Overview

al-Mu'tasim died on Thursday, eleven nights before the end of Rabi' al-Awwal 227 AH, according to al-Suyuti. ¹

His last illness

al-Suyuti relates that he said in his illness: "The stratagem is gone, and there is no stratagem left." In another account he began to say: "I am being taken from among this creation." ¹

al-Suyuti says that he had resolved to march to the far west, to rule the lands that had not entered the rule of the Banu al-Abbas. He said to Ahmad ibn al-Khasib that the Banu Umayya had ruled, and that they had an Umayyad amir in al-Andalus. Then his illness grew severe and he died. ¹

The Gregorian date is derived from the Hijri date.

Conquest of Amorium

Al-Mu'tasim set out campaigning into Byzantine lands in the year 223, though some say his departure was in 224 or 222, after he had killed Babak. According to al-Suyuti, he took it by the sword, killed thirty thousand of its people and took as many captive. The astrologers had judged the ascendant unlucky when he was preparing and that he would be broken; yet his victory exceeded anything feared, and Abu Tammam said that the sword is truer in its reports than books. According to al-Mas'udi, al-Mu'tasim was roused to war, donning a white woollen tunic and the raider's turban, when Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi recited to him, 'O raid of God, you have now beheld it, so break in.' He encamped on the west bank of the Tigris on Monday, two nights into Jumada I in the year 223. He placed Ashnas in the vanguard, Itakh on the right wing, Ja'far ibn Dinar al-Khayyat on the left, Bugha al-Kabir in the rear, and Ajif at the centre. He entered by the Pass of Safety, while al-Afshin entered by the Pass of Hadath; he met the king and defeated him. Lawi the patrician came out to him from Amorium and surrendered it; he took Batis captive, killed thirty thousand, and stayed four days demolishing and burning.

Death of al-Mu'tasim

At a glance

In time

Overview

His last illness

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Conquest of Amorium