Al-Mu'tasim
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Abu Ishaq al-Mu'tasim ibn Harun (أبو إسحاق المعتصم بن هارون ʾAbū ʾIsḥāq al-Muʿtaṣim ibn Hārūn, 794 – January 5, 842) was an Abbasid caliph (833 - 842). He succeeded his half-brother al-Ma'mun.
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[edit] Younger Years
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari records that Abu Ishaq led the pilgrimage in A.H. 200 (815-816) and in 201. Al-Tabari mentions that in 202 Abu Ishaq commanded a force sent against some Kharijite rebels. One of the happenings on this campaign was that one day in combat one of the Turkish military clients ghilman there advanced in between a Kharijite lancer and the future caliph. The Turk shouted, "Recognize me!" (In Persian "Ashinas ma-ra.") To express his appreciation, Abu Ishaq on that same day granted this man the name Ashinas and he became known as Abu Ja'far Ashinas. Abu Ishaq defeated these Kharijites.
In A.H. 214 (829-830) Abu Ishaq subdued Egypt and executed some leading rebels. He returned in 215 to join al-Ma'mun in a campaign against the Byzantines. Abu Ishaq commanded forces that captured thirty Byzantine strongholds.
[edit] Caliphate
Al-Tabari records that al-Mu'tasim was hailed caliph on August 9, 833. He promptly ordered the dismantling of al-Ma'mun's military base at Tyana. He sent Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Mu'sab against a Khurramiyyah revolt centred near Hamadhan. Ishaq soundly defeated the rebels. Their survivors fled to the Byzantines.
In A.H. 219 (834-835) Muhammad ibn al-Qasim rebelled in Khurasan. He was defeated and brought to the caliph. He was imprisoned, but escaped and was never heard of again. Ujayf ibn Anbasah defeated the Zutt in Iraq. The next year he brought them before al-Mu'tasim in an impressive naval parade. The Zutt were sent to the Byzantine frontier where they fell fighting Byzantines.
One of the most difficult problems facing this Caliph, as faced his predecessor, was the uprising of Babak Khorramdin. Babak first rebelled in A.H. 201 (816-817) and overcame a number of caliphate forces sent against him. Finally, al-Mu'tasim provided clear instructions to his general al-Afshin Khaydhar ibn Kawus. Following these al-Afshin patiently overcame the rebel, securing a significant victory of this reign. Babak was brought to Samarra in A.H. 223 (837-838). He entered the city spectacularly riding on a splendid elephant. He was executed by his own executioner and his head sent to Khurasan. His brother was executed in Baghdad.
In that same year of Babak's death, the Byzantine emperor Theophilus launched an attack against a number of Abbasid fortresses. Al-Mu'tasim launched a well planned response. Al-Afshin met and defeated Theophilus on July 21, 838. Ankyra fell to the Muslims and from there they advanced on the stronghold of Amorium. A captive escaped and informed the caliph that one section of Amorium's wall was only a frontal facade. By concentrating bombardment here, al-Mu'tasim captured the city.
On his return home, he bacame aware of a serious conspiracy centred on al-Abbas ibn al-Ma'mun. A number of senior military commanders were involved. Al-Abbas was executed, as were, among others, al-Shah ibn Sahl, Amr al-Farghana, Ujayf ibn Anbasah and Akhmad ibn al-Khalil. This situation may help explain the increased reliance of this caliph and his successors upon Turkish commanders.
The ghilman (sing. ghulam) were introduced to the Caliphate during al-Mu'tasim's reign. The ghilman were slave-soldiers taken as children from conquered regions, in anticipation of the Ottoman devshirme system, and made into soldiers. The ghilman, personally responsible only to the Caliph, were to revolt during the reign of al-Radi.
The ghilman, along with the shakiriya which had been introduced in the reign of al-Ma'mun, had irritated the Arab regular soldiers of the Caliph's army. The Turkic and Armenian ghilman agitated the citizens of Baghdad, provoking riots in 836. The capital was moved to the new city of Samarra later that year, where it would remain until 892 when it was returned to Baghdad by al-Mu'tamid.
The Tahirid dynasty, which had come to prominence during al-Ma'mun's reign after the military province of Khurasan was granted to Tahir bin Husain, continued to grow in power. They received the governorships of Samarqand, Farghana, and Herat. Unlike most provinces in the Abbasid Caliphate, which were closely governed by Baghdad and Samarra, the provinces under the control of the Tahirids were exempted from many tributes and oversight functions. The independence of the Tahirids contributed greatly to the decline of Abbasid supremacy in the east.
In A.H. 224 (838-839) Mazyar ibn Qarin who detested the Tahirids rebelled against them. Previously, he had insisted on paying the taxes of his Caspian region directly to al-Mu'tasim's agent instead of to Abdallah ibn Tahir's. Al-Afshin, desiring to replace Abdallah as Khurasan's governor, intrigued with Mazyar. Mazyar imprisoned people from Sariya, demolished Amul's walls and fortified Tamis, causing apprehension in Jurjan.
Abdallah and al-Mu'tasim despatched forces to quell this uprising. Abdallah's commander Hayyan ibn Jabalah convinced Mazyar's Qarin ibn Shahriyar to betray Mazyar. Qarin sent Hayyan Mazyar's brother and other commanders Qarin had taken by surprise. The people of Sariyah rose against Mazyar. Hayyan arrived there and then advanced into the Wandahurmuz mountains where he seized some of Mazyar's stored wealth. Al-Quhyar ibn Qarin betrayed Mazyar. He was brought, along with his correspondence, some implicating al-Afshin, to al-Mu'tasim. Mazyar's commander al-Durri was defeated, captured and executed.
Al-Hasan ibn al-Afshin had a splendid wedding celebration with al-Mu'tasim personally providing for the guests. Al-Afshin's kinsman Minkajur rebelled in Adharbayjan. He was quickly defeated. Al-Afshin fell under suspicion. When Mazyar entered Samarra on a mule, al-Afshin was arrested. Al-Afshin was intently interrogated. Mazyar supplied testimony against him. He faced further charges of diverting wealth from the Babak campaign to al-Afshin's realm of Ushrusanah, of having idolotrous books, etc., of being addressed in Persian by his correspondents as "Lord of Lords," etc. Although al-Afshin tried to explain such things, al-Mu'tasim had him imprisoned in a special prison built for him. Here he was killed in May or June of 841.
The Khurramiyyah were never fully suppressed, although they slowly vanished during the reigns of succeeding Caliphs. Near the end of al-Mu'tasim's life there was an uprising in Palestine. Al-Mu'tasim sent Raja ibn Ayyub al-Hidari to restore order. Al-Hidari defeated the rebels and captured their leader Abu Harb al-Mubarqa.
The great Arab mathematician al-Kindi was employed by al-Mu'tasim, and tutored the Caliph's son. al-Kindi had served at the Bayt al-Hikma, or House of Wisdom. He continued his studies in Greek geometry and algebra under the caliph's patronage.
Ideologically, al-Mu'tasim followed the footstep of his half-brother al-Ma'mun. He continued his predecessors support for heretical (alleged) islamic sect of Mu'tazila, applying his brutal military methods for torturing Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
[edit] Death
Al-Tabari states that al-Mu'tasim fell ill on October 21, 841. His regular doctor had died the previous year and the new physician did not follow the normal treatment, and this was the cause of the caliph's illness. Al-Mu'tasim passed away on January 5, 842 (p. 207). This caliph is described by al-Tabari as having a relatively easy going nature, being kind, agreeable and charitable. He was succeeded by his son, al-Wathiq.
[edit] Al-Mu'tasim in Literature
The name al-Mu'tasim is also used for a fictional character in the story The Approach to al-Mu'tasim by Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges, which appears in his anthology Ficciones. The al-Mu'tasim referenced there is probably not the Abbasid Caliph of the name, though Borges does state regarding the original, non-fictional al-Mu'tasim from whom the name is taken: "The name is the same as that of the eighth Abbasside, who was victor in eight battles, engendered eight male and eight female children, left behind eight thousand slaves and reigned during eight years, eight moons, and eight days."
[edit] Bibliography
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, History v. 32 "The Reunification of the Abbasid Caliphate," SUNY, Albany, 1987; v. 33 "Storm and Stress along the Northern frontiers of the Abbasid Caliphate," transl. C.E. Bosworth, SUNY, Albany, 1991
| Preceded by al-Ma'mun |
Caliph 833–842 |
Succeeded by al-Wathiq |
