al-Wathiq

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This article is about the 9th-century Abbasid caliph. For other people with the same name, see Al-Wathiq (disambiguation).
al-Wathiq
الواثق
Mu'tazili Islam

Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad (Arabic: أبو جعفر هارون بن محمد المعتصم; 17 April 812 – 10 August 847), better known by his

caliph who reigned from 842 until 847 CE (227–232 AH in the Islamic calendar
).

Al-Wathiq is described in the sources as well-educated, intellectually curious, but also a poet and a drinker, who enjoyed the company of poets and musicians as well as scholars. His brief reign was one of continuity with the policies of his father,

Yamamah in 846, Armenia had to be pacified over several years, and above all, an abortive uprising took place in Baghdad itself in 846, under Ahmad ibn Nasr al-Khuza'i. The latter was linked to al-Wathiq's continued support for the doctrine of Mu'tazilism, and his reactivation of the mihna to root out opponents. In foreign affairs, the perennial conflict with the Byzantine Empire continued, and the Abbasids even scored a significant victory at Mauropotamos
, but after a prisoner exchange in 845, warfare ceased for several years.

Al-Wathiq's character is relatively obscure compared to other early Abbasid caliphs. He appears to have been a sedentary ruler occupied with the luxuries of the court, a capable poet, and a patron of poets and musicians, as well as showing interest in scholarly pursuits. Al-Wathiq's unexpected death left the succession unsettled. Al-Wathiq's son al-Muhtadi was passed over due to his youth, and his half-brother al-Mutawakkil was chosen as the next caliph by a coterie of leading officials.

Early life

Al-Wathiq was born on 17 April 812 (various sources give slightly earlier or later dates in 811–813), on the road to

teknonym Abu Ja'far.[4]

The early life of al-Wathiq is obscure, all the more since his father was initially a junior prince without prospects of succession,[1] who owed his rise to prominence, and eventually to the caliphate, to his control of an elite private army of Turkic slave troops (ghilman).[5] Harun ibn Ziyad is mentioned as his first teacher, and he learned calligraphy, recitation and literature from his uncle, Caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).[6] Later sources nickname him the "Little Ma'mun" on account of his erudition and moral character.[6]

When al-Mu'tasim became caliph, he took care for al-Wathiq, as his son and heir-apparent, to acquire experience in governance. Thus al-Wathiq was left in charge of the capital

Amorion campaign of the same year.[6]

Al-Wathiq is then mentioned in 841 as bringing a bowl of fruit to al-Afshin, now disgraced and imprisoned. Fearing that the fruit was poisoned, al-Afshin refused to accept it, and asked for someone else to convey a message to the Caliph.[1] In Samarra, al-Wathiq's residence was immediately adjacent to his father's palace, and he was a fixed presence at court.[1] As historian John Turner remarks, these reports show al-Wathiq in the "role of a trusted agent of his father, which positioned him well to take over the reins of power".[1] On the other hand, al-Wathiq was never given a military command and did not even participate in the Amorion campaign, in a departure from previous Abbasid practice.[1]

Reign

Al-Tabari records that al-Wathiq was of medium height, handsome and well-built. He was fair with a ruddy complexion, commonly associated with noble descent. His left eye was paralyzed with a white fleck, which reportedly lent his gaze a stern aspect.

al-Hirah on 16 August 842, and was buried in Kufa.[10]

Ruling elites

Al-Wathiq's reign was short and is generally considered to have been essentially a continuation of al-Mu'tasim's own, as the government continued to be led by men that had been raised to power by al-Mu'tasim: the Turkic military commanders

Ahmad ibn Abi Duwad.[8][11][12] These men had been personally loyal to al-Mu'tasim, but were not similarly bound to al-Wathiq; in practice, according to Turner, this narrow circle "controlled the levers of power and thus the Caliph's independence".[13]

In a gesture likely aimed at cementing an alliance between the caliph and his most powerful commander,[13] al-Wathiq bestowed a crown on Ashinas in June/July 843, and on the occasion invested him with sweeping authority over the western provinces, from Samarra to the Maghreb—an act which the 15th-century Egyptian scholar al-Suyuti considered as the first occasion when royal power (sultan) was delegated by a caliph to a subject.[14][15] Ashinas died in 844, and Itakh succeeded him in his rank as commander-in-chief and in his over-governorship of the western provinces.[16][17] The new caliph also engaged in much construction in Samarra, which went a long way towards making the caliphal residence a proper city, with markets and a port adequate to its needs. This made Samarra not only more comfortable for its inhabitants but also made investment in property there economically attractive—both major considerations for the Abbasid elites and the military, who had been forced to relocate to the new capital by al-Mu'tasim.[18]

However, in 843/44, the Caliph—allegedly at the instigation of the vizier Ibn al-Zayyat, or, according to a story reported by al-Tabari, inspired by the downfall of the Barmakids under Harun al-Rashid—arrested, tortured, and imposed heavy fines on several of the secretaries in the central government, in an effort to raise money to pay the Turkic troops.[19] The measure was at the same time possibly aimed at driving a wedge between civilian and military elites,[20] or at reducing the power of the leading Turkic commanders, such as Itakh and Ashinas, since most of the secretaries arrested and forced to pay were in their service.[21]

Suppression of rebellions

Map of the Middle East, with the territory of the Abbasid Caliphate in green and the main cities and provinces shown
The Abbasid Caliphate and its provinces, c. 850

Already during the last months of al-Mu'tasim's life, a large-scale revolt had erupted in Palestine under a certain al-Mubarqa. Al-Mu'tasim sent the general Raja ibn Ayyub al-Hidari to confront the rebels.[22][23] When al-Wathiq came to power, he dispatched al-Hidari against Ibn Bayhas, who led a Qaysi tribal revolt around Damascus.[6][22] The exact relationship of this uprising with the revolt of al-Mubarqa is unclear.[22] Taking advantage of the dissensions among the tribesmen, al-Hidari quickly defeated Ibn Bayhas, and then turned south and confronted al-Mubarqa's forces near Ramla. The battle was a decisive victory for the government army, with al-Mubarqa taken prisoner and brought to Samarra, where he was thrown into prison and never heard of again.[6][22][24]

Upon coming to the throne, al-Wathiq appointed Khalid ibn Yazid al-Shaybani as governor of the restive province of Armenia. At the head of a large army, Khalid defeated the opposition of the local Muslim and Christian princes at the Battle of Kawakert. Khalid died soon after, but his son, Muhammad al-Shaybani, succeeded him in office and continued his father's task.[6][25]

In spring 845, another tribal rebellion broke out. A local tribe, the

Magharibah guard regiments, Bugha defeated the Sulaym and forced them to surrender. In early autumn, he also forced the Banu Hilal to submit.[6][26] Bugha's troops took many prisoners, some 1,300 in total who were held in Medina. They tried to escape, but were thwarted by the Medinese, and most were killed in the process. In the meantime, Bugha used the opportunity to intimidate the other Bedouin tribes of the region, and marched to confront the Banu Fazara and the Banu Murra. The tribes fled before his advance, with many submitting, and others fleeing to al-Balqa. Bugha then subdued the Banu Kilab, taking some 1,300 of them as prisoners back to Medina in May 846.[6][27]

A minor

Fars.[6][29]

In September 846, al-Wathiq sent Bugha al-Kabir to stop the depredations of the

Yamamah. On 4 February 847, Bugha fought a major engagement against about 3,000 Numayris at the watering place of Batn al-Sirr. At first he was hard pressed, and his forces almost disintegrated. Then some troops he had out raiding the Numayris' horses returned, fell upon the forces attacking Bugha and completely routed them. According to one report, up to 1,500 Numayris were killed. Bugha spent a few months pacifying the region, issuing writs of safe-passage to those who submitted and pursuing the rest, before he returned to Basra in June/July 847. Over 2,200 Bedouin from various tribes were brought captive with him.[6][30]

Mu'tazilism and the abortive coup of al-Khuza'i

Mu'tazilite mihna
and events associated with it

Like his father, al-Wathiq was an ardent

Hanbali school of jurisprudence, who opposed the Mu'tazili doctrine, was forced to cease his teachings and only resumed them after al-Wathiq's death.[32]

In 846, a well-respected notable,

Khatib al-Baghdadi on the other hand reports simply that an informer gave the plot away to the authorities.[35] The deputy governor of the city, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim—the governor, his brother Ishaq, was absent—inquired on the event, and the conspiracy was revealed. Al-Khuza'i and his followers were arrested and brought before al-Wathiq at Samarra.[38]

The Caliph interrogated al-Khuza'i publicly, though more on the thorny theological issue of the createdness of the Quran rather than on the actual rebellion. Ahmad's answers enraged al-Wathiq so much, that the Caliph took al-Samsamah, a famous sword of the

gibbet of Babak in Baghdad, while twenty of his followers were thrown into prison.[39][40][41]

The same year there was a break-in at the public treasury (bayt al-mal) in Samarra. Thieves made off with 42,000 silver

Yazid al-Huwani, a deputy of Itakh, pursued and caught them.[42] Turner points out that this episode may provide some premonition of the crisis to erupt in later decades: security even at the main palace was lax, and, based on the thieves' loot, the treasury appears to have been almost empty at the time.[43]

War with the Byzantine Empire

Geophysical map of 9th-century Anatolia, with provinces, main settlements and roads
Map of Byzantine Asia Minor and the Arab–Byzantine frontier region c. 842

In 838 al-Mu'tasim had scored a major victory against the Abbasid Caliphate's perennial foe, the Byzantine Empire, with the celebrated sack of Amorion.

Cape Chelidonia a few months later.[45] This event is not reported in Muslim sources.[32]

Following al-Mu'tasim's death, the Byzantine regent

Tephrike, and henceforth joined the Arabs in their attacks on Byzantine territory.[48][49]

In 845, a Byzantine embassy arrived at the caliphal court to negotiate about a prisoner exchange. It was held in September of the same year under the auspices of

Tiber River and their crews raided the environs of Rome.[57]

Death and succession

Parchment with Persianate miniatures with Persian writing
Death of Caliph al-Wathiq, Mughal miniature from the Tarikh-I Alfi (1594)

Al-Wathiq died as the result of edema, likely from liver damage or diabetes, while being seated in an oven in an attempt to cure it,[40][58] on 10 August 847.[32] His age is variously given as 32, 34, or 36 Islamic years at the time.[3] He was buried in the Haruni Palace in Samarra,[32] that he had built.[13]

His death was unexpected, and left the succession open

al-Ya'qubi at least claims that an heir had been named, and the oath of allegiance given to him.[59] Consequently, the leading officials, the vizier, Ibn al-Zayyat, the chief qadi, Ahmad ibn Abi Duwad, the Turkic generals Itakh and Wasif, and a few others, assembled to determine his successor. Ibn al-Zayyat initially proposed al-Wathiq's son Muhammad (the future caliph al-Muhtadi), but due to his youth he was passed over, and instead the council chose al-Wathiq's 26-year-old half-brother Ja'far, who became the caliph al-Mutawakkil.[60][61]

This selection is commonly considered by historians to have been in effect a conspiracy to place a weak and pliable ruler on the throne, while the same cabal of officials would run affairs as under al-Wathiq.[59][62] They would be quickly proven wrong, for al-Mutawakkil quickly moved to eliminate Ibn al-Zayyat and Itakh and consolidate his own authority.[63]

Assessment and legacy

Al-Wathiq is reported as having been generous to the poor of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina,[3] and to have reduced taxes on maritime commerce,[32] but he does not appear to have enjoyed any great popularity.[3] What is told of his character shows him being a mild-mannered person,[32] given to indolence and the pleasures of court life, to the point of becoming inebriated and falling asleep.[64] He was an accomplished poet—more poems of his survive than of any other Abbasid caliph—as well as a skilled composer, and could play the oud well.[32] He was also a patron of poets, singers and musicians, inviting them to the palace.[32] He showed particular favour to the musician Ishaq al-Mawsili, the singer Mukhariq, and the poet al-Dahhak al-Bahili, known as al-Khali (lit. 'the Debauched One').[3][32]

In contrast to this picture, the 10th-century historian

Seven Sleepers of Ephesus.[3][65]

Al-Wathiq is one of the more obscure

Gothic fantasy novel Vathek, which Kennedy describes as "a fantastic tale of cruelty, dissipation and a search for the lost treasure of ancient kings, guarded by Iblis/Satan himself".[8]

Family

One of al-Wathiq's concubines was Qurb, a Greek.[67] In 833 she gave birth to al-Wathiq's son, Muhammad, the future caliph al-Muhtadi.[68] Another concubine was Faridah, who was also a musician and al-Wathiq's favourite. When al-Wathiq died, the singer Amr ibn Banah presented her to Caliph al-Mutawakkil. He married her, and she became one of his favourites.[69] He had another concubine, who was a servant of Faridah. Al-Wathiq was infatuated with her.[70] Another concubine was Qalam. She belonged to Salih bin Abdul al-Wahhab, who had trained her as a singer. Al-Wathiq bought her for 5000 dinars and called her Ightibat ("delight").[71]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Turner 2013, p. 219.
  2. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 52–53.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Zetterstéen, Bosworth & van Donzel 2002, p. 178.
  4. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 53.
  5. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 156–157.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kan 2012, p. 548.
  7. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 52 (esp. note 195).
  8. ^ a b c Kennedy 2006, p. 231.
  9. ^ Turner 2013, p. 220.
  10. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 4.
  11. ^ Kan 2012, pp. 548–549.
  12. ^ Turner 2013, pp. 220–221.
  13. ^ a b c Turner 2013, p. 221.
  14. ^ Gordon 2001, p. 79.
  15. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 5.
  16. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 159.
  17. ^ Gordon 2001, pp. 18, 79.
  18. ^ Turner 2013, pp. 221–222.
  19. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. xii, 8–16.
  20. ^ a b Turner 2013, p. 222.
  21. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. xii.
  22. ^ a b c d Eisenstein 1993, p. 279.
  23. ^ Bosworth 1991, pp. 203–206.
  24. ^ Bosworth 1991, pp. 204–206.
  25. ^ Ter-Ghewondyan 1976, pp. 27, 39–40.
  26. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 17–21.
  27. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 22–26.
  28. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 37.
  29. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 37–38.
  30. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 45–51.
  31. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 28 (note 94).
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kan 2012, p. 549.
  33. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 161–162.
  34. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 39–40.
  35. ^ a b Turner 2013, p. 224.
  36. ^ a b Kennedy 2006, pp. 231–232.
  37. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 26–29.
  38. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 29–31.
  39. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 31–35.
  40. ^ a b c Kennedy 2006, p. 232.
  41. ^ Turner 2013, pp. 224–228.
  42. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 36–37.
  43. ^ Turner 2013, p. 225 (note 57).
  44. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 137–173.
  45. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 175–176, 192–193.
  46. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 194–195.
  47. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 195–198, 399–404.
  48. ^ PmbZ, al-Wāṯiq (#8593).
  49. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 230–233.
  50. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 22, 39–43.
  51. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 198–204.
  52. ^ Turner 2013, p. 223.
  53. ^ PmbZ, Anonymi (42) (#10542); al-Wāṯiq (#8593).
  54. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 43–44.
  55. ^ a b Vasiliev 1935, p. 204.
  56. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 204–207.
  57. ^ Vasiliev 1935, pp. 210–211.
  58. ^ Turner 2013, pp. 228–229.
  59. ^ a b Turner 2013, p. 229.
  60. ^ Kennedy 2006, pp. 232–233.
  61. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 68.
  62. ^ Kennedy 2006, p. 234.
  63. ^ Kennedy 2006, pp. 234–239.
  64. ^ Turner 2013, pp. 219–220.
  65. ^ Turner 2013, pp. 222–223.
  66. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 166.
  67. ISBN 978-1-4384-2304-3
    .
  68. ^ Kennedy 2006, p. 173.
  69. ^ Ibn al-Sāʿī 2017, p. 53.
  70. ^ Ibn al-Sāʿī 2017, p. 31.
  71. ISBN 978-0-88706-874-4
    .

Sources
Al-Wathiq
Born: 812 Died: 847
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate
5 January 842 – 10 August 847 		Succeeded by
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