Episode 72: Al Muhtadi and the settling of the dust

Dilapidated by years of internal conflict and ruinous mismanagement, the caliphate was a mere shadow of its former self. The void left by its collapse had led to the rise of adversaries which now surrounded the capital province and threatened the state’s very existence. Not only was the treasury empty, but the state’s armies were divided and their leaders still quarreled over scraps. These were the unfortunate conditions of al Muhtadi’s reign, and the powerless caliph could do little to reform the situation.  

Glossary

• Al Mu’tazz: the caliph was tortured to death in his early twenties because he could not afford to pay his troops. In succeeding a puppet and inheriting a bankrupt state he’d been dealt a bad hand, but he managed to eke out some authority for his office during his three year reign. His modest success was ended by the Turkish general Salih, who brutally imposed his own control over the rest of the administration.
• Salih ibn Waseef: son of Waseef and son-in-law to little Bugha, Salih commanded the biggest faction of Turkish troops. He wielded his power brashly in an unforgiving time, and quickly paid the price.
• Al Muhtadi: the Abbasid chosen to succeed al Mu’tazz was the son of al Watheq, who was a little over a decade older than the caliph he replaced. He let Salih take the reins administratively, and instead focused on projecting a pious air. He brought back courts of grievance, where usually poor or wronged people could come to plead their case before the caliph himself. This was an old Arab custom where tribal chiefs would play the role of judge, and its adoption endeared al Muhtadi to the people a little.
• Musa ibn Bugha: the son of big Bugha was another major figure in the Turkish leadership. He had fewer supporters than Salih, but his men were all hardened veterans, used to taking their orders from him in battle. He was out on campaign around Tabaristan when al Muhtadi came to power, and came back to the capital against the caliph’s orders to confront Salih about his actions. Musa had a brother named Mohammad who had remained in Samarra, and they joined up after his arrival.
• Muflih: another Turkish leader, he was a junior partner of his brother Baykabak, who was both a Turkish general and commander of the caliph’s personal guard. Muflih had considerable experience as a commander, and he was out on campaign with Musa and returned with him to Samarra in late 869. Baykabak was eventually killed by al Muhtadi, and al Muflih remained a senior member of the Turkish leadership, with a close working relationship with Musa ibn Bugha.
• Al Musawir: the leader of the kharijite rebellion in Mesopotamia, he was a local nobleman in a town by Mosul who came out against the Abbasids after his son was arrested. I’m not sure if I should use the word nobleman or tribal lord, as both are applied to him in various sources. A host of other local movements coalesced around his movement, like the region’s fiercely independent tribes, and the Kurdish communities living in the foothills and mountains. Al Musawir did not command the loyalty of these forces, but for now he was the face of the enemy as far as the caliphate was concerned. Musa routed him in battle repeatedly, but al Musawir escaped capture and continued to lead the rebellion until his death in 877.