The Tulunid Dynasty of Egypt

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 20th of the Islamic month of Zil-Qa'dah in 270 AH, the founder of the short-lived Tulunid Dynasty of Egypt, Ahmad Ibn Tulun, died after a 17-year rule during which he killed at least eighteen thousands people. His father, Tulun, was a Turkic slave sent as part of tribute by the Iranian governor of Bukhara to the Abbasid Caliph Ma'mun. The Abbasids used to recruit Turkish slaves to serve as military officers. Ahmad Ibn Tulun received military training in Samarra, the new Abbasid capital, where he was appointed commander of the special forces of the tyrannical caliph, Mutawakkil. After serving in military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire in Tarsus, he gained the favour of the Caliph Musta'in, and in the reign of the next caliph, Mu'taz, he was sent as governor to Egypt. Since, the existing capital of Egypt, al-Fustat, was too small to accommodate his armies, he founded a new city nearby called Madinat al-Qatta'I (Quartered City), to serve as his capital. It was laid out in the style of the grand cities of Iran, including a large public square, a palace, and a large ceremonial mosque, which was named after Ibn Tulun. This city was razed on the fall of the Tulunid Dynasty, and only the mosque has survived. Ibn Tulun asserted his independence from Baghdad by minting coins in his name and seizing control of large parts of Syria. He defeated an Abbasid army sent against him. Within two decades after his death, the inefficient rule of his son and grandsons brought about the collapse of the dynasty and re-imposition of Abbasid rule on Egypt.