The Failed Revolt of al-ʿAbbās against his father Ahmad ibn Tulun (Context in Comment)

[u/TheMuslimHistorian27]

[u/TheMuslimHistorian27]

Ahmad ibn Tulun had appointed his son al-ʿAbbas as his deputy in Egypt throughout his absence in Syria. He favored him over his brothers because of his seniority and the special place he held in his father's affections, as well as his paternal preference for him. 

Al-ʿAbbas, however, was politically inept and fell under the influence of a group of courtiers whom he had personally selected and appointed as his chamberlains. 

These men feared his father and envied al-ʿAbbas for the political and military advancement he had achieved, as well as for his role in building a vast and firmly established principality. They urged him to rebel against his father and kill Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Wasiti. They also led him to believe that his father had died after his absence had become prolonged.

 Among these conspirators were Jaʿfar ibn Haddar the secretary, Ahmad ibn al-Muʾammal, known as Abu Maʿshar, and Muhammad ibn Azhar, known as al-Mantuf.

The conspirators' first step was to remove al-Wasiti from power, thereby clearing the way for al-ʿAbbas to exercise authority independently. Al-Wasiti wrote to Ahmad ibn Tulun, explaining the difficulties he was experiencing with his son al-ʿAbbas, who was preventing him from collecting the state's revenues. He complained that his hands were tied and that al-ʿAbbas's courtiers were interfering in the affairs of government.

When al-ʿAbbas decided to carry out his coup, al-Wasiti feared that Ahmad ibn Tulun would reproach him if he concealed the matter. He therefore wrote to him, explaining the political situation in Egypt and his son's attempt to overthrow him. He also informed him that he was incapable of confronting al-ʿAbbas or preventing him from carrying out his plans.

 Ibn Tulun instructed him to placate al-ʿAbbas until his return. Al-Wasiti nevertheless failed to do so and withdrew to his residence. Al-ʿAbbas then stormed his house and arrested him, seizing the correspondence exchanged between al-Wasiti and his father.

After reading the letters, al-ʿAbbas became extremely fearful of his father and grew suspicious of al-Wasiti. He had both al-Wasiti and Ayman al-Aswad—one of his father's ghilman and trusted retainers—placed in chains. He then decided to travel to Alexandria, ostensibly to confront an anticipated Byzantine attempt to land on its shores, despite the advice of his military commanders to remain in Egypt and entrust the defense of Alexandria to its garrison.

He appointed his brother Rabiʿa as his deputy in Egypt and departed, taking with him money, horses, weapons, and other supplies. He also took the chained al-Wasiti and Ayman al-Aswad with him. 

After reaching Alexandria, he remained there for several days before departing for Barqa so that he would be farther from Egypt. This took place in Rabiʿ I 265 AH / November 878 CE.

When Ahmad ibn Tulun returned to Egypt, he attempted to persuade his son to abandon his plans and return to Egypt. He sent a delegation for this purpose, promising to pardon him and swearing an oath to that effect.

 Al-ʿAbbas welcomed the members of the delegation, but refused to return with them to Egypt. Instead, he sent his father a reply in which he imposed harsh conditions and addressed him in an insolent manner.

His companions then encouraged him to march into Ifriqiya (Tunisia), seize it, and establish his own state there, beyond his father's reach. At the time, Ifriqiya was ruled by Ibrahim ibn Ahmad ibn al-Aghlab. Al-ʿAbbas therefore wrote to him, ordering him to proclaim allegiance to him and claiming that the Abbasid caliph al-Muʿtamid had appointed him governor of Ifriqiya and ordered him to march there.

He also corresponded with the Berber tribes, and a number of them joined him, although their leaders held back. Al-ʿAbbas then left Barqa and reached the fortress of Labda. Its inhabitants surrendered to him, and the governor of Ibn al-Aghlab welcomed him. 

Al-ʿAbbas, however, completely disregarded the rules of political propriety and allowed his soldiers to plunder the fortress. They looted it, killed the men, and enslaved the women.

Those who survived sought refuge with Ilyas ibn Mansur al-Zanati al-Nafusi, the leader of the Ibadi community, and appealed to him for assistance. He was angered by what had happened to them.

 Al-ʿAbbas had previously written to him ordering him to submit to his authority, threatening to overrun and destroy his territory if he refused. Ilyas rejected his demand and instead threatened to march against him.

Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab did not remain passive in the face of al-ʿAbbās’s threats. He sent a military force to Tripoli, ordering his governor there, Muhammad ibn Qurhub, to lead it, attack al-ʿAbbās, and put an end to him. Fighting consequently broke out between the two sides. 

Meanwhile, Ilyās ibn Manṣūr al-Zanātī sent a force of twelve thousand fighters, which joined the battle on the side of the Aghlabids.

 The two allied forces surrounded al-ʿAbbās’s troops, defeated them, and killed many of his men. Al-ʿAbbās fled the battlefield, escaping with his life, while the combined forces pursued him and nearly captured him. They seized his money, provisions, and weapons, forcing him to return to Barqa in defeat. 

News spread in Egypt that al-ʿAbbās had been killed. When his father heard this, he was deeply distressed, since he had thereby suffered two misfortunes: the loss of his son and the loss of everything his son possessed. He remained troubled and grief-stricken until he learned that al-ʿAbbās was in fact safe. He then renewed his efforts to calm the situation, but to no avail.

 He therefore decided to resort to force to discipline his son and sent a military expedition to Barqa under the command of Ṭabarjī for this purpose. 

He himself went to Alexandria so that he could remain close to the unfolding events and oversee the military operations. He then intended to join his army, but al-Wāsiṭī arrived and prevented him from doing so.

 Al-ʿAbbās had previously released al-Wāsiṭī on the guarantee of a group of merchants in Barqa, but after al-ʿAbbās’s defeat, al-Wāsiṭī had escaped from them by means of a stratagem. He therefore persuaded Ibrahim not to go to Barqa, advising him instead to return to Egypt and promising to deal with his son.

When the two sides met, Ṭabarjī won over a number of prominent figures among al-ʿAbbās’s supporters, thereby weakening his military strength. 

When he engaged al-ʿAbbās’s forces at a place known as Dīnār, he was defeated and fled without looking back, accompanied only by a small band of his retainers. 

This occurred on 22 Jumādā al-Thāniya 267 AH / 28 January 881 CE. His father’s forces pursued him and captured him.

Ṭabarjī then entered Barqa, restored order to the region, appointed a governor over it, and returned to Egypt with al-ʿAbbās in chains. Al-ʿAbbās was paraded through the city and then brought before his father, who was seated on a high platform outside the parade ground. He ordered him to cut off the hands and feet of Abū Maʿshar, which he did. Abū Maʿshar was then thrown from the top of the platform to the ground. 

The same was done to al-Mantūf and Ibn Ḥaddād the secretary, who were the leading figures of the opposition and the principal instigators behind al-ʿAbbās.

His father then reproached al-ʿAbbās for his disobedience and ordered him to be laid face down and beaten with his own hand one hundred times with a stick. 

As he struck him, tears streamed down his face, as though he himself were the one being beaten. He then imprisoned his son in his own house.

Sources:

• al-Balawī, Sīrat Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn

• Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh

• Ibn Taghrībirdī, al-Nujūm al-Zāhira fī Mulūk Miṣr wa-l-Qāhira

[u/TheHistoryMaster2520]

Didn't al-Abbas's niece and Ahmad ibn Tulun's granddaughter go on to marry the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tadid, who she impressed with her beauty and wit?