text: al - mu 'tadid abu 'l - abbas ahmad ibn talha al - muwaffaq ( 854 or 861 – 5 april 902 ) , better known by his regnal name al - mu 'tadid bi - ( arabic : بالله , " seeking support in god " ) was the abbasid caliph in baghdad from 892 until his death in 902 . al - mu 'tadid was the son of al - muwaffaq , who was the regent and virtual ruler of the abbasid state during the reign of his brother , caliph al - mu 'tamid . as a prince , the future al - mu 'tadid served under his father in various military campaigns , most notably in the suppression of the zanj rebellion , in which he played a major role . when al - muwaffaq died in june 891 al - mu 'tadid succeeded him as regent . he quickly sidelined his cousin and heir - apparent al - mufawwad , and when al - mu 'tamid died in october 892 , he succeeded to the throne . like his father , al - mu 'tadid 's power depended on his close relations with the army , first forged in the campaigns against the zanj and reinforced in later expeditions which the caliph led in person : al - mu 'tadid would prove to be the most militarily active of all abbasid caliphs . through his energy and ability , he succeeded in restoring to the abbasid state some of the power and provinces it had lost during the turmoil of the previous decades . in a series of campaigns he recovered the jazira , thughur and jibal , and effected a rapprochement with the saffarids in the east and the tulunids in the west that secured their — albeit largely nominal — recognition of caliphal suzerainty . these successes came at the cost of gearing the economy almost exclusively towards maintenance of the army , which resulted in the expansion and rise to power of the central fiscal bureaucracy and contributed to the caliph 's lasting reputation for avarice . al - mu 'tadid was also renowned for his cruelty when punishing criminals , and subsequent chroniclers record his extensive and ingenious use of torture . his reign also saw the permanent move of the capital back to baghdad , where he engaged in major building activities . despite his successes , al - mu 'tadid 's reign was ultimately too short to effect a lasting reversal of the caliphate 's fortunes , and the " abbasid revival " that he spearheaded was too dependent on the presence of capable personalities at the helm of the state . the brief reign of his less able son and heir , al - muktafi , still saw some major gains , but his later successors lacked his energy . in addition , the factionalism within the bureaucracy that had become apparent during the later years of al - mu 'tadid 's reign would debilitate the abbasid government for decades to come , leading to the subjugation of the caliphate to a series of military strongmen , culminating in the conquest of baghdad by the buyids in 946 . early life al - mu 'tadid was born ahmad , the son of talha , one of the sons of the caliph al - mutawakkil ( r . 847 – 861 ) , and a greek slave named . the exact date of his birth is unknown ; as he is variously recorded as being thirty - eight or thirty - one years old at the time of his accession , he was born either in ca . 854 or ca . 861 . in 861 , al - mutawakkil was murdered , beginning a period of internal turmoil , known as the " anarchy at samarra " from the site of the caliphate 's capital , which ended in 870 with the rise to the throne of ahmad 's uncle , al - mu 'tamid . real power however had come to lie with the elite turkish troops and with ahmad 's own father , talha , who , as the caliphate 's main military commander , served as the chief intermediary between the caliphal government and the turks . assuming the honorific name al - muwaffaq in the style of the caliphs , talha soon became the effective ruler of the caliphate , a position consolidated in 882 after a failed attempt by al - mu 'tamid to flee to egypt led to his confinement in house arrest . caliphal authority in the provinces collapsed during the " anarchy at samarra " , with the result that by the 870s the central government had lost effective control over most of the caliphate outside the metropolitan region of iraq . in the west , egypt had fallen under the control of ahmad ibn tulun , who also disputed control of syria with al - muwaffaq , while khurasan and most of the islamic east had been taken over by the saffarids , who replaced the abbasids ' loyal clients , the tahirids . most of the arabian peninsula was likewise lost to local potentates , while in tabaristan a radical zaydi shi 'a dynasty took power . even in iraq , the rebellion of the zanj slaves threatened baghdad itself , and further south the qarmatians were a nascent threat . al - muwaffaq 's regency was thus a continuous struggle to save the tottering caliphate from collapse . his attempts to recover control of egypt and syria from ibn tulun failed , with the latter even able to expand his territory and obtain his recognition as hereditary ruler , but he succeeded in preserving the core of the caliphate in iraq by repelling a saffarid invasion aiming to capture baghdad , and by subduing the zanj after a long struggle . it was against the zanj that the future al - mu 'tadid — at this time usually referred to by his kunya of abu 'l - abbas — would acquire his first military experience and establish the close ties with the army that would characterize his reign . al - muwaffaq gave his son a military training from an early age , and the young prince became " a keen horseman and took care to inspect both his troops and their mounts in person " ( hugh n. kennedy ) . within a decade from the outbreak of the revolt in 869 , the zanj had seized most of lower iraq , including the cities of basra and wasit , and expanded into khuzistan as well . in 879 the death of the founder of the saffarid state , ya 'qub al - saffar , allowed the abbasid government to fully concentrate its attention against the zanj rebellion , and abu 'l - abbas ' appointment in december 879 to command against the rebels at the head of 10 , 000 troops marks the turning - point of the war . in the long and hard struggle that followed , which involved amphibious operations in the mesopotamian marshes , abu 'l - abbas and his own military slaves ( ghilman ) — of which the long - serving al - turki was the chief — played the major role : although the abbasid armies eventually swelled with reinforcements , volunteers , and zanj defectors , it was the few but elite ghilman who formed the army 's backbone , filling its leadership positions and bearing the brunt of the battle , often under the personal command of abu 'l - abbas . after years of gradually tightening the noose around the zanj , in august 883 the abbasid troops stormed their capital of al - , putting an end to the rebellion . the detailed account of the war , written by a former zanj rebel and preserved in the history of al - tabari , stresses the role of al - muwaffaq and abu 'l - abbas as the heroes who , in defence of the embattled muslim state , suppressed the rebellion ; the successful campaign would become a major tool in their propaganda effort to legitimize their de facto usurpation of the caliph 's power . following the death of ibn tulun in may 884 , the two caliphal generals ishaq ibn kundaj and ibn abu 'l - saj sought to take advantage of the situation and attacked the tulunid domains in syria , but their initial gains were rapidly reversed . in the spring of 885 , abu 'l - abbas was sent to take charge of the invasion . he soon succeeded in defeating the tulunids and forcing them to retreat to palestine , but after a quarrel with ibn kundaj and ibn abu 'l - saj , the latter abandoned the campaign and withdrew their forces . in the battle of tawahin on 6 april , abu 'l - abbas confronted ibn tulun 's son and heir , khumarawayh , in person . the abbasid prince was initially victorious , forcing khumarawayh to flee , but was in turn defeated and fled the battlefield , while much of his army was taken prisoner . after this victory the tulunids expanded their control over the jazira and the borderlands ( the thughur ) with the byzantine empire . a peace agreement followed in 886 , whereby al - muwaffaq was forced to recognize khumarawayh as hereditary governor over egypt and syria for 30 years , in exchange for an annual tribute . over the next couple of years , abu 'l - abbas was involved in his father 's ultimately unsuccessful attempts to wrest control of fars from saffarid control . during this period , the relations between abu 'l - abbas and his father deteriorated , although the reason is unclear . already in 884 , abu 'l - abbas ' ghilman rioted in baghdad against al - muwaffaq 's vizier , sa 'id ibn makhlad , possibly over unpaid salaries . eventually , in 889 , abu 'l - abbas was arrested and put in prison on his father 's orders , where he remained despite the demonstrations of the ghilman loyal to him . he apparently remained under arrest until may 891 , when al - muwaffaq , already nearing his death , returned to baghdad after two years he spent in jibal . al - muwaffaq , suffering from gout , was already visibly nearing his end ; the vizier isma 'il ibn bulbul and the city commander of baghdad , abu 'l - saqr , called al - mu 'tamid and his sons , including the heir - apparent al - mufawwad , into the city , hoping to exploit al - muwaffaq 's imminent death for their own purposes . nevertheless , the popularity of abu 'l - abbas with the soldiers and the common people was such that he was set free , his opponents ' houses were ransacked by the mob , and the attempt to sideline him failed . thus , when al - muwaffaq died in june 891 , abu 'l - abbas succeeded him immediately in his offices , with the title of al - mu 'tadid bi - and a position in the line of succession after the caliph and al - mufawwad . within a few months , in april 892 , al - mu 'tadid had his cousin removed from the succession — and probably killed — so that when al - mu 'tamid died in october , possibly poisoned , he succeeded to the throne as caliph . reign harold bowen describes al - mu 'tadid at his accession as " in appearance upright and thin ; and on his head was a white mole , which , since white moles were not admired , he used to dye black . his expression was haughty . in character he was brave — a story was told of his killing a lion with only a dagger . [ ... ] he had inherited all his father 's energy , and cultivated a reputation of prompt action . " like his father , al - mu 'tadid ’ s power rested on his close relations with the military , and it was military activities which consumed his interest , especially as he usually led his army in person on campaign . as the historian michael bonner comments , " [ t ] he role of ' caliph ' , invented by harun al - rashid and enhanced by al - mu 'tasim , now had its greatest performance , in al - mu 'tadid 's tireless campaigning " . campaigns of reunification from the start of his reign , the new caliph set out to reverse the fragmentation of the abbasid caliphate , a goal towards with he worked by a mixture of force and diplomacy ; although an active and enthusiastic campaigner , al - mu 'tadid was also " a skilful diplomat , always prepared to make compromises with those who were too powerful to defeat " ( hugh kennedy ) . this policy became immediately evident in the conciliatory attitude the new caliph adopted towards his most powerful vassal , the tulunids : in spring 893 , al - mu 'tadid recognized and reconfirmed khumarawayh in his office as autonomous emir over egypt and syria , in exchange for an annual tribute of 300 , 000 dinars and further 200 , 000 dinars in arrears , as well as the return to caliphal control of the two jaziran provinces of diyar rabi 'a and diyar mudar . in order to seal the pact , khumarawayh offered his daughter , al - nada ( " dew drop " ) as bride to one of the caliph 's sons , but al - mu 'tadid chose to marry her himself . the tulunid princess brought with her a million dinars as her dowry , a " wedding gift that was considered the most sumptuous in medieval arab history " ( th . bianquis ) . her arrival in baghdad was marked by the luxury and extravagance of her retinue , which contrasted starkly with the impoverished caliphal court . according to a story , after a thorough search , al - mu 'tadid 's chief eunuch could only find five ornate silver - and - gold candlesticks to decorate the palace , while the princess was accompanied by 150 servants each carrying such a candlestick . thereupon al - mu 'tadid is said to have remarked " come let us go and hide ourselves , lest we be seen in our poverty " . al - nada died soon after the wedding , and the murder of khumarawayh in 896 left the tulunid state in the unsteady hands of khumarawayh 's under - age sons . al - mu 'tadid swiftly took advantage of this and in 897 extended his control over the border emirates of the thughur , where , in the words of michael bonner , " [ he ] assumed , after a long hiatus , the old caliphal prerogative of commanding the annual summer expedition and arranging the defence against the byzantine empire " . in addition , to secure caliphal recognition of his position , the new tulunid ruler harun ibn khumarawayh ( r . 896 – 904 ) was forced to further concessions , handing back all of syria north of homs , and increasing the annual tribute to 450 , 000 dinars . over the next few years , increasing domestic turmoil in the remaining tulunid domains , and the escalation of qarmatian attacks , encouraged many tulunid followers to defect to the resurgent caliphate . in the jazira the new caliph struggled against a variety of opponents : alongside an almost thirty - year - old kharijite rebellion , there were various autonomous local magnates , chiefly the shaybani ruler of amid and diyar bakr , ahmad ibn isa al - shaybani , and the taghlibi chief hamdan ibn hamdun . in 893 , while the kharijites were distracted by internal quarrels , al - mu 'tadid captured mosul from the shayban . next , in 895 hamdan ibn hamdun was evicted from his strongholds , hunted down and captured . finally , the kharijite leader harun ibn abdallah himself was defeated and captured by hamdan 's son husayn in 896 , before being sent to baghdad , where he was crucified . this exploit marked the beginning of an illustrious career for husayn ibn hamdan in the caliphal armies , and the gradual rise of the hamdanid family to power in the jazira . ahmad al - shaybani retained amid until his death in 898 , being succeeded by his son muhammad . in the next year , al - mu 'tadid returned to the jazira , ousted muhammad from amid , and reunified the entire province under central government control by installing his son and heir , ali al - muktafi , as governor . al - mu 'tadid was unable , however , to restore effective caliphal control north of the jazira in transcaucasia , where armenia and adharbayjan remained in the hands of virtually independent local dynasties . ibn abu 'l - saj , who was now the caliphal governor of adharbayjan , proclaimed himself independent in ca . 898 , although soon he recognized again the caliph 's suzerainty during his conflicts with the christian armenian princes . when he died in 901 , he was succeeded by his son , marking the consolidation of the semi - independent sajid dynasty in the region . in 900 ibn abu 'l - saj was even suspected of plotting to seize the diyar mudar province with the co - operation of the notables of tarsus , after which the vengeful caliph ordered the latter arrested and the city 's fleet burned . this decision was a major self - inflicted wound on the centuries - long war against byzantium , for in the past decades the tarsians and their fleet had played a major role in the raids against the byzantine frontier provinces . while a syrian fleet under the renegade damian of tarsus sacked the port of demetrias in ca . 900 , and arab fleets would go on wreak havoc in the aegean sea over the next two decades , on land , the byzantines , strengthened by an influx of armenian refugees like melias , began to expand their control over the border regions , scoring victories and founding new provinces ( themes ) in the former no - man 's land between the two empires . in the islamic east , the caliph was forced to acknowledge the reality of the saffarids ' domination and established a modus vivendi with them , perhaps hoping , according to hugh kennedy , to harness them in a partnership analogous to that which the tahirids had enjoyed in previous decades . consequently , the saffarids were recognized in their possession of khurasan and eastern persia as well as fars , while the abbasids were to exercise direct control over western persia , namely jibal , rayy and isfahan . this policy gave the caliph free hand to recover the territories of the dulafids , another semi - independent local dynasty that was centred on isfahan and . when the dulafid ahmad ibn abd al - aziz ibn abi died in 893 , al - mu 'tadid moved swiftly to install his son al - muktafi as governor in rayy , qazvin , qum and hamadan . the dulafids were confined to their core region around and isfahan , before being deposed outright in 896 . nevertheless , abbasid hold over these territories remained precarious , especially due to the proximity of the zaydi emirate in tabaristan , and in 897 rayy was handed over to saffarid control . the abbasid – saffarid partnership in iran was most clearly expressed in their joint effort against the general rafi ibn harthama , who had made his base in rayy and posed a threat to both caliphal and saffarid interests in the region . al - mu 'tadid sent ahmad ibn abd al - aziz to seize rayy from rafi , who fled and made common cause with the of tabaristan in an effort to seize khurasan from the saffarids . however , with amr mobilizing the anti - alid sentiments of the populace against him and the expected assistance from the failing to materialize , rafi was defeated and killed in khwarazm in 896 . amr , now at the pinnacle of his power , sent the defeated rebel 's head to baghdad , and in 897 the caliph transferred control of rayy to him . the partnership finally collapsed after mu 'tadid appointed the saffarid ruler amr ibn al - layth in 898 as governor of transoxiana , which was ruled by his rivals , the samanids . al - mu 'tamid deliberately encouraged amr to confront the samanids , only for amr to be crushingly defeated and taken prisoner by the latter in 900 . the samanid ruler , isma 'il ibn ahmad , sent him in chains to baghdad , where he was executed in 902 , after al - mu 'tadid 's death . al - mu 'tadid in turn conferred amr 's titles and governorships to isma 'il ibn ahmad . the caliph also moved to regain fars and kirman , but the saffarid remnant under tahir proved sufficiently resilient to thwart the abbasid attempts at capturing these two provinces for several years . it was not until 910 that the abbasids managed to regain the coveted fars province . at the same time , the caliphate faced a new threat , the qarmatians . a radical islamic sect founded in kufa around 874 , the qarmatians were originally a sporadic and minor nuisance in the sawad , but their power grew swiftly to alarming proportions after 897 : under the leadership of abu sa 'id al - jannabi , they seized bahrayn in 899 and in the next year defeated a caliphal army under al - abbas ibn amr al - . in the years following al - mu 'tadid 's death , the qarmatians " were to prove the most dangerous enemies the abbasids had faced since the time of the zanj " ( hugh kennedy ) . the same period also saw more anti - abbasid regimes established on the periphery of the islamic world : the fatimids seized power in ifriqiya , and another zaydi dynasty was established in yemen . domestic government the abbasid army , following the reforms of al - mu 'tasim , was a smaller and more professional fighting force than the caliphal armies of the past . although it proved militarily highly effective , it also posed a potential danger to the stability of the abbasid regime : drawn from turks and other peoples from the caliphate 's periphery and the lands beyond , it was alienated from the society of the caliphate 's heartlands , with the result that the soldiers were " entirely reliant on the state not just for cash but for their very survival " ( hugh kennedy ) . as a result , any failure by the central government to provide their pay resulted in a military uprising and a political crisis , as was demonstrated in the anarchy at samarra . consequently , ensuring the regular payment of the army became the prime task of the state . according to hugh kennedy , based on a treasury document from the time of al - mu 'tadid 's accession , " out the total expenditure of dinars per day , some are entirely military , 1943 in areas ( like riding animals and stables ) which served both military and non - military and only 851 in areas like the bureaucracy and the harem which can be described as truly civilian ( though even in this case , the bureaucrats ’ main purpose seems to have been to arrange the payment of the army ) . it seems reasonable to conclude that something over 80 per cent of recorded government expenditure was devoted to maintaining the army . " at the same time , however , the caliphate ' fiscal basis had shrunk dramatically after so many tax - paying provinces had been lost from the central government 's control . the caliphal government was now increasingly reliant on the revenue of the sawad and the other areas of lower iraq , but there the 9th century witnessed a rapid decline in agricultural productivity due to the disruption of the civil wars and neglect of the irrigation network : by the early 10th century the sawad , which in the reign of harun al - rashid provided annual revenue of 102 , 500 , 000 dirhams — more than double the revenue of egypt and three times that of syria — provided less than a third of that figure . the situation was further exacerbated by the fact that in the remaining provinces , semi - autonomous governors , grandees and members of the dynasty were able to establish virtual latifundia , aided by the system of 'a , a form of tax farming in exchange for a fixed tribute , which they often failed to pay . to maximise their revenue from the territory remaining to them , the abbasids increased the breadth and complexity of the central bureaucracy , dividing the provinces into smaller tax districts as well as increasing the number of the fiscal departments ( ) , allowing for a far closer oversight of both revenue collection and the activities of the officials themselves . to combat this fiscal crisis , the caliph would often personally devote himself to the supervision of revenue , acquiring a reputation for " a spirit of economy , verging on avarice " ( f. malti - douglas ) ; he was said to " examine petty accounts that a commoner would scorn to consider " ( harold bowen ) . fines and confiscations multiplied under his rule , with the resulting revenue , along with the income from the crown domain and even a portion of the provincial taxation , flowing to the caliphal privy purse ( bayt mal al - ) . the latter now acquired a leading role among the other fiscal departments , and it frequently held more money than the public treasury ( bayt mal al - ) itself . by the end of al - mu 'tadid 's reign , the once empty privy purse would contain ten million dinars . on the other hand , in gesture aimed to ease the tax burden of the farmers , in 895 the caliph changed the start of the tax year from the persian new year in march to 11 june — which became known as al - mu 'tadid , " al - mu 'tadid 's new year " — so that the land tax ( kharāj ) was now collected after the harvest instead of before . the caliph 's policies strengthened the position of the civil bureaucracy , which now reached the apogee of its influence , and especially the vizier , whom even the army came to respect as the spokesman of the caliph . in terms of personnel , al - mu 'tadid 's reign was marked by continuity among the senior leadership of the state . ubayd allah ibn sulayman ibn wahb remained vizier from the start of the reign until his death in 901 , and was succeeded by his son , al - qasim , who had from the start been his father during the latter 's absences from the capital . the freedman badr , a veteran who had served under al - muwaffaq and whose daughter married the caliph 's son , remained commander of the army . the fiscal departments , especially of the sawad ( lower iraq ) , were managed first by the banu 'l - furat brothers ahmad and ali , and after 899 by the banu 'l - jarrah under muhammad ibn dawud and his nephew , ali ibn isa . the original administrative team was so effective and harmonious that according to the 11th - century historian hilal as - sabi , it was said by subsequent generations that " there had never been such a quartet , caliph , vizier , commander , and chief of the , as al - mu 'tadid , ubayd allah , badr and ahmad ibn al - furat " . on the other hand , michel bonner points out that the later reign of al - mu 'tadid " saw a growth of factionalism within this bureaucracy , observable also in the army and in urban civilian life " . the rivalry between the two bureaucratic dynasties of the banu 'l - furat and the banu 'l - jarrah , with their extensive networks of clients , began at this time . although a strong caliph and vizier could restrain this rivalry , it would dominate the abbasid government over the next decades , with the factions alternating in office and often fining and torturing their predecessors to extract money according to a well - established practice known as . in addition , al - qasim ibn ubayd allah was of an altogether different character than his father : soon after his appointment , he plotted to have al - mu 'tadid assassinated , and tried to involve badr in his scheming . the general rejected his proposals with indignation , but al - qasim was saved from discovery and execution by the caliph 's sudden death . the vizier then tried to dominate al – muktafi , moved swiftly to have badr denounced and executed , and was involved in yet more intrigues against the banu 'l - furat . al - mu 'tadid also completed the return of the capital from samarra to baghdad , which had already served as his father 's main base of operations . the city 's centre , however , was relocated on the eastern bank of the tigris and further downstream of the original city , where it has remained to this day . as the 10th - century historian al - mas 'udi wrote , the caliph 's two main passions were " women and building " ( al - - ) , and accordingly he engaged in major building activities in the capital : he restored and expanded the great mosque of al - mansur which had fallen into disuse , enlarged the hasani palace , built the new palaces of thurayya ( " pleiades " ) and ( " paradise " ) , and began work on the taj ( " crown " ) palace , which was completed under al - muktafi . he also took care to restore the city 's irrigation network , cleaning up the silted - up canal , paying for it with money from those landowners who stood to profit from it . in terms of doctrine , al - mu 'tadid from the outset of his reign sided firmly with sunni traditionalist orthodoxy , forbidding theological works , and abolishing the fiscal department on property in escheat , which hanbali legal opinion regarded as illegal . at the same time he also tried to maintain good relations with the alids , to the point of seriously considering ordering the official cursing of mu 'awiya , the first umayyad caliph and author of the death of ali ; he was only dissuaded at the last moment by his advisers , who feared what unforeseen consequences such an act might have . al - mu 'tadid also maintained good relations with the breakaway zaydi imams of tabaristan , but his pro - alid stance failed to prevent the establishment of the second zaydi state in yemen in 901 . in the dispensation of justice , he was characterized by what f. malti - douglas describes as " severity bordering on sadism " . while tolerant of error and not above displays of tenderness , when his wrath was aroused he resorted to torture in the most ingenious ways , and had special torture chambers constructed underneath his palace . chroniclers like al - mas 'udi and the mamluk historian al - safadi describe in great detail the tortures inflicted by the caliph on prisoners , as well as his practice of making an example of them by having them publicly displayed in baghdad . at the same time , however , they tend to justify his severity as legitimate , in service of the interests of the state . f. malti - douglas remarks that when al - safadi compared al - mu 'tadid with the founder of the abbasid state , calling him " al - saffah the second " , this was not only to emphasize his restoration of the caliphate 's fortunes , but also a direct allusion to the meaning of al - saffah 's name , " the blood - " . death and legacy al - mu 'tadid died at the hasani palace on 5 april 902 , at the age of either 40 or 47 . there were rumours that he had been poisoned , but it is more likely that the rigours of his campaigns , coupled with his dissipate life , severely weakened his health . during his final illness , he refused to follow the advice of his physicians , and even kicked one of them to death . al - mu 'tadid was the first abbasid caliph to be buried within the walls of baghdad . like his sons after him , he was buried in the former tahirid palace in the western part of the city , which was now used by the caliphs as a secondary residence . according to the orientalist karl vilhelm , al - mu 'tadid " had inherited his father 's gifts as a ruler and was distinguished alike for his economy and his military ability " , becoming " one of the greatest of the abbasids in spite of his strictness and cruelty " . al - mu 'tadid 's capable reign is credited with having arrested the abbasid caliphate 's decline for a while , but his successes were too dependent on the presence of an energetic ruler at the helm , and ultimately his reign " was too short to reverse long - term trends and re - establish abbasid power on a long - term basis " ( hugh kennedy ) . al - mu 'tadid had taken care to prepare his son and successor , al - muktafi , for his role by appointing him as governor in rayy and the jazira . although al - muktafi tried to follow his father 's policies , he lacked his energy . the heavily militarized system of al - muwaffaq and al - mu 'tadid required the caliph to actively participate in campaigns , setting a personal example and allowing for the formation of ties of loyalty , reinforced by patronage , between the ruler and the soldiers . al - muktafi , on the other hand , did not " in his character and comportment [ ... ] , being a sedentary figure , instil much loyalty , let alone inspiration , in the soldiers " ( michael bonner ) . the caliphate was still able to secure major successes over the next few years , including the reincorporation of the tulunid domains in 904 and victories over the qarmatians , but with al - muktafi 's death in 908 , the so - called " abbasid restoration " passed its high - water mark , and a new period of crisis began . power was now wielded by the senior bureaucrats , who installed the weak and pliable al - muqtadir on the throne . over the next decades , the expenditure of both the court and the army increased , while maladministration and strife between military and bureaucratic factions intensified . by 932 , when al - muqtadir was assassinated , the caliphate was effectively bankrupt , and authority soon devolved on a series of military strongmen who competed for control of the caliph and the title of amir al - umara . this process culminated in the capture of baghdad in 946 by the buyids , who put an end to caliphal independence even in name . thereafter the caliphs remained as symbolic figureheads , but were divested of any military or political authority or independent financial resources .