228 chapter six
The Turkish Separatist Movement
The influence of the Turks began when the Caliph al-Mùsta"sìm
(833–842) surrounded himself with 4000 strong Turks from Transoxiana
to counterbalance the influence of the Persian hegemony in the army.
The Persian influence was an inevitable consequence of the dispute
between the two sons of Harùn al-Rashìd over the caliphate. Al-
Ma"mùn (813–833), whose mother was Persian, sought the support of
the Persians against his Brother al-Amin (809–813) whose mother
was an Arab (Al- ̨abarì). With the victory sealed for al-Ma"mùn the
Persians felt that the caliph owed them his victory. But importing the
Turks guard had an opposite effect. The predominantly Turkish guards
soon overpowered the caliph so much that in 861 the Caliph Al-
Mùtawakkil was murdered by his guards at the instigation of his son.
The Turkish separatist movement was first witnessed in Egypt. Prior
to the Fatimids, the Tulùnìd dynasty was founded by Ahmad ibn-
Tùlùn, whose Turkish father was a slave sent in 817 by the ruler
of Bukhara as a present to al-Ma"mùn (813–833). The dynasty lasted
from 808 until it reverted to the Abbasìd caliph in 905. At its zenith,
the Tùlùn dynasty ruled Syria in 877, when Ibn-Tùlùn annexed it
without considerable resistance, and for the first time since the
Pharaonic time a government in Egypt, Ahmad ibn-Tùlùn, ruled
both provinces of Egypt and Syria, and for many centuries to come
Syria continued to be ruled from the valley of the Nile (Hitti, 1963).
The Tulùnìd Egypt witnessed some favourable economic and artis-
tic activities. Realising the importance of agriculture to the economy
of Egypt, the Tùlùnids paid particular attention to the irrigation sys-
tem and public works. Arts, architecture and craftsmanship also devel-
oped. Ahmad ibn-Tùlùn’s mosque is standing in Cairo today as an
architectural sight and a tourist attraction. The Tùlùnid dynasty was,
however, short-lived. It consisted of only two generations; the founder
father, a successor son, two grandsons, and the founder’s son. The
dynasty did not have the deep political or traditional roots that would
strengthen its existence in the Egyptian soil. Relying mainly on a
recruited bodyguard-cum-army imported from foreign origins, with
no theological philosophy based on religion, even if controversial,the
dynasty did not have the much needed support of the masses. With
no broad genealogical base and a distinctive approach to theology
on the part of the rulers, there was perhaps a mutual sense of alien-
ation between both the rulers and the subjects. Apart from a strong
governing imported army, a superficial allegiance to an ailing caliph