15 Facts About Wasif al-Turki

Wasif al-Turki was a Turkic general in the service of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Wasif al-Turki played a central role in the events that followed the assassination of al-Mutawakkil in 861, known as the Anarchy at Samarra.

Wasif al-Turki was originally a slave and was owned by the Nu'man family in Baghdad, where he worked as an armorer.

In 838 Wasif al-Turki participated in al-Mu'tasim's Amorium campaign, and is mentioned as commanding the caliph's advance guard as they passed through the Gates of Tarsus.

The group eventually agreed to select al-Mutawakkil, and Wasif al-Turki was among the first to render the oath of allegiance to the new caliph.

Wasif al-Turki was not a member of the assassination team, but he was a central figure in the plot.

In early 862 Wasif al-Turki was appointed by the caliph to undertake a major campaign on the Byzantine frontier.

The decision to select Wasif al-Turki was allegedly the work of the vizier Ahmad ibn al-Khasib, a political rival who sought to remove the general from Samarra.

Wasif al-Turki seems to have had no objection to the assignment and led a large force to the frontier, where he captured a fortress from the Byzantines.

Wasif al-Turki subsequently became al-Musta'in's administrative assistant, while his secretary became vizier.

Wasif al-Turki bribed al-Mu'ayyad to speak positively to the caliph about him, while Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil spoke on Bugha's behalf.

Wasif al-Turki ordered the repair of the Mecca Road and put Abu al-Saj Dewdad in charge of the project.

Wasif al-Turki appointed the Dulafid 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Abu Dulaf as his deputy governor in al-Jibal, and sent him cloaks signifying his appointment.

Wasif al-Turki told the rioters that there was no money to pay them, at which point Bugha and Sima decided to depart.

Wasif al-Turki was then taken to a nearby residence, but the soldiers dragged him out and struck him with axes until they broke both his arms and decapitated him, and his head was placed on top of a stick.