Episode 87: Al Radi the irrelevant

We’ve reached the end of the road as far as Abbasid authority is concerned. Although it had waxed and waned before, there would be no recovering from the lows it had fell to this time. The caliph had no independent authority, helpful counselors, loyal generals, powerful armies, not even any money; all he had was the inherited legitimacy of his lineage. He largely served as a symbolic head of state while the more powerful men around him jockeyed for wealth and control. In many ways, this caliph will be the very last one.

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Glossary

• Al Radi: this son of the prodigal al Muqtadir was installed by the mix of guards and soldiers that had deposed his uncle. They released him from his captivity in the royal palace only to subjugate him in other ways. He had no power base upon which to rely so he had no way of imposing his authority on anyone. He held court, led Friday prayers, and officiated appointments, but had no influence on administration outside of his ceremonial duties.
• Al Qaher: the deposed caliph was blinded and thrown into a cell. He made matters worse for himself by refusing to cooperate with his nephew. Some sources say he was blinded after wasting everyone’s time with a wild goose chase about some buried treasure. In any case, he stayed locked up in the royal palace for the next several years.
• Mardawij bin Ziyar: this noble hailed from the southeastern shores of the Caspian. He succeeded in founding a dynasty that ruled an area centered around his homeland and was considered a real military threat by neighboring regimes. News of his death at the outset of al Radi’s reign was received in Baghdad was relief.
• Bajkam and Tuzun: these two were captains of a band of Turkish mercenaries who worked for Mardawij. It seems that he had insulted them in some manner because Bajkam murdered his employer and immediately led his band towards Abbasid lands. This group will play a fateful part in the unravelling of the caliphate.
• Mohammad ibn Yaqut: with the rise of al Radi, this failed general had finally achieved his dream of replacing Mu’nis as the most powerful military leader in the land. His first and only campaign was a disaster he somehow survived, but the troops turned on him when it quickly became clear to them how useless he was to their interests. His dispossession opened the door for the wazir to claim power over the entire administration.
• Ali ibn Muqla: in the same way al Radi was kind of the last caliph, ibn Muqla is kind of the last wazir. He had played an important role in court politics since Shaghab’s days and his career had risen and crashed multiple times before. His last time in charge was the hardest: he had no military leaders to depend upon so he tried playing general himself. It didn’t go well, and when he could no longer pay the troops they turned on him. He met an ugly end in prison, totally unfit for a man of his stature, but fit for the times.
• Hasan ibn Hamdan: this tribal chief became the latest leader of the Hamdanids of Mesopotamia at a very delicate time. Ibn Muqla tried to use the fight between Hasan and his uncle to take control of Mosul, but he couldn’t hold onto it. Hasan emerged as the ruler of the north, where he could rely on a formidable coalition of local Kurds and Arabs. 
• Al Baridi: this rich, landowning family had de facto control of Basra. The southernmost city of Iraq had been ravaged by the nearby Qaramita, who had by now destroyed the city multiple times. This gave a rich family like the Baridis enormous power in the relative squalor of the south. They engaged in lucrative tax farming contracts with the state during al Muqtadir’s heyday, and held onto their wealth by paying the treasury as little as possible through bribing officials instead. Now that the Abbasids were broke, a family like this stood a real chance of displacing them in a meaningful way.
• Mohammad ibn Ra’iq: this second-rate commander somehow managed to worm his way to the very top of official power. He’d served with Mu’nis’ armies, betrayed him and joined ibn Yaqut, lost to Mu’nis and went into exile, then returned to take control of some lands near Basra. His appointment by al Qaher gave him the opportunity to get close to the Baridis and they in turn helped fund his aspirations. He hired Bajkam’s mercenaries and took control of Wasit, then moved into Baghdad just as the state’s authority finally collapsed.