The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall/Chapter 68

by William Muir

CHAPTER LXVIII

AL-MUTAWAKKIL

232–247 A.H. 847–861 A.D.

Muttawakkil,
232 A.H.
847 A.D."With Motassem," writes Gibbon, "the eighth of the ʿAbbāsids, the glory of his family and nation expired." The glory of the Nation—the Arabian—had already paled before the rise of their Turkish rivals; the glory of the Family was fast setting under the outrage and violence of these same barbarians, whom they had summoned from the East to "the City of Peace." The Royal house were apt scholars, as well as abject slaves. In the Turkish school of tyranny and extortion, perfidy, and bloodshed, they quickly became their masters' equals. And so the Caliphate hurried on to its decline and fall, with only here and there an impotent struggle to arrest the downward course.

His cruelty and rapacity.On the death of Al-Wāthiḳ, the courtiers would have done homage to his son, but being yet a boy, the royal turban, robes, and sceptre were all too great for his small frame; and so they chose instead, Al-Mutawakkil, Al-Wāthiḳ's brother.^[1] The new Caliph was not long in showing his cruel and vindictive nature. A couple of months had hardly passed before the Wazīr, who under Al-Wāthiḳ's reign had treated him with contumely, was cast into prison, and his property throughout the Empire confiscated. For months the unfortunate man was subjected to the refined torture of being unceasingly kept awake while he would have slept. At last he was left alone and slept a day and night. Thus strengthened for the trial, he was put into a barbarous press: (instrument of torture invented by himself) so narrow that the sufferer was with difficulty forced within it, and lined with spikes which made shift impossible. Thus in agony he lay for days, and died. This as a specimen must suffice. Various other officers of state were victims of the cruel rapacity of the Caliph; and specially the Commander-in-chief, who too had been wanting in respect, and would have shared like fate with the Wazīr, had he not purchased pardon by the fine of eleven million pieces.

Fall of Ītākh,
234 A.H.Another dark picture casts a lurid light upon the Court and Caliph's life. Ītākh, a general of renown in the Amorian war, and in the campaign against Bābek, a favourite also of the preceding Caliph, was now commandant of the bodyguard, and boon companion of Al-Mutawakkil. In a brawl over their cups one night, Ītākh, steeped in wine, so far forgot himself as to fall upon the Caliph and threaten his life. Next morning, coming to himself, he begged that the affair might be forgotten, and it was apparently forgiven. Advised to proceed to Mecca, he was placed over the pilgrim escort with a robe of honour, and given command of all the towns through which the pilgrims were to pass.His treacherous death,
235 A.H. It was but an artifice to put him off his guard. As he returned through Bagdad, the Governor went forth to meet him with a royal robe and gifts, and, on pretence of presenting him to a Hāshimi assembly, closed the door upon his escort as he entered. "Had it been elsewhere than Bagdad," cried the victim, "he had not dared thus"; for Bagdad hated the Turks, and Ītākh's friends were all at Sāmarrā, the Caliph's court. Cast into prison, he lingered for some months, weighted with heavy chains, and at last, being denied water to drink, died of thirst. His secretary and sons were also kept in durance till the Caliph's death. Al-Mutawakkil's reign was marked by the return to orthodoxy. The heresies of Al-Maʾmūn were abjured; and the Moʿtazili professors had now their turn to suffer persecution. The eternity of the Ḳorʾān was reasserted (234 A.H.), and even to discuss the question of its creation proscribed throughout the Empire. The body of Aḥmed ibn Naṣr, the confessor, was brought back with due solemnity to Bagdad and there, the head rejoined, prepared for burial; while innumerable crowds pressed round, if they might but touch the saintly relics.Mutawakkil returning to orthodoxy persecutes Freethinkers,
237 A.H.
851 A.D. Among others who suffered for the now discarded faith, was the noble and learned Ibn abi Dūwūd, who had held the office of chief Ḳāḍi under the three preceding reigns. He was deposed and with his family cast into confinement, and their wealth and lands confiscated. One of the sons purchased freedom for the incredible sum of sixteen million golden pieces: but the father died a few years after, still a prisoner.

And ʿAlids.Even more violent was the reaction against the descendants of ʿAlī, on whom such favour had of late been lavished. Al-Mutawakkil hated them, and their teaching also. In company with his boon companions he treated the memory of ʿAlī the Prophet's son-in-law with indecent contumely. A bare-headed buffoon, with a pillow stuffed in front, dared dance before the Caliph, while they sang around, Behold the pot-bellied bald one, the Caliph of Islām.^[2] And Al-Mutawakkil, enjoying the scene, joined in laughter ith the rest. Such ribald and profane contempt of that which was most dear and sacred to the Muslim heart, alienated his followers at large and met with reproaches from his own son.^[3] So far indeed did Al-Mutawakkil carry his hostility that he had the tomb of ʿAlī's son Al-Ḥosein razed to the ground, ploughed over and sown with corn; and he even threatened with imprisonment any pilgrims who ventured to visit the shrine of Kerbalā. On the other hand, he honoured the first three Caliphs and even the Umeiyad dynasty, and we read of one beaten to death for speaking opprobriously of Abu Bekr, ʿOmar, and ʿĀisha. He was thus a thorough Syrian, and loved the Arab race.

With the return to orthodoxy, the sumptuary laws against Jews and Christians, long fallen into desuetude under the tolerant reigns preceding, were now reimposed with the utmost stringency, and with new marks of degradation.Severe enactments against Jews and Christians,
235–239 A.H. Coloured stripes must be sewn upon their garments and those of their slaves, with restrictions as to flowing girdles; their women to wear yellow veils abroad; riding confined to mules and asses, with wooden stirrups and knobs upon their saddles; the figure of Satan must be on the door-posts of their houses, on which moreover was imposed a special tax; tombs must be level with the ground; they were debarred from offices of State; their children forbidden to be taught in Muslim schools or by Muslim masters; churches recently built to be demolished; and no Cross paraded at their festivals, or erected in any street. To such extent did intolerance march hand in hand with orthodoxy.^[4]

Division of empire,
235 A.H.Early in his reign Al-Mutawakkil divided the provinces among his sons, giving the Western to Al-Muntaṣir the eldest, and the Eastern to Al-Moʿtazz. But gradually the latter became his favourite. He was placed in possession of the mint and treasuries; and his name was stamped upon the coinage, indicating him thus as successor to the throne.

Rise of Ṣaffārids.With such a ruler, and so demoralised a Court, we need not wonder that the bonds of order were everywhere relaxed. Abroad, as at home, rebellion more or less prevailed. In Sijistān the Ṣaffārid adventurers began to supplant the Ṭāhirid family. Azerbījān rebelled, and was with difficulty reduced. Lower Egypt was attacked by a Byzantine fleet which for some time held Alexandria,Outbreak in Upper Egypt,
241 A.H. and Upper Egypt by pagan tribes, which withheld the tribute due from the gold mines, and spread terror over the land. To check these ravages, troops were sent to the southern districts, which (as in our own day) were supplied with provisions by sea from the Suakin coast. The insurrection was quelled, but not without much bloodshed. The leader, ʿAlī Bābā, admitted to terms, was carried to Sāmarrā, where he was received with special honour by the Caliph, and put in charge of the pilgrim road between Egypt and Mecca. His tribe still held to their fetish faith, and ʿAlī Bābā shocked the men of Sāmarrā by carrying with him an idol of stone, the object of his daily worship. It is strange to see the heathen thus tolerated and honoured with an important trust, while Christian captives, refusing Islām, were put to death.

Boghā's success in Armenia,
237–238 A.H. In Armenia, which in the war with Bābek had been on friendly terms with the Muslim court, the overbearing conduct of a Muslim general, who treacherously sent some of their patricians to Sāmarrā, led to a serious outbreak, in which the hated officer was slain and his troops cut to pieces or scattered in the hills to perish in the cold. A heavy campaign under Boghā "the elder" took a signal revenge: 30,000 were slain, and great numbers sold into slavery. Boghā then advanced to Tiflis, where a prince of the Umeiyad line had established himself as independent ruler. The city, built of wood, was destroyed by streams of naphtha, and 50,000 perished in the flames. He then advanced to the shores of the Caspian and the Black Sea. Certain Armenian princes were sent from thence to the Caliph's court, who, refusing to accept Islām, fell martyrs to their faith.^[5]

Asia Minor,
241 A.H.On the side of Asia Minor, the border was the scene of raids first by the Muslim troops and then by their enemies. The Greeks carried off so many prisoners, that thousands are said to have been put to death by the Empress Theodora, and only those spared who embraced the Christian faith. Some 900 men and women alone were left for ransom.^[6] In the next few years, the Greeks again advanced towards Syria and laid siege to Sumeisāṭ; and then the Muslims, aided by the Paulician enemies of the Emperor, made reprisals, carried off immense booty in herds and flocks, and took the town of Luʾluʾa. It was restored in return for a thousand captives, but beyond this, and large moneys paid in ransom, no permanent gain accrued on either side. At home, the northern tracts of Syria were in a disturbed condition.Rebellion at Ḥimṣ,
240–241 A.H. Ḥimṣ expelled its governor, and continued in rebellion for a length of time. Troops from Damascus and Ramleh at last restored order, and many captives were sent to Sāmarrā. But it was the Christians that here as elsewhere suffered most. Having made common cause with the rebels, they were expelled the city, their churches demolished, and one that adjoined the Great Mosque taken within its bounds.

Caliph tries Damascus for his court,
244 A.H.After holding his court for twelve years at Sāmarrā, the Caliph transferred it to Damascus. His predilections were always with the West; and at the capital of the Umeiyads, while regaining the friendship of the Syrians, he would be free from the tyranny of the Turkish soldiery. But after a residence of two months, he found the climate too severe, and returned to Sāmarrā.^[7]Founds Jaʿfarīya. In that neighbourhood he spent his later years, and lavished untold sums in founding a new residence called after himself Al-Jaʿfarīya, on the river bank. There he built the Pearl, a beautiful palace, and the Hall of Delight, surrounded with parks and streams and gardens, and crowded with every means of enjoyment, music, song, and gay divertisement. Vast treasures thrown away, for on his death the fairy scene soon became a deserted ruin.

Capricious cruelties.To supply the means for such extravagance, recourse was had to all kinds of extortion. The offices of State were given to such as bid the highest for them. The case of Najāḥ ibn Selama, chief of the exchequer, is a sample of what prevailed. He made a demand on two officers for arrears of revenue at four million pieces. ʿObeidallah the Turk whose help, as Al-Mutawakkil's Wazīr, the debtors sought, bade them give him a note acknowledging two millions. At the same time he persuaded Najāḥ to tell the Caliph that he had made the demand in error when under the influence of wine, and now withdrew it altogether. Thereafter the Wazīr went to his Master, and showed the note of hand admitting half the claim. Delighted to get even so much, the Caliph was equally enraged at the apparent deceit and malversation of Najāḥ, who was accordingly made over to the two debtors to punish as they willed. These subjected him to torture under which he expired, and confiscated the entire property of the family, which just equalled the debt they had to pay.^[8] Intemperate hatred of the house of ʿAlī was kept up to the end. The famous grammarian Ibn as-Sikkīt, tutor in the house of Ṭāhir, and employed in the same capacity by Al-Mutawakkil himself, happening to enter while the young Princes were present, the Caliph asked him, "Which dost thou prefer, Ibn as-Sikkīt?—these my two sons, or Al-Ḥasan and Al-Ḥosein?" Making no pretence of preferring the former, Al-Mutawakkil bade his Turkish guard trample on his body, and he was carried out dying to his home.

Assassinated by his son,
x. 247 A.H.
Dec., 861 A.D.The Caliph, gradually estranged from his eldest son Al-Muntaṣir, had already, as we have seen, conferred on Al-Moʿtazz, the second son, marks of superior favour. His preference became year by year more marked, and Al-Muntaṣir was not only subjected to indignities whenever he appeared at Court, but Al-Mutawakkil, when unable to preside at the public prayer, sent the brother in pomp to take his place. Things became worse and worse: and one night after a carousal, the Caliph, overpowered with wine, abused Al-Muntaṣir so grossly that he could bear it no longer, and resolved on putting an end to his father's life. This could the more easily be done, as Al-Mutawakkil had alienated Waṣīf and other Turkish leaders, confiscated their estates, and made them over to new favourites of his own. So during the night, when he had well drunk and gone to sleep, and the gates had been closed by the guards already gained over by Al-Muntaṣir, Boghā "the less," surnamed "the Winebibber," Mūsa (acting for his father Boghā the elder, who was in command at Sumeisāṭ), and other conspirators of barbarous name, rushed in upon the senseless Monarch and despatched him with their swords. By his side, a favourite Turk who never left him was also slain. The report was spread that Al-Mutawakkil had been assassinated by this favourite, whom for the crime they had put to death,—a tale which of course found little credence anywhere.

Orthodox but cruel, bigoted, and dissipated.Praise given by the annalists to this reign of fifteen years for the Caliph's return to orthodoxy and generous patronage of poets and men of learning, makes but sorry amends for a life of cruel tyranny, bigotry, and self-indulgence.

1. The ʿAbbāsid Caliphs are no longer known by their proper names, but by their royal title signifying some attribute of faith or trust in the Almighty; as here, Al-Mutawakkil, or "He that putteth his trust (in the Lord)." And so with all the future names.
2. See above, p. 304.
3. The profane buffoonery must have produced profound sensation; for the annalist adds, "This was one of the causes which justified Al-Muntaṣir in taking his father's life." But that no doubt is an afterthought.
4. A Christian apothecary who embraced Islām, but after several years returned to his ancestral faith, refusing to recant was put to death, and burned (242 A.H.). This, however, would be held by Muslims to be in accordance with their law.
5. This, told by the Byzantine writers, is not mentioned by our annalist; see Weil, ii. 362.
6. The number put to death by the empress is given at 12,000. Bar Hebraeus speaks of 20,000 prisoners, of whom 8000 were given up, and 12,000 put to death. We must hope that in such statements there is vast exaggeration.
7. He went, we are told, in the months of Ṣafar and Rabīʿ I, i.e., May to July, and began to build offices for the various departments of State, but was driven away by the boisterous weather, cold, and snow;—a strange experience there for the middle of summer.
8. The torture applied to Najḥ is too gross to be repeated.—Ibn Khallikān, iii, 61.