18. The Anarchy at Samarra
The Abbasids’ mercenary crisis came to a head in 861, in what came to be known as “The Anarchy at Samarra”. It began when the Turkish Guard murdered the caliph al Mutawakkil, and replaced him with his brother, al Muntasir. The new caliph lasted for six months, before the Turks did him in, then held a conference to appoint a successor, al Musta’in. He escaped in 865, but the mercenaries pursued, captured, and put him to death.
They then appointed another caliph, al Mu’tazz, but when he bucked, they deposed and killed him in 869, replacing him with another puppet, al Muhtadi. He, too, tried to assert his authority, only to get murdered by the mercenaries and replaced in 870. The anarchy finally ended with the appointment of a caliph who accepted his role as a puppet. The Abbasid Caliphate stumbled on for another four centuries, with its caliphs as playthings of strongmen and sultans, until 1258, when the Mongols sacked Baghdad, and executed the last Caliph.
