In this year, al-Mustaʿīn, along with al-Bughā al-Ṣaghīr and Wāṣif, decided to kill Bāghir al-Turkī. Bāghir al-Turkī was among the great commanders who personally killed al-Mutawakkil. Because he killed al-Mutawakkil, his iqṭāʿ (land grants) were increased and his authority was expanded. Bāghir al-Turkī was killed, the house of his Christian scribe Dalīl b. Yaʿqūb was plundered, and his own goods and crops were confiscated. The caliph al-Mustaʿīn boarded a ship and departed from Sāmarrāʾ to Baghdad. His departure from there caused matters to deteriorate and order to collapse. This event occurred in the month of Muḥarram of this year. The caliph went and stayed at the house of Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir.
In this year, many ugly incidents and fitnas (seditions) occurred between the soldiers of Baghdad and those of Sāmarrāʾ. The people of Sāmarrāʾ were invited to pledge allegiance (bayʿa) to al-Muʿtazz. The people of Baghdad established order under the rule of al-Mustaʿīn. Affairs were set right.
Al-Muʿtazz and his brother al-Muʾayyad released the prisoners from the dungeons. The people of Sāmarrāʾ pledged allegiance to al-Muʿtazz. He then took the 500,000 dinars found in the bayt al-māl (public treasury) of Sāmarrāʾ. He also seized the 1,000,000 dinars from the treasury of al-Mustaʿīn’s mother, and captured 600,000 dinars belonging to ʿAbbās b. al-Mustaʿīn. Al-Muʿtazz’s position in Sāmarrāʾ was greatly strengthened.
Al-Mustaʿīn ordered Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir to fortify Baghdad, to take measures at the two walls and the moat. He spent 330,000 dinars on these works. He stationed a guard at each gate. Five mangonels were erected on the walls, one of which was called “Ghaḍbān,” and it was truly enormous. He also had six arrāda (war machines resembling mangonels) set up. Many weapons were prepared. All the bridges in every direction were destroyed so that enemy soldiers could not enter Baghdad. Al-Muʿtazz wrote a letter to Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir inviting him to join his side, reminding him of the firm promises and guarantees his father al-Mutawakkil had taken from him, and of his own bayʿa as heir apparent after his father. However, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh paid him no heed and rejected his offer, presenting many arguments that would take too long to recount here.
Both al-Mustaʿīn and al-Muʿtazz sent separate letters to Mūsā, the son of al-Bughā al-Kabīr, inviting him to their respective sides. At that time, Mūsā was in the region of Syria, fighting the Khunaysiyya. Both al-Mustaʿīn and al-Muʿtazz honored him with banners reserved for their elite men. Al-Mustaʿīn wrote to him, asking him to leave a deputy in his place and come to Baghdad at once. He immediately mounted his steed and went to Sāmarrāʾ, joining al-Muʿtazz’s camp against al-Mustaʿīn. Similarly, ʿAbd Allāh, the son of al-Bughā al-Ṣaghīr, left his father’s side in Baghdad and went to al-Muʿtazz. Other commanders and Turks followed the same path.
Al-Muʿtazz assigned his brother Abū Aḥmad b. al-Mutawakkil to the task of fighting al-Mustaʿīn, giving him a large military force. He went with 5,000 Turks and others toward Baghdad. On Friday, he performed the prayer at Akbarā and supplicated (dua) for his brother al-Muʿtazz’s success. Then, on the night before Sunday, the 7th of Ṣafar of this year, he reached Baghdad. The soldiers gathered there. One of those in Abū Aḥmad’s army, named Bāzanjāna, composed a poem about the situation:
“O sons of Ṭāhir! These are the soldiers of Allah; Death is widespread among them.
As for the soldiers before them, their leader is Abū Aḥmad. What an excellent protector and what an excellent helper he is!”
Then, long and truly dreadful wars and fitnas (seditions) broke out among them. Ibn Jarīr has described these at length. After this, al-Muʿtazz, together with Mūsā b. Arshinas, sent 3,000 soldiers as reinforcements to his brother Abū Aḥmad. This reinforcement reached Abū Aḥmad on the night before the end of Rabīʿ al-Awwal. They camped near Qatrūbīl on the western side of Baghdad. Abū Aḥmad and his men were stationed near Bāb al-Shammāsiyya. The flames of war continued to burn without abating, and the fighting was truly fierce. Men on both sides were killed.
Ibn Jarīr said: It is related that al-Muʿtazz wrote a letter to his brother Abū Aḥmad, reproaching him for his passivity in the war against the Baghdadis, as follows:
“There is a path over us for the matter of death.
In time, there is sometimes ease for us, sometimes hardship.
Our days are a lesson for the people.
On some of these days, we launch raids in the morning, on others at night.
Some of these days are calamities for us. Because of such calamities, even young children grow old. In these difficult days, friends abandon friends.
A broad wall with a summit—eyes cannot see its top.
An immense sea—again, eyes cannot fully behold it.
A destructive war and a sword ready to kill,
Intense fear and a fortified citadel.
In the morning, a crier shouts at length, ‘To arms, to arms!’ but no one can awaken from sleep.
In the end, one falls to the ground, another is wounded, another burns, another drowns.
One dies, another falls lifeless to the ground, another is scratched by mangonels.
Here there are seizures, here there is plunder;
Here, houses once inhabited become ruined.
When we are driven to a path,
We find that path closed to us.
By Allah, my brother, I swear we will reach the goal I hope for.
By Allah, I swear that through Him we will accomplish tasks beyond our strength.”
Ibn Jarīr said: “There is a narration that this poem was composed by ʿAlī b. Umayya regarding the fitna (sedition) of the deposed Amīn and Maʾmūn.” In Baghdad, the fitna and war between al-Muʿtazz’s brother Abū Aḥmad and al-Mustaʿīn’s deputy Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir continued. Throughout the remaining months of this year, Baghdad was under severe distress and relentless siege. In numerous clashes and ill-omened days, many men on both sides were killed. Sometimes Abū Aḥmad’s side prevailed, capturing some of the city gates; in response, the Ṭāhirids, that is, the soldiers of Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir, would attack and drive them away from the gates. After killing some of their soldiers, they would return to their positions, defending with great sabr (patient endurance).
As their provisions dwindled and caravans entered the city less frequently, the people of Baghdad began to weaken. Their strength diminished steadily.
At this time, a rumor spread among the people that, by the end of this year, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir intended to depose al-Mustaʿīn from the caliphate and pledge allegiance to al-Muʿtazz. But Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir denied ever having such an intention, apologizing to the caliph al-Mustaʿīn and the people. He swore solemn oaths that he had nothing to do with this matter. The people could not be convinced of his innocence. Some rabble gathered around Ibn Ṭāhir’s house, where the caliph was also present. They demanded that the caliph appear before them and said they would ask him whether he was content with Ibn Ṭāhir. The commotion grew loud. Finally, the caliph appeared before them from a window above where the crowd was gathered, wearing the Prophet’s cloak and holding a whip in his hand, and addressed them as follows:
“For the sake of the owner of this cloak I am wearing and this whip I am holding, I swear and ask you to return to your homes and be content with Ibn Ṭāhir, for in my eyes he is innocent!”
Upon this speech of the caliph, the noise subsided. The people returned to their homes. Afterwards, the caliph moved from Ibn Ṭāhir’s house to the house of the servant Rizq. This event occurred at the beginning of the month of Dhū al-Ḥijja. On the day of ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā, the caliph led the festival prayer for the people at Jazīra, opposite Ibn Ṭāhir’s house. That day, the caliph appeared before the people, with guards bearing spears in front of him, wearing the Prophet’s cloak and holding a whip. That day in Baghdad was a sight to behold. The people were truly in great distress. They were besieged, prices had soared, and famine had broken out. The people were under the pressure of both fear and the danger of hunger. We ask Allah, the Exalted, for well-being in this world and the next.
Matters became increasingly dangerous, and the situation intensified. Women and children went hungry, and the men lost their strength. Realizing there was no other solution, Ibn Ṭāhir revealed his intention to depose the caliph al-Mustaʿīn. Although he did not state this intention to him explicitly at first, he began to speak allusively. Afterwards, he openly expressed this intention to his face, arguing as follows:
“It is in the public interest for you to abdicate the caliphate in exchange for a sum of goods and money to be paid to you in advance, and in addition, for you to receive annually as much tribute as you need and desire.”
Finally, these discussions continued at their peak. In the end, al-Mustaʿīn accepted the proposal of Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir. He wrote the decree stating that he had abdicated the caliphate. On the Saturday ten days before the end of Dhū al-Ḥijja, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir went to al-Ruṣāfa. He gathered the judges and jurists, bringing them in groups before al-Mustaʿīn so they could witness that al-Mustaʿīn had deputized Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir. The chamberlains and attendants also entered and bore witness. Then Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṭāhir received the insignia of the caliphate from al-Mustaʿīn. He remained with him until part of the night. In the morning, people began to utter all sorts of seditious and corrupt words. As for Ibn Ṭāhir, he sent the letter written by al-Mustaʿīn, together with a group of emirs, to al-Muʿtazz in Sāmarrāʾ. When this group reached al-Muʿtazz, he honored them, bestowed robes of honor, and gave them valuable gifts.
In the month of Rabīʿ al-Awwal of this year, in the lands of Qazvīn and Zanjān, Ḥusayn b. Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl b. Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Arqat b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (known as Kawkabī) rebelled.
In this year, Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf al-ʿAlawī, the nephew of Mūsā b. ʿUbayd Allāh al-Ḥasanī’s sister, also rebelled. Explanations about these rebels will be given later.
In this year, another Ṭālibid, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. Ḥamza b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, also rebelled in Kūfa. The caliph al-Mustaʿīn dispatched Muzāḥim b. Ḥakān against him. As a result of the battle, the ʿAlawī Ḥusayn, one of the Ṭālibids, was routed and most of his men were killed.
When Muzāḥim entered Kūfa, he burned about 1,000 houses there. He plundered the property of the rebels. He sold some of the slave girls of the rebel Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad; these had been manumitted.
In this year, Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf b. Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ḥasan b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib rebelled in Mecca. The governor of Mecca, Jaʿfar b. Faḍl b. ʿĪsā b. Mūsā, fled outside the city. His house was plundered. The houses of his associates were also looted. A group of soldiers and other Meccans were killed.
Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf took the gold, silver, essences, and coverings from the Kaʿba. After taking 200,000 dinars from the people, he went to al-Madīna al-Nabawiyya. The governor of Medina, ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. Ismāʿīl, fled before him. Later, Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf returned to Mecca in the month of Rajab of this year. He besieged the people so that they perished from hunger and thirst. Three okka of bread were sold for one dirham, a ritl (460 grams) of meat for four dirhams, and a single drink of water for three dirhams. The Meccans suffered many calamities because of him.
After staying in Mecca for fifty-seven days, Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf went to Jeddah. He plundered the goods of the merchants there and seized their mounts. He cut off supplies sent to the Meccans. Then he returned to Mecca.
May Allah not grant him any good reward for the oppression he inflicted upon the Muslims.
When the day of ʿArafa came, people could not perform the standing (wuqūf) at ʿArafa, neither by day nor by night. Ismāʿīl b. Yūsuf killed 1,100 pilgrims and plundered their goods. That year, no one but him and his band of bandits performed the standing at ʿArafa. May Allah not accept any of their obligatory or supererogatory acts of worship. In this year, the authority of the caliphate was truly weakened.
In this year, notable figures such as Isḥāq b. Manṣūr al-Ghunan, Ḥamīd b. Zanjawayh, Arar b. ʿUthmān b. Kathīr b. Dīnār al-Ḥumūsī, and Abū al-Baqāʾ Hishām b. ʿAbd al-Malik al-Yazanī passed away.