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Al-Mu'tasim
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{{Short description|8th Abbasid caliph (r. 833–842)}} {{distinguish|text=[[al-Musta'sim]], the last Abbasid caliph in Baghdad (r. 1242–1258)}} {{lowercase title}} {{featured article}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox royalty | type = caliph | name = al-Mu'tasim<br><small>المعتصم</small> | title = [[List of Caliphs|Caliph]] <br>[[Amir al-Mu'minin|Commander of the Faithful]] | image = Abbasid Dinar - Al-Mu'tasim-225h.jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = [[Gold dinar]] of al-Mu'tasim, minted in [[Baghdad]] in 839 | succession = 8th [[Caliph]] of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] | reign = 9 August 833 – 5 January 842 | predecessor1 = [[al-Ma'mun]] | successor1 = [[al-Wathiq]] | issue = {{plainlist| * [[al-Wathiq|Harun al-Wathiq]] * [[al-Mutawakkil|Ja'far al-Mutawakkil]] * [[Muhammad ibn al-Mu'tasim|Muhammad]] * Ahmad * Al-Abbas * Aisha}} | spouse = Badhal<br/>[[Qaratis]]<br/>[[Shuja al-Khwarazmi|Shuja]]<br/>Qurut al-Ayn | spouse-type = Consorts | full name = Abu Ishaq 'Muhammad ibn Harun al-Rashid al-Mu'tasim bi'llah | house = [[Abbasid dynasty|Abbasid]] | house-type = Dynasty | father = [[Harun al-Rashid]] | mother = [[Marida bint Shabib]] | birth_date = October 796 | birth_place = [[Khuld Palace]], [[Baghdad]], Abbasid Caliphate | death_date = 5 January 842 (aged 45) | death_place = Jawsaq Palace, [[Abbasid Samarra|Samarra]], Abbasid Caliphate | place of burial = Jawsaq Palace, Samarra | religion = [[Mu'tazila|Mu'tazili]] [[Islam]] }} '''Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd''' ({{langx|ar|أبو إسحاق محمد بن هارون الرشيد}}; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his [[laqab|regnal name]] '''al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh''' ({{lang|ar|المعتصم بالله}}, {{lit.|He who seeks refuge in God}}), was the eighth [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid caliph]], ruling from 833 until his death in 842. When [[al-Ma'mun]] died unexpectedly on campaign in August 833, al-Mu'tasim was thus well placed to succeed him, with the support of the powerful chief {{transliteration|ar|[[qadi|qādī]]}}, [[Ahmad ibn Abi Duwad]], he continued to implement the rationalist Islamic doctrine of [[Mu'tazilism]] and implementing {{transliteration|ar|[[mihna|miḥna]]}} policy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=El-Hibri |first=Tayeb |date=2011-12-01 |title=Ṭabar's Biography of al-Mu῾taṣim. The literary Use of a Military Career |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ISLAM.2011.020/pdf?srsltid=AfmBOormjjx-7AaIN5B_R7SMfJiS-fdZ78UVhT2cwUs_9KgbdrVLwe62 |journal=De Gruyter |language=de |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=187–236 |doi= |issn=1613-0928}}</ref> A younger son of Caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] (r. 786–809), he rose to prominence through his formation of a private army composed predominantly of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] slave-soldiers ({{transliteration|ar|[[ghilman|ghilmān]]}}, sing. {{transliteration|ar|ghulām}}). This proved useful to his half-brother, Caliph al-Ma'mun, who employed al-Mu'tasim and his Turkish guard to counterbalance other powerful interest groups in the state, as well as employing them in campaigns against rebels and the [[Byzantine Empire under the Amorian dynasty|Byzantine Empire]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ismail |first=Osman S. A. |date=1966 |title=Mu'taṣim and the Turks |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/611090 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=12–24 |issn=0041-977X}}</ref> Although not personally interested in literary pursuits, al-Mu'tasim also nurtured the [[Islamic Golden Age|scientific renaissance]] begun under al-Ma'mun. In other ways, his reign marks a departure and a watershed moment in Islamic history, with the creation of a new regime centred on the military, and particularly his Turkish guard. In 836, a new capital was established at [[Abbasid Samarra|Samarra]] to symbolize this new regime and remove it from the restive populace of Baghdad.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Al-Muʿtaṣim {{!}} 8th Caliph, Abbasid Dynasty, Baghdad {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/al-Mutasim |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The power of the caliphal government was increased by centralizing measures that reduced the power of provincial governors in favour of a small group of senior civil and military officials in Samarra, and the fiscal apparatus of the state was more and more dedicated to the maintenance of the professional army, which was dominated by Turks. The [[Arabs|Arab]] and [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] elites that had played a major role in the early period of the Abbasid state were increasingly marginalized.<ref>{{Citation |title=From Triumph to Tribulation (833–990) |date=2021 |work=The Abbasid Caliphate: A History |pages=131–192 |editor-last=El-Hibri |editor-first=Tayeb |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/abbasid-caliphate/from-triumph-to-tribulation-833990/229A80241E9A1B2A2DA32D80FF8E2E44 |access-date=2025-04-21 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-18324-7}}</ref> This strengthened the position of the Turks and their principal leaders, [[Ashinas]], [[Wasif al-Turki|Wasif]], [[Itakh]], and [[Bugha the Elder|Bugha]]. Another prominent member of al-Mu'tasim's inner circle, the prince of [[Ushrusana]], [[al-Afshin]], fell afoul of his enemies at court and was overthrown and killed in 840/1. The rise of the Turks would eventually result in the troubles of the '[[Anarchy at Samarra]]' and lead to the collapse of Abbasid power in the mid-10th century, but the {{transliteration|ar|ghulām}}-based system inaugurated by al-Mu'tasim would be widely adopted throughout the Muslim world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ruth |title=Anarchy and the Siege of Baghdad, 861-870 {{!}} All Things Medieval |url=https://ruthjohnston.com/AllThingsMedieval/?p=4198 |access-date=2025-04-21 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aboul-Dahab |first=Karim |title=An Insights in to the Political and Economic ties between Türkiye and the Arab States |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5015966 |journal=SSRN}}</ref> Al-Mu'tasim's reign was marked by continuous warfare. The two major internal campaigns of the reign were against the long-running [[Khurramite]] uprising of [[Babak Khorramdin]] in [[Adharbayjan]], which was suppressed by al-Afshin in 835–837, and against [[Mazyar]], the autonomous ruler of [[Tabaristan]], who had clashed with the Tahirid governor of Khorasan and risen up in revolt. While his generals led the fight against internal rebellions, al-Mu'tasim himself led the sole major external campaign of the period, in 838 against the Byzantine Empire. His armies [[Battle of Anzen|defeated]] Emperor [[Theophilos (emperor)|Theophilos]] and [[Sack of Amorium|sacked]] the city of [[Amorium]]. The Amorium campaign was widely celebrated, and became a cornerstone of caliphal propaganda, cementing al-Mu'tasim's reputation as a warrior-caliph.<ref>{{Citation |last=Kaegi |first=Walter E. |title=Confronting Islam: Emperors Versus Caliphs (641–c.850) |date=2019 |work=The Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c.500–1492 |pages=365–394 |editor-last=Shepard |editor-first=Jonathan |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-the-byzantine-empire-c5001492/confronting-islam-emperors-versus-caliphs-641c850/F85B2B597BC19414790CD15545D9844C |access-date=2025-04-21 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-68587-1}}</ref>
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