Al - Muwaffaq Abu Ahmad Talha ibn Ja ' far ( ) ( 842 – June 2 , 891 ) , better known by his " laqab " as al - Muwaffaq bi - Allah ( , " Blessed of God " ) , was an Abbasid prince and military leader , who acted as the virtual regent of the Abbasid Caliphate for most of the reign of his brother , Caliph al - Mu ' tamid . His stabilization of the internal political scene after the decade - long " Anarchy at Samarra " , his successful defence of Iraq against the Saffarids and the suppression of the Zanj Rebellion restored a measure of the Caliphate ' s former power and began a period of recovery , which culminated in the reign of al - Muwaffaq ' s own son , the Caliph al - Mu ' tadid . Early life . Talha , commonly known by the teknonymic Abu Ahmad , was the son of the Caliph Ja ' far al - Mutawakkil ( r . 847 – 861 ) and a slave concubine , Umm Ishaq . In 861 , he was present in his father ' s murder at Samarra by the Turkish military : the historian al - Tabari reports that he had been drinking with his father that night , and came upon the assassins while going to the toilet , but after a brief attempt to protect the caliph , he retired to his own rooms when he realized that his efforts were futile . The murder was almost certainly instigated by al - Mutawakkil ' s son and heir , al - Muntasir , who immediately ascended the throne ; Abu Ahmad ' s own role in the affair remains suspect , however , given his close ties later on with the Turkish military leaders . According to Hugh N . Kennedy , " it is possible , therefore , that Abu Ahmad had already had close links with the young Turks before the murder , or that they were forged on that night " . This murder opened a period of internal upheaval known as the " Anarchy at Samarra " , where the Turkish military chiefs vied with other powerful groups and with each other over control of the government and its resources . It was during this period , in February 865 , that Caliph al - Musta ' in ( r . 862 – 866 ) and two of the senior Turkish officers , Wasif and Bugha the Younger , fled Samarra to Baghdad , where they could count on the support of the Tahirids . The Turkish army in Samarra then selected al - Musta ' in ' s brother al - Mu ' tazz ( r . 866 – 869 ) as Caliph , and Abu Ahmad was entrusted with the conduct of operations against al - Musta ' in and his supporters . The ensuing siege of Baghdad lasted from February to December 865 , after which a negotiated settlement was reached . Contrary to the agreed terms , al - Musta ' in was murdered . It was most likely during this time that Abu Ahmad forged his close ties to the Turkish military , especially Musa ibn Bugha , who played a crucial role during the siege . Abu Ahmad further solidified these ties when he secured a pardon for Bugha the Younger , who had sided with al - Musta ' in . On his return to Samarra , Abu Ahmad was initially received with honour by the Caliph , but soon he was thrown into prison as a potential rival , along with another of his brothers , al - Mu ' ayyad . The latter was soon executed , but Abu Ahmad survived thanks to the protection of the Turkish military . Eventually , he was released and exiled to Basra before being allowed to return to Baghdad . He was so popular there that at the time of al - Mu ' tazz ' s death , there was popular agitation in the city in favour of his elevation to Caliph . Instead , al - Muhtadi ( r . 869 – 870 ) was chosen . Regent of the Caliphate . At the time al - Muhtadi was killed by the Turks in June 870 , Abu Ahmad was at Mecca . Immediately he hastened north to Samarra , where he and his associate Musa ibn Bugha effectively sidelined the new Caliph , al - Mu ' tamid ( r . 870 – 892 ) , and assumed control of the government . Within a short time , Abu Ahmad was conferred an extensive governorate covering most of the lands still under caliphal authority : western Arabia , southern Iraq with Baghdad , and Fars . To denote his authority , he assumed an honorific name in the style of the caliphs , al - Muwaffaq bi - Allah . His power was further expanded in 875 , when the Caliph included him in the line of succession after his own son , Ja ' far al - Mufawwad , and divided the empire in two large spheres of government . The western provinces were given to al - Mufawwad , while al - Muwaffaq was given charge of the eastern ones , but in practice , al - Muwaffaq continued to exercise control over the western provinces as well . Al - Mu ' tamid was largely confined to Samarra , while al - Muwaffaq and his personal vizier s ( Sulayman ibn Wahb , Sa ' id ibn Makhlad and Isma ' il ibn Bulbul ) ruled the Caliphate from Baghdad . What little autonomy al - Mu ' tamid enjoyed was further curtailed after the death of the long - serving vizier Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya ibn Khaqan in 877 , when al - Muwaffaq assumed the right to appoint the Caliph ' s viziers himself . Al - Muwaffaq ' s personal secretary Sa ' id ibn Makhlad was the outstanding figure in the Caliphate ' s bureaucracy until his own disgrace in 885 , followed after by Isma ' il ibn Bulbul , who served concurrently as vizier to both brothers . In his close association with the military , al - Muwaffaq differed from most Abbasid princes of his time , and in this his career echoes that of his grandfather , the Caliph al - Mu ' tasim ( r . 833 – 842 ) . Like him , al - Muwaffaq ' s position relied to a great extent on his close ties with the Turkish military : following the demands of the Turkish rank and file for one of the Caliph ' s brothers to be appointed as their commander , bypassing their own leaders , who were accused of misappropriating salaries , he was appointed the main intermediary between the caliphal government and the Turkish military . In return for the Turks ' loyalty he abolished the other competing corps of the caliphal army such as the " Maghariba " or the " Faraghina " , which are no longer mentioned after ca . 870 . Hugh Kennedy sums up the arrangement thus : " al - Muwaffaq assured their status and their position as the army of the caliphate and al - Muwaffaq ' s role in the civil administration meant that they received their pay " . Al - Muwaffaq ' s close personal relationship with the Turkish military leadership — initially Musa ibn Bugha , and Kayghalagh and Ishaq ibn Kundaj after Musa ' s death in 877 — his own prestige as a prince of the dynasty , and the exhaustion after a decade of civil strife allowed him to establish unchallenged control over the Turks , as indicated by their willingness to participate in costly campaigns under his leadership . Campaigns . As the main military leader of the Caliphate , it fell upon al - Muwaffaq to meet the numerous challenges to caliphal authority that sprung up during these years , and indeed , as Michael Bonner writes , " al - Muwaffaq ' s decisive leadership was to save the Abbasid caliphate from destruction on more than one occasion " . The main military threats to the Abbasid Caliphate were the Zanj Rebellion in southern Iraq and the ambitions of Ya ' qub ibn al - Layth , the founder of the Saffarid dynasty , in the east . A humble soldier , Ya ' qub , surnamed al - Saffar ( " the Coppersmith " ) , had exploited the decade - long Samarra strife to first gain control over his native Sistan , and by 873 he had gained control over almost all of the eastern lands of the Caliphate , ousting the hitherto dominant Tahirids from power , a move denounced by al - Muwaffaq . Finally , in 875 he seized control of the province of Fars , which not only provided much of the scarce revenue for the Caliphate ' s coffers , but was also dangerously close to Iraq . The Abbasids tried to prevent an attack by Ya ' qub by formally recognizing him as governor over all the eastern provinces and special honours including adding his name to the Friday prayer and the influential position of " sahib al - shurta " ( chief of police ) in Baghdad . Nevertheless , in the next year Ya ' qub began his advance on Baghdad , until Ya ' qub was confronted and decisively beaten by the Abbasids under al - Muwaffaq and Musa ibn Bugha at the Battle of Dayr al - ' Aqul near Baghdad . The victory , a surprise to many , saved the capital and allowed for the recovery of Ahwaz , but despite Ya ' qub ' s death from illness in 879 the Saffarids remained firmly ensconced in their possession of most of Iran . The struggle against the uprising of the Zanj slaves in the marshlands of southern Iraq — according to Michael Bonner " the greatest slave rebellion in the history of Islam " — which began in September 869 , was longer and more difficult , and almost brought the Caliphate to is knees . Due to the Saffarid threat , the Abbasids could not mobilize against the Zanj until 879 . Consequently , the Zanj initially held the upper hand , capturing much of lower Iraq including Basra and Wasit and defeating the Abbasid armies , which were reduced to trying to contain the Zanj advance . The balance tipped in 879 , when al - Muwaffaq ' s son Abu ' l - Abbas , the future Caliph al - Mu ' tadid ( r . 892 – 902 ) , was given the command , joined in 880 by al - Muwaffaq himself . In a succession of engagements in the marshes of southern Iraq , the Abbasid forces drove back the Zanj towards their capital , Mukhtara , which fell in August 883 . During this time , Al - Muwaffaq also had to confront the challenge posed by the ambitious governor of Egypt , Ahmad ibn Tulun . Exploiting the rift between the increasingly powerless Caliph and his brother with demonstrations of support for the former , and relying on a powerful army built up from Egypt ' s riches , Ibn Tulun managed to gain control over Syria and the frontier zone with the Byzantine Empire ( the " Thughur " ) . Al - Muwaffaq tried to counter Ibn Tulun ' s advances by naming the trusted Musa ibn Bugha as governor of Egypt , but lack of funds foiled his plans , allowing Ibn Tulun to consolidate his power in the west . In 882 , al - Mu ' tamid tried to escape from Samarra to seek sanctuary from Ibn Tulun , but was apprehended and he was placed under effective house arrest . This event opened the rift between Ibn Tulun and al - Muwaffaq even further , with Ibn Tulun trying to declare " jihad " against the regent and the latter having curses against the Tulunid read from the mosques across the Caliphate . After Ibn Tulun ' s death in 884 , al - Muwaffaq attempted again to retake control of Egypt from Ibn Tulun ' s successor Khumarawayh . Khumarawayh , however defeated an expedition under Abu ' l - Abbas , and extended his control over most of the Jazira and Cilicia as well . In 886 , al - Muwaffaq was forced to recognize the Tulunids as governors over Egypt and Syria for 30 years , in exchange for an annual tribute of 300 , 000 gold dinar s . With the Zanj subdued , after 883 al - Muwaffaq turned his attention again to the east . Ya ' qub al - Saffar ' s brother and successor , Amr ibn al - Layth , had acknowledged the Caliph ' s suzerainty and been rewarded with the governorship over the eastern provinces and the position of " sahib al - shurta " of Baghdad — essentially the same posts the Tahirids had held — in exchange for an annual tribute , but soon he was having trouble asserting his authority , especially in Khurasan , where Rafi ibn Harthama emerged as the leader of the former Tahirid troops . In 884 / 885 , Amr was formally deprived of his governorship of Khurasan in favour of the Dulafid Ahmad ibn Abd al - Aziz , and the army under the vizier Sa ' id ibn Makhlad conquered most of the province of Fars , forcing Amr himself to come to Fars . After initial success against the general Tark ibn al - Abbas , Amr was routed by Ahmad ibn Abd al - Aziz in 886 , and again in 887 by al - Muwaffaq in person . Nevertheless , the threat by the Tulunids and the Byzantines in the west forced al - Muwaffaq to negotiate a settlement in 888 / 889 that largely restored the previous " status quo " . In 890 , al - Muwaffaq again attempted to take back Fars , but this time Ahmad ibn Abd al - Aziz was defeated , and another agreement restored peace and Amr ' s titles . During this period , al - Muwaffaq ' s relations with his son Abu ' l - Abbas deteriorated , although the reason is unclear . In 889 , Abu ' l - Abbas was arrested and imprisoned on his father ' s orders , where he remained despite the demonstrations of the " ghilman " loyal to him . He apparently remained under arrest until May 891 , when al - Muwaffaq , already nearing his death , returned to Baghdad after two years he spent in Jibal . Abu ' l - Abbas was then released from captivity by his father ' s and his own troops , despite the attempt of the city commander , Abu ' l - Saqr , who hoped to secure his position by ridding al - Mu ' tamid and al - Mufawwad of a dangerous rival , to prevent it . Al - Muwaffaq died on 2 June , and was buried in al - Rusafah near his mother ' s tomb . On the very next day , Abu ' l - Abbas succeeded his father in his offices . In October 892 , al - Mu ' tamid died and Abu ' l - Abbas al - Mu ' tadid brushed aside his cousin to ascend the throne , quickly emerging as " the most powerful and effective Caliph since al - Mutawakkil " ( Kennedy ) .