Ahmad ibn Tulun
Ahmad ibn Tulun ( Arabic أحمد بن طولون, DMG Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn ; * 835 ; † May 884 in al-Qatai ) was the founder of the Muslim, Turkish-born Tulunids dynasty in Egypt and reigned from 868 to 884.
Ahmad ibn Tulun - or better ibn Dolun ( Turkish name meaning full moon ) - had participated as a Turkish military slave ( Mamluk ) in the civil war between the caliphs al-Mu'tazz and al-Musta'in and accompanied the latter into exile in 866. After the murder of al-Mustain, Ahmad was sent to Egypt as the deputy governor for a Turkish ruler in Samarra .
Soon he had strengthened his position in Egypt so that from 868 he no longer paid the taxes due to the caliphs. This money enabled him to promote the Egyptian economy by expanding irrigation systems and building a fleet. He also carried out extensive construction work. Examples of this are the Ibn Tulun mosque built between 876 and 879 in the Qatai he founded north of Fustat (now Cairo ), as well as the expansion of the port of Akko . Ahmad ibn Tulun tried to push back the great influence of the Christian Copts in the administration in favor of the Muslims. However, he cannot have been very successful with it, as the Copts dominated the administration until the 11th century.
Ahmad was a great fan of the culinary arts ; many traditional Egyptian dishes and spice mixes are said to have been created by himself.
The prosperous economy made it possible for Ahmad ibn Tulun to build a large army with which he occupied Barka ( Cyrenaica ) in 875 . In 878 he conquered Syria and Cilicia . When he tried to invade Mesopotamia , the Abbasid regent al-Muwaffaq staged a revolt by his son Abbas. In the period that followed, not only did the subjugation of Mecca fail , but rule over Cilicia was lost again.
Ahmad ibn Tulun died in May 884. Its importance can be seen above all in the fact that Egypt became an independent empire under him, for the first time since the Ptolemies . Ibn Tulun's successor was his son Chumarawaih (884-896).
literature
- Ulrich Haarmann : History of the Arab World. Edited by Heinz Halm . 4th revised and expanded edition. CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47486-1 ( Beck's historical library ).
Individual evidence
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Abbasids |
Ruler of Egypt ( Tulunid dynasty ) 868–884 |
Chumarawaih |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tulun, Ahmad ibn |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Egyptian ruler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 835 |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 884 |
| Place of death | al-Qatai |