Bugha, mawla of al-Mu'tasim (Bugha the Elder)

بُغا مولى المعتصم (بُغا الكبير)

Bugha, mawla of al-Mu'tasim bi'llah (the Elder); in al-Baladhuri from Bardha'a's people: while governor of Armenia, Adharbayjan and Shimshat he rebuilt Shamkur in year 240 after the Sawardiyya had ruined it, settling in it people who came out to him from the Khazars under safe-conduct desiring Islam, transferring Bardha'a's merchants to it and naming it al-Mutawakkiliyya.

Overview

Bugha al-Kabir, a client of al-Mu'tasim. Al-Baladhuri relates from the people of Barda'a that he was governor of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Shamshat. In 240 AH he rebuilt Shamkur after the Sawardiyya had ruined it. He settled there people who had come to him from the Khazars seeking safety and desiring Islam, and moved merchants there from Barda'a, and named it "al-Mutawakkiliyya". ¹ He took part in the founding of al-Mutawakkiliyya.

In al-Mas'udi

Al-Mas'udi relates that a trick was devised against him: notes were thrown into al-Mutawakkil's tent that he had plotted to kill him, and in his tent it was said that boys had resolved to kill the caliph. He rode with his horsemen guarding the places. Al-Mutawakkil believed the notes and left him in Syria, and the clients then did what they did. ²

al-Mutawakkil ala Allah

Abbasid caliph, killed in 247; al-Tabari mentions some of his affairs and conduct. According to al-Suyuti he was known for enmity to Ali (nasb), immersed in pleasures and wine, had four thousand concubines and had relations with all of them. He was generous and much praised; it was said that no caliph gave a poet what he gave. Eight men, each the son of a caliph, greeted him as caliph: Mansur ibn al-Mahdi, al-Abbas ibn al-Hadi, Abu Ahmad ibn al-Rashid, Abd Allah ibn al-Amin, Musa ibn al-Ma'mun, Ahmad ibn al-Mu'tasim, Muhammad ibn al-Wathiq, and his son al-Muntasir. According to al-Suyuti he was the first caliph to adopt a madhhab, following that of al-Shafi'i. He said to al-Fath ibn Khaqan, when the latter described to him the finest life, a man with a spacious house, a righteous wife and a settled livelihood, who does not know us so that we might harm him, nor needs us so that we might despise him. He said to Yazid al-Muhallabi, 'The caliphs used to be harsh with the subjects so that they would obey; I am gentle with them so that they love and obey me'. According to al-Mas'udi, the days of Abu al-Wazir in the vizierate were few; he employed Muhammad ibn al-Fadl al-Jarjara'i, then 'Ubayd Allah ibn Yahya in 233, until the latter was killed. When someone informed on 'Ali ibn Muhammad al-'Alawi to him, he raided him at night, found him wearing a wool shirt and chanting verses of promise and threat, honoured him, seated him, and excused him from his cup. According to al-Mas'udi he took oaths of succession for his three sons, set down in documents and conditions: he made his heir al-Muntasir, then al-Mu'tazz, then Ibrahim al-Mu'ayyad. The oath was taken from the people accordingly, and he distributed money.

Bugha, mawla of al-Mu'tasim (Bugha the Elder)

At a glance

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In al-Mas'udi

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al-Mutawakkil ala Allah