Al-Mustarshid

Biography

Early life and personality

Al-Mustarshid was born in 1092. He was son of Caliph Al-Mustazhir. His mother was a Slavic concubine named Lubanah. She was from Baghdad. His was named Al-Fadl by his father. His full name was Al-Fadl ibn Ahmad al-Mustazhir and his Kunya was Abu Mansur. After the death of his father in 1118, he succeeded him as Caliph.

Physically, al-Mustarshid was a red-haired man with blue eyes and freckles.

Reign and conflicts with Seljuks and Dubays ibn Sadaqa

Al-Mustarshid achieved more independence as a ruler while the Seljuk sultan Mahmud II was engaged in war in the East.

Muhammad I Tapar died in 1118 and was succeeded as Seljuk sultan by his eldest son Mahmud II. It was not long before the new sultan's younger brother Mas'ud rebelled against him, joining forces with Dubays. In 1120, Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, then a leading commander of the sultan's army, met Mas'ud and Dubays in battle in Azerbaijan, quelling the rebellion for the time being. Supporting al-Bursuqi was the young officer Zengi whose loyalty to the sultan would soon be rewarded.

An alliance was formed with the Artuqid Ilghazi, emir of Aleppo, by Dubays marrying his daughter Guhar Khatun. In 1121, their combined forces suffered a major defeat at the hand of David IV of Georgia at the Battle of Didgori, with the two commanders barely escaping with their lives. Ilghazi died in November 1122 and was succeeded at Aleppo by his son Timurtash under the regency of Belek Ghazi. Bad blood soon developed between Dubays and Aleppo's new leadership.

In 1122, Zengi was granted iqta' for the city of Wasit and placed in charge of the defense of Basra, likely at the request of the sultan, rewarding his loyalty. That same year, the caliph al-Mustarshid growing weary of Dubyas, installed al-Bursuqi as commander-in-chief (shinha) of Iraq and Baghdad. In the summer of 1122, al-Bursuqi was defeated by Dubyas and his Artuqid followers leading the sultan to call for jihad against the Mazyadid alliance. Mahmud ordered a military expedition from Mosul to southern Iraq, led by Zengi under the orders of al-Bursuqi, then commander-in-chief of the sultan's army. Zengi, in his first major military command, garrisoned his troops around Wasit, and then defeated Dubays' forces at the Battle of Mubarraqiyya in March 1123.

In 1122, al-Mustarshid deposed and imprisoned his vizier Amid al-dawla Jalal al-Din Hasan ibn Ali. Mahmud II then imposed Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk as al-Mustarshid's vizier. Ahmad later fought against the Mazyadid chief Dubays ibn Sadaqa. Ahmad also fortified the walls around Baghdad.

During al-Mustarshid's caliphate, Baghdad was to some extent controlled militarily by Mahmud, who installed Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk as the caliph's vizier. During a Seljuk shakeup in 1123, the caliph removed Ahmad from his position. Dubays tried to take advantage of this situation and, after plundering Bosra, attacked Baghdad together with the sultan's brother Mas’ud. They were however crushed by an army led by Zengi and Ahmad.

Reign after 1123

One year later, Mahmud II removed Shams al-Mulk Uthman as his vizier, and had him executed. The Abbasid caliph then used this opportunity to get rid of Ahmad as his vizier. Ahmad then retired to a school founded by his father, the Nizamiyya of Baghdad, where he lived the last 25 years of his life, dying in 1149/1150.

In 1123, Banu Mazyad chieftain Dubays ibn Sadaqa tried to take advantage of the momentary lack of power and, after plundering Bosra, attacked Baghdad together with a young brother of the sultan, Ghiyath ad-Din Mas’ud (known as Mas'ud). He was however crushed by an army under Zengi and Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk. During the same year, al-Mustarshid removed Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk as his vizier. In 1125, it was the time of al-Mustarshid to rebel. He sent an army to take Wasit but was defeated near Baghdad and imprisoned in his palace the next year.

Wishing to contain Dubays ibn Sadaqa, in 1122 Mahmūd II ordered a military expedition from Mosul to southern Iraq, commanded by Zengi and Altun-Tash al-Aburi under the orders of Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi. Zengi, for whom this was the first major military command, garrisoned his troops around Wasit, and was granted Governorship of the region of Wasit as an ıqta. In alliance with the troops of the Caliphate, they defeated Dubays at the Battle of Mubarraqiyya in 1123. Zengi then received in addition to his previous responsibilities the Military Governorship of Basra in 1124.

In order to counter the ambitions of al-Mustarshid, who wanted to acquire world dominance, the Seljuks led by Mahmud II now waged a campaign against him. With some decisive leadership from Zengi, the Seljuks managed to take control of Baghdad and the Caliphate, pillaging the Caliph's palace. The Caliph sued for peace and had to pay a huge ransom. In addition to his possessions in Wasit and Basra, Zengi was promoted and received the Governorship for Baghdad in April 1126, receiving the title of shihna effectively putting him in control of the whole of Seljuk Iraq. In 1127, following the murder of Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, Zengi was named Governor of Mosul, where the Atabegdom of Mosul was formed.

After the death of Mahmud II, a civil war broke out in the Seljuk western territories. Zengi was recalled to the east by certain rebel members, stimulated by the caliph and Dubays. Both Dubays and Zengi were seeking a delicate balance between competing Seljuk potentates. At one point, Sanjar invited the two to invade Iraq and on 20 June 1132, they confronted the forces of al-Mustarshid at Fortress of Hisn al-Baramika, north of Baghdad. Despite having a superior force, the caliph prevailed and the expansion visions of Zengi and Dubays were shattered. Zengi was beaten and fled. The caliph pursued him to Mosul, and besieged him there but without success for three months. It was nonetheless a milestone in the revival of the military power of the caliphate.

Family

Al-Mustarshid's only wife was Amira Khatun, the daughter of Seljuk sultan Ahmad Sanjar. They married in 1124. One of his concubines was Khushf. She was from Iraq, and was the mother of his son, Mansur, the future caliph Al-Rashid Billah. He had another son who died of smallpox in 1131 aged twenty one.

Death and succession

Final years and assassination

Not long after the siege of Damascus, al-Mustarshid launched a military campaign against Seljuk sultan Mas'ud, who had obtained the title in Baghdad in January 1133 by the caliph himself. The rival armies met near Hamadan. The caliph, deserted by his troops, was taken prisoner, and pardoned on the promising not to quit his palace. Left in the caliphal tent, however, in the sultan's absence, he was found murdered while reading the Quran, as is supposed, by an emissary of the Assassins, who had no love for the caliph. Modern historians have suspected that Mas'ud instigated the murder although the two most important historians of the period Ibn al-Athir and Ibn al-Jawzi did not speculate on this matter.

In 1135, Dubays was murdered by Assassins at the same time as the assassination of al-Mustarshid.

Actually, Nizari Ismailis during Kiya Buzurg's time had created a list of the number of assassinations; the list include the caliph Al-Mustarshid, a prefect of Isfahan, a governor of Maragha, a prefect of Tabriz, and a Qadi of Qazvin.

Succession

He was succeeded by his son al-Rashid Billah in the year 1135. He ruled for just one year from 1135 up to his deposition on 17 August 1136. When the populace of Baghdad rose in revolt against him. His son was succeeded by his half-brother al-Muqtafi on 17 September 1136.

Al-Muqtafi was the son of al-Mustazhir from his concubine named Ashin. She was from Syria.