Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
| Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun | |
|---|---|
| Ruler of Egypt and Syria | |
Tulunid dynasty | |
| Father | Ahmad ibn Tulun |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Abu 'l-Jaysh Khumārawayh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn (
At the height of his power, Khumarawayh's authority expanded from the
Biography
Khumarawayh was born at
Succession and relations with the Abbasids
In 882, following a failed rebellion of his elder brother Abbas, who was "regarded as cruel and untrustworthy" (Moritz Sobernheim), Khumarawayh was named as his father's deputy in Egypt and heir-apparent. This position was confirmed by Ibn Tulun at the request of his generals shortly before his death on 10 May 884. With the backing of the Tulunid regime's elites, Khumarawayh's succession was smooth; Abbas was forced to acknowledge Khumarawayh, but was assassinated shortly after.[1][3] Khumarawayh's accession was an important step in the gradual dissolution of the Abbasid Caliphate: as Thierry Bianquis explains, "this was the first time in Abbasid history with regard to the government of so large and rich a territory, that a wāli, whose legitimacy derived from the caliph who had designated him, was succeeded openly by an amīr who claimed his legitimacy by inheritance".[4]
In his last months, Ibn Tulun had sought to effect a reconciliation with al-Muwaffaq on the basis of the recognition of his authority over Egypt and Syria, but his death interrupted the negotiations. As Khumarawayh was young and untested, one of Ibn Tulun's senior generals, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Wasiti, encouraged the Abbasids to attack and recover control of the Tulunid territories.[1][3] The generals Ishaq ibn Kundaj and Ibn Abi'l-Saj attacked the Tulunid domains in Syria. Damascus fell when its governor defected, but their initial gains were rapidly reversed. In the spring of 885, al-Muwaffaq's son Abu'l-Abbas (the future al-Mu'tadid) was sent to take charge of the invasion. He soon succeeded in defeating the Tulunids and forcing them to retreat to Palestine, but after a quarrel with Ibn Kundaj and Ibn Abi'l-Saj, the latter abandoned the campaign and withdrew their forces. At the Battle of Tawahin on 6 April, Khumarawayh confronted Abu'l-Abbas in person. The Abbasid prince was initially victorious, forcing Khumarawayh to flee, but was in turn defeated by the Tulunid general Sa'd al-Aysar and fled the battlefield, while much of his army was taken prisoner.[1][3][5] Al-Aysar then tried to rebel in Damascus, but Khumarawayh swiftly suppressed his revolt and is said to have killed the rebel with his own hands.[1]
Khumarawayh continued to pursue a rapprochement with the Abbasid court: he treated the prisoners of war from Tawahin with exceptional clemency, giving them the choice of either staying in Egypt under his own service or returning to Iraq without ransom. This policy eventually led to the conclusion of an agreement in December 886, whereby Khumarawayh was recognized as governor over Egypt and Syria, with the right to be succeeded by his offspring, for a period of 30 years, in exchange for an unspecified annual
The accession of al-Mu'tadid in 892 brought a warming of relations with the Baghdad court. Recognizing that he could not defeat the Tulunids, the new Caliph instead opted to conciliate them: in spring 893, al-Mu'tadid reconfirmed Khumarawayh in his office as autonomous governor over Egypt and Syria, in exchange for an annual tribute of 300,000
Domestic policies
The extravagant wedding shows Khumarawayh's famous frivolity with money—indeed it has been suggested that the whole affair was, in the words of the historian Ulrich Haarmann, "a calculated device on the part of the caliph to wreck the finances of his dangerously wealthy and powerful vassal". Eager to display his wealth, the Tulunid ruler also built numerous palaces for himself and his favourites, and engaged in famous displays of royal extravagance, such as a quicksilver-filled basin in which he was rocked to sleep on top of air-filled cushions, or the blue-eyed lion he kept as a pet at his court. In addition, according to the sources, Khumarawayh never rode the same horse twice.[1][3] He was nevertheless also a generous patron of the arts, of scholars and of poets. One of his protégés was the grammarian Muhammad ibn Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Muslim, who was also tutor to his sons, while al-Qasim ibn Yahya al-Maryami wrote panegyrics in his honour.[1] All of this came at a heavy price, however; by the time of his death, the Tulunid treasury (which reportedly had contained ten million gold dinars at the time of his accession[8]) was empty, and the dinar had lost two-thirds of its value. His extravagance brought criticism from religious scholars and from contemporary and later historians alike.[1]
Domestically, his reign was one of "luxury and decay" (
Death and succession
Khumarawayh was killed on 18 January 896 by one of his servants,
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Haarmann 1986, p. 49.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 176–177.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Sobernheim 1987, p. 973.
- ^ Bianquis 1998, pp. 89–90, 104.
- ^ Bianquis 1998, pp. 104–105.
- ^ Bianquis 1998, pp. 105–106.
- ^ Bianquis 1998, p. 106.
- ^ Bianquis 1998, p. 104.
- ^ a b c d Kennedy 2004, p. 310.
- ^ a b Bonner 2010, p. 336.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 181.
- ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 184–185.
Sources
- ISBN 0-521-47137-0.
- ISBN 978-0-521-83823-8.
- Haarmann, Ulrich (1986). "K̲h̲umārawayh". In ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
- ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7.
- Sobernheim, Moritz (1987). "Khumārawaih". In Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (ed.). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume IV: 'Itk–Kwaṭṭa. Leiden: BRILL. p. 973. ISBN 90-04-08265-4.