Amir al-Umara — the over-commandership

Amir al-umara ("commander of the commanders") is a comprehensive political title, whose history Hasan Ibrahim Hasan presents in Tarikh al-Islam. ¹

According to Miskawayh, the first to hold it was Harun ibn Gharib, in the year 316 AH, in the caliphate of al-Muqtadir. ¹

The title became the gateway to the new state when al-Radi handed the reins of affairs to Muhammad ibn Ra'iq. The commander of the commanders became independent in appointing and dismissing governors, and in administering the land tax, the estates, and the whole realm. The sermon was delivered in his name from the pulpits, he was given a kunya, and robes of honour and banners were sent to him. His standing rose above that of the vizier, and the caliph came to possess no authority at all. ¹

The office passed to Bajkam, and then to Ahmad ibn Buya, who took the title Mu'izz al-Dawla and ruled Baghdad on behalf of the caliphate for nearly a century. See the Buyids. ¹

The Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.) describes the amir al-umara as the chief amir, the commander-in-chief of the army. The title was at first confined to military command, but the praetorians grew stronger, and the first bearer, the eunuch Mu'nis, became the real ruler: it was he who rescued the weak caliph al-Muqtadir during the conspiracy on behalf of Abd Allah ibn al-Mu'tazz in 296 (908). When al-Radi appointed Muhammad ibn Ra'iq, governor of Wasit, to the title in 324 (November 936), the caliph had to hand over the whole civil authority to him; his name was even mentioned in the public prayers beside the caliph's. The amirs became the real rulers, and the caliphs sank into shadows of their former power. ²

The title is very rarely found in Mamluk sources. One source makes it synonymous with baklarbaki, a title given to the atabak al-asakir, and other amirs also bore it. In Ottoman usage amir al-umara and its equivalent mir-i miran were common synonyms for beylerbeyi. ²