Tuzun (amir al-umara)

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Abu'l-Wafa Tuzun
توزون‎
amir al-umara of the Abbasid Caliphate
In office
31 May 943 – August 945
Monarchsal-Muttaqi,
al-Mustakfi
Preceded byNasir al-Dawla (18 Feb 942 – 11 May 943)
Succeeded byIbn Shirzad (Aug 945 – 21 Dec 945)
Personal details
DiedAugust 945
Baghdad

Abu'l-Wafa Tuzun,

Buyids
.

Early career

Tuzun was a

Hamdanids of the Jazira and the Baridis of Basra.[3] In this complicated struggle, Ibn Ra'iq was deposed in 938 by Bajkam, who like Tuzun had once served Mardavij and had come west with him. Ibn Ra'iq recovered his position in 941, after Bajkam's death, only to be assassinated and replaced the following year by the Hamdanid emir Nasir al-Dawla.[1][4]

Map of Iraq in the 9th–10th centuries

During this period, Tuzun played an active role. He is first mentioned in early 941, when the Baridis moved against Baghdad, and he was tasked by Bajkam, along with

sahib al-shurta of the eastern half of the city, across the Tigris. Baridi rule soon proved unpopular, however, as the plunder of his undisciplined Daylamites was coupled with a sharp rise in prices and stifling taxation. Tuzun and the other Turks conspired to seize Abu'l-Husayn, but was betrayed by Nushtakin, and his attack on the Baridis' palace was repulsed by the forewarned Daylamite troops. Tuzun then abandoned Baghdad and with many of the Turks marched north to Mosul.[9] Strengthened by these defections, the Hamdanids marched south onto Baghdad, which the Baridis abandoned. This was followed by the murder of Ibn Ra'iq by the Hamdanids (11 April 942) and the accession of Nasir al-Dawla to the post of amir al-umara a few days later. Tuzun in turn was rewarded with the post of sahib al-shurta of the capital on both sides of the river.[10]

The Baridis continued to challenge the Hamdanid position from their base in Wasit, however, and Tuzun was one of the commanders of the army sent against them under Nasir al-Dawla's brother Ali, better known by his

amir), bringing him myrtle and herbs in accordance with ancient Persian custom, and Khajkhaj was made commander-in-chief (ispahsalar).[12]

Amir al-umara of Caliphate

On learning of the Turkish revolt, the Baridis began to move against Wasit and sent an envoy to Tuzun urging him to march on Baghdad, and requesting the rights of tax-farming in Wasit. Tuzun gave a non-committal answer, but his spies soon informed him that Khajkhaj was planning to desert to the Baridis. On 20 May, Tuzun with his retainers surprised Khajkhaj in his bed, seized him and blinded him.[13] Leaving 300 men under Kaighalagh to safeguard Wasit, Tuzun marched on Baghdad. There Sayf al-Dawla had promised the Caliph to resist, but on the Turks' approach, the Hamdanid and his officers fled north, and on 3 June, Tuzun entered the capital and was named amir al-umara by the Caliph.[14]

Tuzun's first act was to march south against Wasit, which Kaighalagh had been forced to abandon in the face of Baridi superiority. On his way south he met with

Oman, on Basra itself. The deal was sealed with a marriage alliance between Tuzun and a daughter of Abu Abdallah al-Baridi.[16][17] Back in Baghdad, however, the news of the peace between Tuzun and the Baridis was not welcomed: the vizier Abu'l-Husayn ibn Muqla distrusted both Tuzun and especially Ibn Shirzad. Fearing for his own position if he could not satisfy the financial demands of the Turks, he made contact with the Hamdanids. A Hamdanid army under Nasir al-Dawla's cousin Abu Abdallah al-Husayn appeared before the Harb Gate of Baghdad, and both the vizier and the Caliph went over to him and were escorted north to Mosul. Hearing about these events, Tuzun quickly granted al-Baridi the tax-farming of Wasit and returned to Baghdad with his troops.[18]

Tuzun followed the Hamdanids north, heavily defeated Sayf al-Dawla in two battles near

Nisibis, from where the Caliph and his entourage, accompanied by Sayf al-Dawla, went to Raqqa. An agreement was concluded between Tuzun and the Hamdanids on 26 May 944, whereby Nasir al-Dawla renounced his claims on the Caliphate's core lands in central Iraq, receiving in return recognition for his control over the Jazira and his claims over Syria. The Hamdanid was also obliged to pay an annual tribute of 3.6 million dirhams.[19][20] In the meantime, Caliph al-Muttaqi, who resented the dominance of the various warlords and tried to recover the independence and authority of his office, had contacted the powerful and virtually independent ruler of Egypt, Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid. In response, the Ikhshid launched a campaign across Syria and in August 944 met with the Caliph at Raqqa, where he tried to persuade al-Muttaqi to move to Egypt. Al-Muttaqi refused, and instead returned to Baghdad, trusting the assurances of Tuzun. As the Caliph approached the capital, however, Tuzun met him and had him blinded and deposed in favour of al-Mustakfi.[21][22]

Until his death in August 945, Tuzun remained in control in Baghdad, but his position was increasingly threatened by the ambitions of a new power, the

Ahmad ibn Buya. A first Buyid attack on Baghdad in 944 was repelled, but after Tuzun's death, Muhammad ibn Shirzad was unable to enforce his authority, and on 17 January 946, Ahmad entered Baghdad as the new amir al-umara and overlord of the Caliphate.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b Donohue 2003, p. 9.
  2. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 195.
  3. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 195, 204.
  4. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 195–196.
  5. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, p. 9.
  6. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 9–18.
  7. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 20–24.
  8. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 25–26.
  9. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 27–28.
  10. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 28–30.
  11. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 31–32.
  12. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 43–46.
  13. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 46–47.
  14. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 47–49.
  15. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 49–50.
  16. ^ Bowen 1928, pp. 382–383.
  17. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 49, 51–52.
  18. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 52–54.
  19. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 270.
  20. ^ Amedroz & Margoliouth 1921, pp. 54–55.
  21. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 196, 312.
  22. ^ Bacharach 2006, pp. 55–56.
  23. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 196, 214–215.

Bibliography

  • Amedroz, Henry F.; Margoliouth, David S., eds. (1921). The Eclipse of the 'Abbasid Caliphate. Original Chronicles of the Fourth Islamic Century, Vol. V: The concluding portion of The Experiences of Nations by Miskawaihi, Vol. II: Reigns of Muttaqi, Mustakfi, Muzi and Ta'i. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
  • ISBN 977-424-930-5
    .
  • Bowen, Harold (1928). The Life and Times of ʿAlí Ibn ʿÍsà, ‘The Good Vizier’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    OCLC 386849
    .
  • Donohue, John J. (2003). The Buwayhid Dynasty in Iraq 334 H./945 to 403 H./1012: Shaping Institutions for the Future. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
    ISBN 90-04-12860-3
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-582-40525-7
    .
Preceded by amir al-umara of the Abbasid Caliphate
31 May 943 – August 945 		Succeeded by
Muhammad ibn Shirzad
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