Mu'nis's march on Baghdad and the killing of al-Muqtadir

مسير مؤنس إلى بغداد وقتل المقتدر

320 AH

In Shawwal of the year 320 Mu'nis set out from Mosul toward Baghdad, and the battle between the two armies took place at al-Shammasiya, where al-Muqtadir was killed. Al-Tabari reports that Mu'nis's grief was intense when the body was carried to him ^{1 2}. According to al-Suyuti, most of Mu'nis's troops were Berbers; when the two sides met, a Berber struck al-Muqtadir with a spear so that he fell to the ground, then slaughtered him with a sword, raised his head on a spear, stripped the clothing from him, and left him exposed until he was covered with grass; a grave was dug on the spot and he was buried, on Wednesday, three days before the end of Shawwal of the year 320 ³. According to al-Mas'udi, he was killed in the battle between him and Mu'nis the servant at the Shammasiya gate on the eastern side, on Wednesday, three nights before the end of Shawwal of the year 320, at the time of the afternoon prayer; the common people buried him. Al-Fadl ibn Ja'far al-Ta'li' cast the astrological hour for his ride out and named midday, so al-Muqtadir frowned and wished not to go out until Mu'nis's horsemen appeared above him ⁴. According to Ibn al-Athir, he went out against his will, with jurists and reciters ahead of him carrying well-known copies of the Qur'an, wearing the cloak (burda), with people around him. He stood on a high mound far from the battle while his commanders sent asking him again and again to advance; when they pressed him he advanced from the vanguard, but his men had fled before he reached them. He had proclaimed that whoever brought a prisoner would receive ten dinars and whoever brought a head would receive five. When his men had fled, Ali ibn Baliq, one of Mu'nis's companions, met him, dismounted, kissed the ground and said: 'Where are you going? Turn back.' As he tried to turn back, a group of Maghariba and Berbers caught up with him and drew their swords. He said: 'Woe to you, I am the caliph.' They said: 'We know you, you vagabond; you are the caliph of Iblis. You pay five dinars for every head and ten for every prisoner.' One of them struck him on the shoulder with his sword and he fell to the ground; some of them slaughtered him. Al-Muqtadir was heavy-bodied and large; they raised his head on a pole, shouting 'God is greatest' and cursing him, took everything on him down to his trousers, and left him exposed until a man from the Kurds passed and covered him with grass; they then dug a grave on the spot, buried him and levelled the grave. Mu'nis had been at al-Rashidiya and had not witnessed the battle; when al-Muqtadir's head was brought to him he wept, struck his face and head, and said: 'You corrupters, this is not what I charged you with. You have killed him, and this was the end of his affairs. By God, we will all be killed.' What Mu'nis did emboldened the provincial commanders against the caliphs and made them greedy for things they had never imagined; awe dissolved and the authority of the caliphate weakened ⁵. According to Ibn al-Jawzi, he rode out on Wednesday, three nights before the end of Shawwal of the year 320, and passed along the street toward his tent, wearing a silver robe and a black turban, with the cloak over his shoulders, banners of kingship before him, and a group of commanders around him holding copies of the Qur'an; people called down blessings on him. Then the battle began. Among Mu'nis's Berbers they surrounded al-Muqtadir, and a man struck him from behind with a blow that brought him to the ground. He said: 'I am the caliph.' The man said: 'By your Lord, it is you I am after,' laid him down and slaughtered him with the sword, raised his head on a sword and then on a pole, and stripped his clothing until one of the farmhands passed and covered him with grass. They dug a grave on the spot and buried his body without his head, at the Barqa of al-Shammasiya on the side of the village of Yahya. His head was taken to Mu'nis. He was thirty-eight years, one month and five days old, and he was killed at the fourth hour. His caliphate had lasted twenty-four years, eleven months and fourteen days, of which two days and three deposals, during which he was removed from the caliphate before being restored ⁶.