17 Facts About Al-Mu'tasim

Al-Mu'tasim's armies defeated Emperor Theophilos and sacked the city of Amorium.

Al-Mu'tasim's parents were the fifth Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid, and Marida bint Shabib, a slave concubine.

Al-Mu'tasim led the pilgrimage the following year, but no details are known.

Al-Mu'tasim discontinued the practice, removing the Arab families from the army registers and ordering that the revenues of Egypt be sent to the central government, which would then pay a cash salary only to the Turkish troops stationed in the province.

Al-Mu'tasim was dismissed in 836, and was lucky not to suffer any punishment more severe than being sent into exile to the village of al-Sinn.

Al-Mu'tasim was dismissed from his position in the caliphal bodyguard, and a show trial was held at the palace, where he was confronted with several witnesses, including Mazyar.

Al-Mu'tasim died soon after, either of starvation or of poison.

Al-Mu'tasim's body was publicly gibbeted in front of the palace gates, burned, and thrown in the Tigris.

Al-Mu'tasim confirmed him in his post on his accession, but trouble soon began when Mazyar refused to accept his subordination to the Tahirid viceroy of the east, Abdallah ibn Tahir, instead insisting on paying the taxes of his region directly to al-Mu'tasim's agent.

Al-Mu'tasim's forces were bolstered by some 14,000 Khurramites who fled into the Empire, became baptized and enrolled in the Byzantine army under the command of their leader Nasr, better known by his Christian name Theophobos.

Al-Mu'tasim led a large army, reportedly numbering over 70,000 men, in an almost unopposed invasion of the region around the upper Euphrates.

Al-Mu'tasim declared his target to be Amorium, the birthplace of the reigning Byzantine dynasty.

Al-Mu'tasim was forced to cut short his campaign and return quickly to his realm, without bothering with Theophilos and his forces, stationed in nearby Dorylaion.

Al-Mu'tasim was buried in the Jawsaq al-Khaqani palace in Samarra.

Al-Mu'tasim's reign represents a watershed moment in the history of the Abbasid state, and had long-lasting repercussions in Islamic history.

Al-Mu'tasim had been formerly a concubine of his cousin Ja'far ibn al-Hadi, his brothers al-Amin and al-Ma'mun, and Ali ibn Hisham.

Al-Mu'tasim was from Khwarazm, and was related to Musa ibn Bugha the Elder.