page_title: Abbasid civil war (865–866)
section_title: Baghdad
hierarchical_section_title: Abbasid civil war (865–866) / Major events of the war / Baghdad
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of northern Baghdad in the ninth century AD. This map is largely derived from the following source: Le Strange, Guy. Baghdad during the Abbasid caliphate. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1900.
context_page_description: The Abbasid civil war of 865–866, sometimes known as the Fifth Fitna, was an armed conflict during the "Anarchy at Samarra" between the rival caliphs al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz, fought to determine who would gain control over the Abbasid Caliphate. The war, which lasted for about a year, largely revolved around a prolonged siege of Baghdad and ended with al-Mu'tazz as sole caliph. Al-Musta'in was abandoned by his supporters and forced to abdicate; in spite of a guarantee that his life would be spared, he was executed shortly afterward.
  The outcome of the war was a major victory for the Turkic military establishment, which had been responsible for al-Mu'tazz's rise to power, and allowed the Turks to maintain their effective power over the government and military of the caliphate. The partisans of al-Musta'in, namely the Tahirid family, the Arab military factions, and the citizens of Baghdad, continued to be excluded from the politics of the central government after their surrender, although they were allowed to keep the positions they had before the war. Central Iraq, where most of the fighting took place, was devastated by the activities of both sides.
context_section_description: For the first few days after the arrival of Abu Ahmad and his army before the gates of Baghdad, the two sides refrained from directly engaging each other in combat. On March 14, Muhammad b. 'Abdallah approached the enemy camp and called on the Samarrans to depart; if they did, he guaranteed that al-Musta'in would recognize al-Mu'tazz as heir-apparent. If they refused to leave, however, Muhammad intended to initiate hostilities the following morning.
  The next day, the Samarrans approached the Shammasiyyah and Khorasan gates along the eastern wall and attempted to force their way through them. The Baghdadis responded by firing upon them with arrows, mangonels and ballistas, inflicting heavy casualties upon the attackers. At the Khorasan Gate, the Turks attempted to move up an artillery piece into firing range, but a charge by the regular and irregular Baghdadi forces dislodged the enemy from their position. By the end of the day, the Samarrans withdrew back to their camp; both sides had sustained hundreds of casualties from the fighting.
  On March 20 a second army sent from Samarra, consisting of 4,000 Turks, North Africans and Ferghanans, arrived in front of the western side of Baghdad and made camp near the Gates of the Fief and Qatrabbul. The next morning, Muhammad b. 'Abdallah ordered a large contingent of infantry and cavalry to battle them. At first the Samarrans had the upper hand, and were able to force the Baghdadis into a narrow area near the Gate of the Fief. Baghdadi reinforcements soon arrived, however, and the combined forces were able to drive the Samarrans back. Having gained the initiative, the defenders charged and forced the Samarrans to retreat to an area where yet another Baghdadi force lay in ambush. At this point, the Samarran retreat turned into a rout, and the troops began to flee for their lives. Many attempted to swim across the Tigris to Abu Ahmad's camp, but were seized by boats patrolling the river. The rest turned north, with some of the soldiers going all the way back to Samarra.
  The battle for the Qatrabbul Gate had been a massive victory for the Baghdadis. Of the four thousand Samarrans stationed on the western side of the city, two thousand of them had been killed, with several of their heads being hung around Baghdad, and many others were taken prisoner. In Samarra, news of the defeat was met with rioting; many among the populace apparently considered the battle to be a sign of the weakness of al-Mu'tazz's forces. Muhammad b. 'Abdallah, however, refused to follow up on his victory. Rejecting the council of his advisors to press his advantage and pursue the fleeing soldiers, his only order after the battle was to have proclamation of victory drawn up and read in the Jama Mosque of the Round City. Meanwhile, Abu Ahmad's army, which is not mentioned as having participated in the battle that day, remained encamped on the eastern side. As a result, the siege of the city continued.
  After the battle for the Qatrabbul Gate, the siege effectively turned into a stalemate. Throughout the late spring and summer, the Samarrans and Baghdadis regularly engaged each other around the defensive fortifications of the city and inflicted many casualties on each other, but neither side was able to gain a clear advantage. Over the following months, the fighting spread to the districts neighboring Baghdad, as both sides fought to control the routes leading into the city. The Samarrans were able to limit the level of supplies reaching the defenders, but were unable to prevent the Baghdadi armies from moving in and out of the city.
  The stalemate around Baghdad remained unbroken until early September. On the morning of September 8, however, the Samarran armies on both sides of the city engaged in a major assault on the fortifications. While the Samarrans on the eastern side attacked the Shammasiyyah Gate, the Turks and North Africans on the western side managed to punch through the initial line of defenses and advance to the Anbar Gate. Despite being caught unaware, the defenders at the Anbar Gate put up a staunch 
caption: Northern Baghdad as it existed at the time of the siege, showing the location of the walls of al-Musta'in
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