154 Origins
ofhis
powertoseveralCentralAsians.Theannalsofhis
reign
echowiththeirnames:Ashns,Itkh,
Bughal-Kabir,Was.if,
andal-Afshin.
58
ItwasAshns
59
who
defended
al-MuCtas.im
in
theincidentmentionedabove;hesavedthefuture
caliphfrom
an assailant’s
knife,
n
Ashns undertook two
expeditions
for
al-Ma’mfin; in
215/830
he led Abbasid
troops against
the
Byzantines
andtwo
years
laterledthemin
Egypt.
61
Whenal-
MuCtas.im
came to
power,
he
appointed
Ashnts
governor
of
Egypt.
62
Ashns retainedthistitleforsome
years
withoutac-
tuallylivingin
or
presiding
over
Egypt.
Indeed,thechroniclers
ignore
himalmost
completely
when
recounting
the
history
of
Egypt
during
histenure.It
appears
that
al-Mutas.im
wishedto
honorAshnswith
thegovernorshipwithout
losing
his
presence
atthecourt.In223/838Ashnfisleda
variety
ofunitsbothon
the
way
tothebattleofAmorium
inAnatoliaandonthereturn.
63
Againhonoring
Ashns,
al-Mutas.im
allowed
him
to sit
ona
throne
(kursz-)
in225/840.
64
A
year
laterAshnfiswentonthe
pil-
grimage
toMeccaand
al-MuCtas.im
paid
hima
yetgreater
honor
bygiving
himcontrolof
everyregionthrough
which
hepassed
betweenSamarraand Mecca.
6
Accordingly,
he issometimes
knownasthe
governor
of
Syria,al-Jazira,
and
Egypt,
66
though
heneverruled those
provinces.
Ashnsdiedin230/845.
67
58.
A1-MuCtas.im
himselfconsideredthesemen
(naming
themall
except
Bughfi
al-Kabir)hismost
importantagents(T,3:1327).
59.AshnfiscalledaTurk:T,3:1017,1306, 1338;MDh,4:55,60;KB,
p.
259;
TYac,2:475,479,481;Balami,4:524;ITB,2:243,245,255-56,274;Mis-
kawayh,p.
438;IbnKhalliktn,3:89;TMaw,
p.
352;Ibnal-Adim,1:69.
Ghulm:allthe
referencesinnote 56 above.Mamlk:KB,
p.
256.Mawla:
Yqfit,
3:16.MawlamraLmu’minn
(on
this
term,seemy"Mawlas"):
Balog,pp.
240-43
(fiveexamples).
60.Seethereferencesinnote 56 above.
61.T,3:1103andal-Kindi,
p.
192.
62.al-Kindi,p.194;ITB,2:229;TMaw,p.416.
63.ToAmorium:
(vanguard)
T,3:1236;TYac,2:475;
(cavalry)T,3:1241;(in-
fantry)
UH,
p.
393;
(leftwing)
T,3:1244.FromAmorium:
(rightwing)T,
3:1260;
(rearguard)
T,3:1261-62.
64.
T,3:1302;UH,p.
404.
65.T,3:1318.
66.Ibnal-eAdim,1:69.
- T,3:1338.