al-Mu'tazz bi-llah

المعتز بالله

Abbasid caliph, given the oath in Muharram 252 after al-Musta'in was deposed ¹; he was deposed in Rajab 255 and died in Sha'ban ^{2 3}. According to al-Suyuti he was second in succession after al-Muntasir and before al-Mu'ayyad; al-Mutawakkil wished to advance him, out of love for his mother Qabiha, without whom he could not be patient ⁴. According to al-Suyuti he was given the oath when al-Musta'in was deposed in 252, at nineteen; no caliph before him had come to the throne younger. In the first year of his reign Ashnas died leaving five hundred thousand dinars, which he took. He was the first caliph to ride with gold trappings; the caliphs before him had ridden with light silver trappings. He conferred the robe of rule on Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Tahir, then dismissed him; then on his brother Abu Ahmad, who was crowned with a crown, two sashes and two swords; then he dismissed him and exiled him to Wasit; then he conferred it on Baga al-Sharabi, who rose against him a year later and was killed. In Rajab he deposed his brother al-Mu'ayyad, beat him and shackled him, and he died ⁵. According to al-Mas'udi, al-Mutawakkil had made him second in succession after al-Muntasir, and al-Muntasir and his brother Ibrahim deposed him in 248 ⁶. According to al-Mas'udi he is al-Zubayr ibn Ja'far al-Mutawakkil, and his mother was a slave-mother called Qabiha. He was given the oath on Thursday, two nights into Muharram 252, at eighteen; he deposed himself on Monday, three nights before the end of Rajab 255, and died six days later at twenty-four and was buried at Samarra. Al-Buhturi, on the deposition of al-Musta'in, composed a jibe sending him off to Wasit: 'Let claws grow in the flesh of chickens, as far as Wasit, behind the chicken' ⁷. According to al-Mas'udi, all the Turks came to him on four nights before the end of Rajab 255, led by Salih ibn Wasif, rebuking him for his sins and demanding money; he agreed to abdicate on terms of safe-conduct, and was killed in his confinement six days after his deposition. He was the first caliph to display riding with gold trappings, when the caliphs before him had ridden with light silver trappings ⁸.