judah III and grandson of David II. He was raised for two years (940–942) by the sage Sa’adiah ben Joseph.
Azaryah (r. 987–1000 CE) – Son of Solomon II. His reign was peaceful. His non-exilarch descendants settled in Mosul (Iraq); Aleppo, Syria; and the Land of Israel.
David III (r. 1000–1016 CE) – Son of Hezekiah I. Seven of his descendants served as exilarchs for over 150 years following his reign, until 1174.
Hezekiah II (Hezekiah ben David I) (r. 1016/1021–1058 CE) – Son of David III. He was the last major head of the Pumbedita academy, a position in which he served for either two or 20 years. Hezekiah corresponded with sages in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and North Africa. Falsely accused of high treason, he was put in chains, incarcerated, and tortured to death by the fanatical Caliph al-Qa’im of the Abbasid Empire. He had three sons: the oldest, David, succeeded him as exilarch while the two younger sons fled to Spain, where they sought refuge with Joseph ibn Nagdela. His decease in 1058 is generally reckoned to close the period of the Geonim, although both the gaonate and exilarchate were nominally continued for centuries.
David IV (r. c. 1058–1090 CE) – Son of Hezekiah II. David lived in Jerusalem for a time during the gaonate of Solomon ben Judah. He also visited Egypt, where his authority was recognized by many Jews, before returning to Baghdad (Iraq). During his reign, David ben Daniel became an anti-exilarch in Egypt from 1081–1094, then was deposed by opponents. He had two sons, Judah (Abu Zikri), who migrated to Catalonia (northeastern Spain), and Hezekiah, who succeeded him. His grandson Abraham bar Hiya became a sage and a noted mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher.
Hezekiah III (Hezekiah ben David II) (r. 1090–1110 CE) – Son of David IV, and uncle of the sage Abraham bar Hiya.
David V (r. 1110–1130 CE) – Son of Hezekiah III, and first cousin of the sage Abraham bar Hiya.
Hisdai (Hasdai) IV (r. c. 1130–1135/1150 CE) – Son of David V. A pupil of his, David Alroy, became a pseudo-messiah, whose disappointed adherents placated, via Hisdai, Caliph al-Muqtafi of the Abbasid Empire with 100 gold talents in the aftermath of their ill-conceived rebellion. In 1139, the sage Abraham ibn Ezra visited Baghdad (Iraq) and might have met Hisdai (or his son, Daniel I); in Ibn Ezra’s Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) commentary, he mentions that the exilarchs possessed a “book of genealogy, going back to antiquity”.
Daniel I (r. 1150–1174 CE) – Son of Hisdai (Hasdai) IV. In 1168, he met the traveler Benjamin of Tudela. Daniel was confirmed as exilarch by Caliph al-Mustanjid of the Abbasid Empire, who received him in audience weekly and treated him as a peer, and who commanded Arabs and Jews to stand in Daniel’s presence. A cavalry contingent preceded his carriage and announced: “Make way for our Lord, the son of David!” (much as the biblical Joseph had been conveyed in the pharaoh’s second-best chariot, as attendants cried out for bystanders to kneel and bow down). Clad in silk attire and wearing a bejeweled white turban bound with a scarf featuring the caliphal seal, Daniel rode on horseback in public. His wealth matched his authority, and he possessed his own marble synagogue. He is known to have sent a letter of ordination to Netanel ben Moses HaLevi, head of the Cairo academy, possibly to impose his authority, at least symbolically, on Egyptian Jewry. He earned the epithet “Exilarch of all Israel”. He died without any sons to succeed him, so two of his nephews competed for the right of succession.
Samuel I of Mosul (r. 1174–1195 CE) – A descendant of Josiah (Hassan), and cousin of David ben Zakkai II (David ben Hodaya of Mosul). He owned fields and vineyards and collected taxes from the Jews of Mosul (Iraq). After the decease of Daniel I, Samuel was appointed exilarch in neighboring Baghdad, while David was appointed exilarch in Mosul. Samuel established an academy in Baghdad, and corresponded with Moses ben Maimon, who highly esteemed him.
David ben Zakkai II (David ben Hodaya of Mosul) (r. 1174–1220? CE) – A descendant of Josiah (Hassan), and cousin of Samuel I of Mosul. He owned fields and vineyards and collected taxes from the Jews of Mosul (Iraq). He used his clout to defend the sage Samuel ben Ali, head of the Pride of Jacob academy of neighboring Baghdad, who was the leading opponent of Moses ben Maimon in Babylonia. After the decease of Daniel I, David was appointed exilarch in Mosul while Samuel was appointed exilarch in Baghdad. In 1216/1217, he was visited in Mosul by the Hebrew poet Judah al-Harizi.
David VI (r. c. 1195–1240 CE) – Son of Samuel I of Mosul. He served in Baghdad (Iraq) and assumed office despite the efforts of Samuel ben Ali, head of the Pride of Jacob academy of Baghdad, to abrogate the exilarchate. The latter also deemed David unlearned, although this assumption was contested by Moses ben Maimon. In an epistle he appointed a father-and-son duo as beadles (gabbaim) in the Ezra the Scribe synagogue in Baghdad.
Daniel II (r. c. 1216–1270 CE) – Son of David ben Zakkai II (David ben Hodaya of Mosul). He served in Mosul (Iraq).
Samuel II (r. c. 1240–1270 CE) – Son of David VI. His wealth was confiscated by Caliph al-Mustasim of the Abbasid Empire to pay for troops to defend against the advancing Mongol armed forces under Hulagu Khan; these soldiers were then quartered in Jewish homes. In 1258, the Mongols conquered Baghdad (Iraq) and slaughtered the Muslims while sparing the Jews.
David ben Daniel II (r. c. 1270–1290 CE) – Son of Daniel II. He served in Mosul (Iraq). In 1288, he threatened to excommunicate Solomon ben Samuel Petit of France, who upon arriving in Akko began denouncing Moses ben Maimon’s works. Some 11 sages signed David’s edict.
Yishai ben Hezekiah (r. c. 1275–1295 CE) – Perhaps a descendant of Josiah (Hassan). He served in Damascus, Syria as exilarch of “all the diasporas of Israel”. Like his contemporary David ben Daniel II, Yishai defended Moses ben Maimon’s works, especially Moreih Nvukhim (Guide for the Perplexed), against the slander of Solomon ben Samuel Petit of France, leader of the kabbalists in Akko. Around 1286, after Solomon disregarded a warning against vilifying Moses ben Maimon, Yishai imposed upon Solomon and his followers a ban of excommunication (heirem) signed by 12 rabbis.
Sar Shalom (r. c. 1341 CE) – Son of Pinhas, and a descendant of Josiah (Hassan). A poem was composed in his honor, lauding him as “a king who ascended the steps of dignity”.

The exilarchate in Babylonia historically exceeded the patriarchate in the Land of Israel (abrogated c. 426 CE by Emperor Theodosius II of Byzantium) by almost a millennium. Despite the impoverished primary sources, it is discernible that the dignity of the exilarch waxed and waned in terms of authority and influence, largely according to the attitude of the imperial rulers and the character of the incumbents. The fact that in its later centuries the exilarchate branched out—to Baghdad (Iraq); Cairo, Egypt; Mosul (Iraq); and Damascus, Syria—evinces that the office was riven by disputants to the extent that it was gradually and steadily attenuated. Documents from the Cairo Genizah indicate that the exilarchate endured in limited fashion possibly until 1401, when it finally became defunct during the reign of the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur (Tamerlane).

The Aramaic prayer “Yikkum Purkan”, formerly recited in Babylonia while blessing the exilarchs and other community leaders, is still recited in most Ashkenazic synagogues.