Editing Al-Mu'tasim (section)

=== New elites and administration ===
[[File:Dirham of al-Mu'tasim, AH 221.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Obverse and reverse of silver coin with Arabic inscriptions|Silver ''[[dirham]]'' of al-Mu'tasim, minted at [[al-Muhammadiya]] in 836/7]]
Whatever the true background of his accession, al-Mu'tasim owed his rise to the throne not only to his strong personality and leadership skills, but principally to the fact that he was the only Abbasid prince to control independent military power, in the form of his Turkish corps.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|pp=156–157}} Unlike his brother, who tried to use the tribal Arabs and the Turks to balance out the Iranian troops, al-Mu'tasim relied almost exclusively on his Turks; the historian Tayeb El-Hibri describes al-Mu'tasim's regime as "militaristic and centred on the Turkish corps".{{sfn|El-Hibri|2010|p=296}} The rise of al-Mu'tasim to the caliphate thus heralded a radical change in the nature of Abbasid administration, and the most profound shift the Islamic world had experienced since the dynasty had come to power in the [[Abbasid Revolution]]. While the latter had been backed by a mass popular movement seeking to enact social reforms, al-Mu'tasim's revolution was essentially the project of a small ruling elite aiming to secure its own power.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|pp=155, 156}}

Already under al-Ma'mun, old-established Arab families such as the [[Muhallabids]] disappeared from the court, and minor members of the Abbasid family ceased to be appointed to governorships or senior military positions.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|p=155}} The reforms of al-Mu'tasim completed this process, resulting in the eclipse of the previous Arab and Iranian elites, both in Baghdad and the provinces, in favour of the Turkish military, and an increasing centralization of administration around the caliphal court. A characteristic example is Egypt, where the Arab settler families still nominally formed the country's garrison (''[[jund]]'') and thus continued to receive a salary from the local revenues. Al-Mu'tasim discontinued the practice, removing the Arab families from the army registers (''[[divan|diwān]]'') and ordering that the revenues of Egypt be sent to the central government, which would then pay a cash salary (''ʿaṭāʾ'') only to the Turkish troops stationed in the province.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|pp=158–159}} Another departure from previous practice was al-Mu'tasim's appointment of his senior lieutenants, such as Ashinas and Itakh, as nominal super-governors over several provinces. This measure was probably intended to allow his chief followers immediate access to funds with which to pay their troops, but also, according to Kennedy, "represented a further centralizing of power, for the under-governors of the provinces seldom appeared at court and played little part in the making of political decisions".{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|p=159}} Indeed, al-Mu'tasim's caliphate marks the apogee of the central government's authority, in particular as expressed in its right and power to extract taxes from the provinces, an issue that had been controversial and had faced much local opposition since the early days of the Islamic state.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|p=159}}

The one major exception to this process were the Tahirids, who remained in place as autonomous governors of their Khurasani super-province, encompassing most of the eastern Caliphate. The Tahirids provided the governor of Baghdad, and helped to keep the city, a focus of opposition under al-Ma'mun, quiescent. The post was held throughout al-Mu'tasim's reign by Abdallah ibn Tahir's cousin [[Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Mus'abi|Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Mus'ab]], who, according to the Orientalist [[C. E. Bosworth]], was "always one of al-Mu'tasim's closest advisers and confidants".{{sfn|Bosworth|1993|p=776}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|pp=159–160}} Apart from the Turkish military and the Tahirids, al-Mu'tasim's administration depended on the central fiscal bureaucracy. As the main source of revenue was the rich lands of southern Iraq (the [[Sawad]]) and neighbouring areas, the administration was staffed mostly with men drawn from these regions. The new caliphal bureaucratic class that emerged under al-Mu'tasim was thus mostly Persian or [[Aramaeans|Aramean]] in origin, with a large proportion of newly converted Muslims and even a few [[Nestorian Christians]], who came from landowner or merchant families.{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|pp=160–161}}

On his accession, al-Mu'tasim appointed as his chief minister or [[Vizier (Abbasid Caliphate)|vizier]] his old personal secretary, [[al-Fadl ibn Marwan]]. A man trained in the traditions of the Abbasid bureaucracy, he was distinguished for his caution and frugality, and tried to shore up the finances of the state. These traits eventually caused his downfall, when he refused to authorize the Caliph's gifts to his courtiers on the grounds that the treasury could not afford it. He was dismissed in 836, and was lucky not to suffer any punishment more severe than being sent into exile to the village of al-Sinn.{{sfn|Bosworth|1991|pp=28–35}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|pp=216–217}} His replacement, [[Muhammad ibn al-Zayyat]], was of a completely different character: a rich merchant, he is described by Kennedy as "a competent financial expert but a callous and brutal man who made many enemies", even among his fellow members of the administration. Nevertheless, and even though his political authority never extended beyond the fiscal domain, he managed to maintain his office to the end of the reign, and under al-Mu'tasim's successor, [[al-Wathiq]] ({{reign|842|847}}), as well.{{sfn|Bosworth|1993|p=776}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2004a|p=161}}