Amazon.com description: Product Description: David Alroy (fl. 1160) was a Jewish pseudo-Messiah born in Amadiya, Iraq under the name ”Menahem b. Sulayman” and was also known as Ibn ar-Ruhi. David Alroy studied Torah and Talmud under Hisdai the Exilarch, and Ali, the head of the Academy in Baghdad. He was also well-versed in Muslim literature and known as a worker of magic. The caliphate in the days of Alroy was in a chaotic state. The Crusades had caused a general condition of unrest and a weakening of the authority of the sultans of Asia Minor and Persia. Defiant chieftains set up small independent states and a heavy poll taxes were levied on all males above the age of fifteen British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli wrote the 1833 novel Alroy based on David Alroy and his revolt.