<\/p>\n
In the previous article, we resumed talking about al-Mutawakil\u2019s relationship with the Alawites, the end of Itakh, the Turkish commander, after which we tackled the riots and seditions which spread in Sistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Armenia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as the incessant war between the Abbasid and Roman States.<\/strong><\/span> Buhturi wrote an elegy to al-Mutawakil in which he alludes to this shameful act:<\/strong><\/span> General Bishop\u00a0<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the previous article, we resumed talking about al-Mutawakil\u2019s relationship with the Alawites, the end of Itakh, the Turkish commander, after which we tackled the riots and seditions which spread in Sistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Armenia, Syria, and Yemen, as well as the incessant war between the Abbasid and Roman States. A Repeated Mistake Al-Mutawakil followed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[14114,8929,682],"class_list":["post-48414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-14114","tag-8929","tag-682"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48414"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48575,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48414\/revisions\/48575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA Repeated Mistake<\/strong><\/span>
\nAl-Mutawakil followed suit of his grandfather al-Rashid insofar as he declared his sons, al-Muntasir, al-Mu\u2019taz, and al-Mu\u2019ayyad heirs apparent in 235 Hijri (850 A.D.), diving the state among them. He assigned al-Muntasir the western provinces, namely, Africa and the entirety of Morocco: from al-Arish to Morocco, the capitals, Syrian harbors, Egypt, Rabia (Mosul), Tigris, the two holy Mosques, Yemen, Hadhramaut, al-Yamamah, Bahrain and others. Al-Mu\u2019taz was assigned the Eastern Abbasid State, namely, Khorasan, Tapuria, Rey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Persia and their affiliates, after which he granted him the safes of treasuries and ordered the minting of al-Mu\u2019taz\u2019s name on dirhams, while assigning al-Mu\u2019ayyad the Jund Damascus (a large sub-province), Jund Jordan, and Jund Palestine.<\/strong><\/span>
\nAl-Mutawakil wrote his sons a letter of four copies, one of which he put in his safe, and each son took a copy. Historians maintain that this letter documents that each son rules his assigned provinces independently: \u201cAl-Mutawakil gave al-Mu\u2019taz and al-Mu\u2019ayyad complete independence in their assignments, for the caliphate was passed to al-Muntasir. Also, he gave al-Mu\u2019taz more provinces than al-Mu\u2019ayyad, for the caliphate was passed to the former.\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nIn like manner the division of the State caused a conflict between al-Amin and al-Ma\u2019mun, riots and seditions shook the state due to this division. Each brother conspired against the other, and each one\u2019s associates started instigating him against the other two.<\/strong><\/span>
\nAl-Mutawakil\u2019s Murder<\/strong><\/span>
\nDue to the Turks\u2019 hegemony, al-Mutawakil started dealing with his commanders in a different way, attempting to get rid of them. No sooner had they felt it, than they conspired to kill him. The easiest way was implanting jealousy amidst brethren, especially al-Muntasir and al-Mu\u2019taz.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThey instigated al-Muntasir to kill his father for prioritizing him in many of the State\u2019s affairs, as well as leading prayers. At the same time, al-Mutawakil\u2019s chief minister did not want the caliphate to pass to al-Muntasir. So, he started telling al-Mutawakil to prioritize al-Mu\u2019taz over his brother. Taghribirdi maintains that al-Mutawakil wanted to depose al-Muntasir and make al-Mu\u2019taz heir apparent, which al-Muntasir refused. In effect, al-Mutawakil started rebuking his son in public, which aroused al-Muntasir\u2019s wrath, thus, allowing the Turks to get rid of al-Mutawakil.<\/strong><\/span>
\nIn 247 Hijri (861 A.D.) Turkish soldiers broke into the caliph\u2019s court and killed him, together with his chief minister. One historian asserts that this incident is, \u201cthe first fruit of al-Mu\u2019tasim\u2019s deeds: for he appointed insensible, ill-mannered people who would do whatever they wanted. There was nothing that made them confidantes, which resulted in making the heir apparent accomplice in killing his father.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nWas the crown prince so mean?<\/strong><\/span>
\nHow strange it is he\u2019s that malicious!<\/strong><\/span>
\nHeritage was never passed to the children<\/strong><\/span>
\nNor was prayer called on minarets\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>
\nThus, al-Mutawakil was killed after about a fifteen-year tenure.<\/strong><\/span>
\nAs for Egypt\u2019s proconsuls during that era, al-Mutawakil started ruling when Eissa bin Mansur was proconsul of Egypt. He remained in his post for four years, three months and a half (228-233 Hijri) (843-847 A.D.) Al-Mutawakil asked him to make Egyptians pledge allegiance to him. No sooner had this happened, than he was deposed and Hartamah bin Nasr took over.<\/strong><\/span>
\nHartamah bin Nasr (233-234 Hijri) (847-849 A.D.)<\/strong><\/span>
\nHe is also known as Hartamah bin Nasr, the mountainous, for he used to inhabit the mountain. He is not Hartamah bin A\u2019yan who was Egypt\u2019s proconsul during al-Rashid\u2019s tenure. He was assigned Egypt\u2019s affairs by Itakh as deputy, having already deposed Eissa bin Mansur and appointed a deputy until he arrived and dwelt at al-Askar. During his tenure, the caliph ordered him to put an end to creed debates, follow the Prophet\u2019s sayings (Sunnah), and alleviate the plight. Hartamah loved the Sunnah, so he abided by it. Yet, he got sick and died in 234 Hijri (849 A.D.) Thus, he ruled Egypt for a year, three months, and a few days.<\/strong><\/span>
\nDuring his tenure, a horrible earthquake alighted upon Damascus and killed many people. So much so that judge Ahmed bin Kamel wrote, \u201cSome people near St. Marun\u2019s Monastery (on a hill near Damascus) the earth rise and fall several times. So, many inhabitants died under debris. The stones of the walls split from one another, though seven cubits wide. Then the earthquake extended to Antioch and demolished it, then the peninsula and ruined it, then Mosul.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>
\nMany people perished because of that earthquake. Some fifty thousand of Mosul\u2019s population were killed, and twenty thousand from Antioch. Hatem bin Hartamah took over Egypt\u2019s affairs, according to his father\u2019s will, and al-Mutawakil consented.<\/strong><\/span>
\nHatem bin Hartamah (234 Hijri) (849 A.D.)<\/strong><\/span>
\nHatem bin Hartamah bin Nasr, of the mountain, took over Egypt\u2019s affairs after his father\u2019s death, as per Itakh\u2019s order. He dwelt in al-Askar in like manner princes did. Yet, he remained in his post for three months and thirteen days only: for Itakh deposed him, appointing Yahya bin Ali, the Armenian, for a second term. Historians assert that, \u201cHatem was a noble, wise man. Yet, he could not deal with Itakh\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nIn 234 Hijri (848-849 A.D.) three princes ruled Egypt, namely, Hartama, his son Hatem, and Ali bin Yahya. Many incidents occurred, like the wind which blew for fifty days. It was unprecedented and terribly poisoned that it killed travelers. It also burnt plantations in Kufa, Basra, and Baghdad, then reached Hamadan, Mosul, Sinjar to kill plantations, cattle, and many people. Likewise, this was the year of the outset of Mohammed bin al-Ba\u2019ith\u2019s rebellion in Azerbaijan, and al-Mutawakil\u2019s assigning Itakh the affairs of Kufa, Hejaz, Tihamah, Medina, as well as Egypt, after which the latter conspired to kill him, which makes a strange story. Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
\nHead of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n