Ahmad ibn Tulun

Youth

The founder of the ruling Tulunid dynasty , Ahmed Ibn Tulun, was an Oghuz Turk ^[3] and was a native of the Central Asian Turkic Guards Abbasid , which was originally formed in Baghdad , and then relocated to Samarra , after the transfer of its residence by Caliph al-Mu .

In 815, his father Tulun, along with other fellow slaves, was presented to the Caliph Al-Mamun by the Samanid ruler of Bukhara . ^[4] In 818, Tulun began serving at the court and soon managed to achieve high posts, and began to command the Caliph's guard. Ahmed was born in 835 in Baghdad in the month of Ramadan .

In 850, he moved with his parents to Samarra , where he was educated. ^[3] Tulun managed to curry favor at court and gave his son an unusual education in his position: Ahmed received military training, and also studied theology. ^[1] Tulun died in 854 ^[3] , and his wife married the high-ranking Turkic commander of the palace guard Baikbakla (Baik-Bega) . Ibn Tulun married Khatun, the daughter of another influential Turkic commander of the palace guard, who bore him two children: Abbas and Fatima.

In 855, Ahmed was appointed commander of a special military unit under the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil . Then he was appointed emir to Tarsus ^[3] , where he participated in campaigns against Byzantium . Upon the return of Ahmed to Baghdad in 863, the Caliph al-Mustain rewarded him by giving the concubine Mayyaz, who gave birth to Ibn Tulun, the son of Khumaraveyh , his future heir. Ahmed earned the great confidence of the Caliph al-Mustain, after whose abdication, in 866 he accompanied him into exile in Wasit . Continuing to be with the abjured caliph in the service, Ahmed remained faithful to him, in any case, did not take any part in his killing in 867 ^[1]

Appointment Emir of Egypt

In 868, his stepfather Baikbakl (Baik-Beg) (died in 870) received from Egypt Caliph al-Mutazza as ikt . He declared Ahmed his attorney and sent him that same year to Egypt at the head of a large army. ^[3] On September 15, 868, Ahmed ibn Tulun arrived in Fustat . At that time, in Alexandria and some other places there were special emirs who were not directly subordinate to the governor. The influential head of the tax administration, Ibn al-Mudabbir, met the new ruler with undisguised displeasure, and shortly after the arrival of Ahmed in upper Egypt], an Alid rebellion broke out. But Ibn Tulun suppressed him, as did the next in 869. Then he skillfully eliminated the influence of his civil co-ruler. ^[1] Ibn al-Mudabbir did not like the local population because of its greed and high tax rates (in particular for non-Muslim citizens , who made up more than half of the population of Egypt ). Ibn al-Mudabbir was directly subordinate to the caliph, and not to the ruler of Egypt, thus completely ignoring Ahmed. Ibn Tulun used all his influence to remove the objectionable official, which he succeeded in four years. Thus, Ahmed seized control of the country into his own hands, and in 870, after the death of his stepfather, he was proclaimed emir of Egypt. ^[3] Although, after the Baik-Beg murder, his rights were transferred to Yarjuk al-Turki, the father of Ahmed Khatun’s wife, but he retained the rights of the ruler of Egypt for ibn Tulun, and even expanded his powers in Alexandria and other territories of the region. Ahmed led the company against the rebellious ruler of Syria, Isa ibn-Sheikh al-Sheybani , which allowed him to assemble an army of 100,000 people.

Military Campaigns

After the appointment of the brother of Caliph Al-Mutamid Al-Muwaffak (father of the future Caliph al-Mutadid ) in 872, the viceroy of the West and ruler of Damascus , Ahmed was able to use gifts to ensure that the government of Egypt was left to him. To maintain good relations with the central Abbasid authorities, Ahmed from time to time sent tribute to Baghdad, however, he did this without much zeal. However, when the situation of the Abbasid caliphate became complicated, due to the inept management of the court guard, which resulted in the uprising of the Zinjs who seized control of Basra in southern Iraq , and Saffar in the eastern part of the state, Ibn Tulun decided in 874 to stop any payments to Baghdad. ^[one]

In 877, the caliphate troops were sent against Ahmed on the pretext of not paying them tribute. ^[3] However, the government had to abandon the plan of the invasion of Egypt, due to lack of funds to pay salaries to the army, already in Mesopotamia . ^[1] An attempt by the armed forces led by Musa ibn-Bug al-Kabir to regain control of Egypt | Egypt failed, and his army was dispersed by the great forces of ibn Tulun. Thus, Ahmed retained his power, and in the next 878, taking advantage of the death of Amanjur ^[1] , the governor of Palestine , Jordan and Syria , he moved his army to these provinces, took possession of Jerusalem , Damascus, Homs , Hama and Aleppo . ^[3] Moreover, almost the entire country, except for Antioch , taken by force, surrendered to him without a fight. The heads of individual districts did not show any resistance, since they were not led by a sense of fidelity to the government, they were not encouraged by the hope of getting any help and support from Baghdad. ^[1] Then Ahmed invaded Asia Minor and began a war with Byzantium.

However, Ibn Tulun soon had to hurry back to Egypt, where his son Abbas tried to seize power and rebelled against his father. With part of the army that went over to his side, and the sum of a million dinars, he retired to Barca , away from his angry father. Ahmed immediately returned to Fustat and undertook the broadest possible preparations for taming the obstinate son, who decided to retire even further. To avoid a possible meeting with his father, he moved directly to the borders of the lands of Aglabid Ibrahim II and, with his disciplined army, began to rob the eastern district of Tripolis . Neighboring Berbers offered Ibrahim their help. In 880, Abbas was defeated and thrown back to Barka. Here he was able to hold out for some more time, until in 882 the army sent by Ahmed destroyed his detachment and captured him. ^[one]

During the time that Ahmed spent to suppress the rebellion of his son, all the conquered provinces fell away from him. In 881/882, Lulu , appointed by him as the governor of Mesopotamia , switched to the side of Al-Muwaffak. In 882, having finished his affairs in Egypt, Ahmed made a new campaign to Syria and again subjugated it to his power. ^[3] However, the plan, subtly conceived by Ahmed, promising protection, attract Caliph Al-Mutamid to Syria , who was not happy with his brother’s guardianship, so that, controlling him, he would play the role of the guardian of the lawful head from the machinations of an inhuman relative, and not succeed despite his full readiness caliph. Al-Mutamid was intercepted on the way to Syria. An attempt to capture Mecca in 883 ended in failure due to the unexpected resistance of the huge number of pilgrims gathered there. Ahmed then declared Al-Muwaffak deprived of his dignity as a rebel against the "governor of the prophet." In response, Al-Muwaffak forced the caliph to officially remove Ahmed from the post of governor of Egypt]. Both leaders cursed each other during Friday prayers. In the meantime, the emir suffered a rather sensitive defeat during the unsuccessful siege of Tars , where one of his military commanders, Yazman al-Hadim , took pride in his recent victory over the Byzantines. ^[1] Nevertheless, Ahmed again subjugated almost the whole of Syria. ^[3] But already under Tarsus, he felt the first signs of an impending disease. The pain intensified due to non-compliance with the diet. After returning to Fustat and appointing his son Humaraweikh as the heir ^[5] , Ahmed ibn Tulun died on May 10, 884 at the age of 50 from gut twisting. ^{[1] [3]} According to another version, he died in Antioch. ^[2]

Performance Summary

As a result of the conquests of Ahmed ibn Tulun, an extensive power arose, which he ruled, relying on a large professional army made up of slaves, among which were dominated by Turks , Berbers , Greeks and Black Nubians . ^{[3] [6]} His reign, which lasted more than 10 years, allowed Ahmed to leave behind a well-trained military, stable economy and experienced officials to oversee government affairs. Collecting extensive taxes from a rich province, he invested part of the funds in the development of agriculture and trade; He began to mint coins, on which he put his name next to the name of the caliph. ^[6] Thanks to full autonomy, due to which Baghdad ceased to levy taxes, it was possible to develop irrigation and build a strong fleet, which significantly stimulated the development of the local economy and trade. ^[7] Ahmed paid much attention to strengthening and decorating his capital, Fustat. Ibn Tulun Mosque , which lies in the middle of the Qatai quarter, erected by him in 877-879 and entered the line of the current city of Cairo , testifies to the general useful activity of the emir. Katai itself was laid in the style of the great cities of Persia and Byzantium. A large city square, a hippodrome, the palace of the ruler were built in it. Intensive Egypt under Ahmed began intensive construction, digging canals and repairing nilomers . ^[3]

Under Ahmad ibn Tulun in 873, the first large state hospital was built. It had a male and female bathhouse, and it was intended exclusively for the poor. Upon admission to the hospital, clothes and money were deposited with the manager, and upon discharge from the hospital, the patient received one chicken and one bread as the last ration. Ibn Tulun released 60 thousand dinars for the needs of this hospital and visited him every Friday. The hospital also included a department for the insane.

• Ryzhov K.V. Tulunida // All the monarchs of the world. Muslim East. VII – XV centuries - M .: Veche, 2004 .
• August Muller . Chapter II AUTHORITIES AND EMIR AL-UMARA. Book Five. ABBASIDES AND FATIMIDS // History of Islam.
• Stanley Lang-Poole . Muslim dynasties. Chronological and genealogical tables with historical introductions .. - Oriental literature. - M .: Ant, 2004.

• Runivers. Map of the state of Tulunids (Russian) . Archived May 15, 2012.
• Runivers. Tulunids (Russian) . Archived May 15, 2012.
• August Muller. Book Five. ABBASIDES AND FATIMIDES. Chapter II. VICTORIES AND EMIR AL-UMARA (Russian) . History of Islam . Archived May 15, 2012.
• Ryzhov K.V. Tulunida // All the monarchs of the world. Muslim East. VII – XV centuries - M .: Veche, 2004 .
• Around the world. Muslims (Russian) . Archived May 15, 2012.