The waning of empire, 861–945

doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521838238.010

8 - The waning of empire, 861–945

from PART II - UNIVERSALISM AND IMPERIALISM

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2011

Michael Bonner

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Chase F. Robinson

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Chase F. Robinson: Affiliation:
The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

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The assassination of al-Mutawakkil

On a winter night in Sāmarrāʿ in 247/861, the caliph Jaʿfar al-Mutawakkil held a carousing session with some companions and courtiers. The caliph had a fondness for wine, as well as for the foolery of clowns and other entertainments, and we are told that on this occasion, after openly insulting his son and heir apparent, al-Muntaṣir, he proceeded to drink himself into a stupor. By this time al-Muntaṣir had already made his way out of the door, but the courtiers and servants who remained in the caliph’s presence were reluctant to leave. However, the Turkish commander Bughā the Younger ordered most of them to go since, he said, the caliph’s womenfolk were within hearing distance. Soon afterwards al-Mutawakkil was awakened, as a band of armed men took up positions before him. He asked who these were, and Bughā replied that they were merely the night guard. But now the band, led by Bughā himself, rushed with drawn swords against the caliph and his confidant, al-Fatḥ ibn Khāqān. Al-Fatḥ threw himself over the caliph in a desperate attempt to defend him and then, after receiving a fatal wound, cried out ‘Death!’ (al-mawt). The others dispersed as the assassins hacked the caliph into pieces. The bayʿa, or oath of accession, was offered that same night to al-Muntaṣir, who accepted immediately.

Keywords

Buyids Abbasid restoration Abbasid power Abbasid caliphate Jaqfar al-Mutawakkil's assassination opposition movements Samarra ninth-century Ismailism civil war Islamic empire

Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge History of Islam , pp. 305 - 359

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521838238.010 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2010

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