al-MU`TAZZ BI'LLAH

`Abbasid caliph, reigned 252-255/866-869. The son of the caliph al-Mutawakkil.

The reign of al-Musta`in (al-Mu`tazz's predecessor and cousin) ended with violence instigated by the Turkish guards in Samarra. After al-Musta`in's abdication at Baghdad in 252/866, al-Mu`tazz was brought out of the prison his cousin had placed him in and was hailed caliph. The violence of al-Musta`in's fall was not over as al-Mu`tazz had al-Musta`in killed at Samarra soon after. He also forced his brother, Ibrahim al-Mu`ayyad, to renounce his succession rights before having him killed as well. His vizier and former secretary, Ahmad b. Isra'il, helped al-Mu`tazz reduce the influence of the Turkish general Wasif and Bugha al-Saghir. In the end, Wasif was killed by rebellious Turkish troops demanding pay in 253/867 and Bugha al-Saghir was killed by al-Mu`tazz's order in 254/868. Likewise, the chief of the barid, Musa b. Bugha al-Kabir, was sent off to Hamadan in 253/867.

In 255/869, Salih b. Wasif and Baykbak led a revival of Turkish influence at the `Abbasid court. At the same time, the Tahirid governors and commanders of the guard in Baghdad declined under the poor leadership of Sulayman b. `Abd Allah. Salih was able to remove the vizier Ahmad b. Isra'il. As the Turkish troops' demands for pay grew louder, al-Mu`tazz was deposed in 255/869 by a coalition of Turks, Farghanans, and Maghariba. He died of ill treatment three days after being deposed at the age of 24. The Turks installed al-Wathik's son, Muhammad al-Muhtadi, as the new caliph.

al-Mu`tazz's seeming lack of control over events in Baghdad and Samarra allowed for increased autonomy and revolt in the provinces. It is during his reign that Ahmad ibn Tulun first begins to act autonomously in Egypt, Khariji revolts broke out in al-Jazira and Mawsil, the Zanj revolt began in Basra, `Alid outbreak occurred in al-Hijaz around the Hasanid Isma'il b. Yusuf and in Tabaristan around the Zaydi al-Hasan b. Zayd b. Muhammad, and the advance of the Saffarid Ya`qub b. al-Layth into southern Persia (though not all the way into Iraq as he will do later).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bosworth, C.E. "al-Mu`tazz bi Allah". EI2.

TIMELINE

252 - al-Mu`tazz comes to power after the abdication of his cousin al-Musta`in. He later ordered al-Musta`in's assassination.

253 - Wasif killed by rebellious Turkish troops. Musa b. Bugha al-Kabir, chief of the barid system, is sent off to Hamadan.

254 - Bugha al-Saghir killed under al-Mu`tazz's orders.

255 - Turkish influence at court is reasserted with the rise of Salih b. Wasif and Baykbak.

- Rajab - al-Mu`tazz deposed amidst unrest amongst the Turkish soldiers over pay.

- Sha`ban - al-Mu`tazz dies of ill treatment in custody three days after being deposed at the age of 24.