Siege of Baghdad in the strife of al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz

حصار بغداد في فتنة المستعين والمعتز

c. 865 CE · 251 AH – February 866 CE · 252 AH

Baghdad

In 251 Bugha al-Saghir and Wasif were killed at the hands of Bagir the Turk, and the affairs of the clients in Samarra were thrown into turmoil. Al-Musta'in fled to Baghdad, to Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Tahir, who cut off supplies to the people of Samarra, forbidding anything to go up from Baghdad or down to it. Al-Musta'in ordered him to fortify Baghdad: a wall was raised from Bab al-Shammasiya to the Tuesday market and from Bab Qati'at Umm Ja'far to the palace of Humayd, trenches were dug round both walls on both sides, and shelters were built where horsemen could sit out heat and rain; the cost reached three hundred thousand dinars and thirty thousand dinars. At Bab al-Shammasiya five crushing engines were set across the road, plated with iron and tied with ropes, with a suspended gate released to crush whoever came beneath it; the inner gate had one catapult, the outer gate five large mangonels, the greatest called al-Ghadban, and six catapults faced toward Raqqat al-Shammasiya; at Bab al-Burdan there were eight catapults, four on each side, and four crushing engines; and the same was done at every gate of Baghdad on both the eastern and western sides ¹. When the Turks and the Maghariba reached the gates of the City of Peace on the eastern side, the gates were shut in their faces and they were struck with arrows, mangonels and catapults; many fell on both sides and many were wounded, and this went on until the afternoon ². The war between Baghdad's people and the Samarra army continued until al-Musta'in deposed himself; al-Mu'tazz was pledged allegiance on Friday, four days into Muharram 252. Al-Musta'in was moved to the palace of al-Hasan ibn Sahl at al-Mukharram, and his staff and ring were taken from him ³.