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THE HISTORY OF
AL-T'ABARI This section of al-T'abari's History covers the eight-year reign of
al-Mu'tas'im (833-42), immediately following the reign of his elder brother al-Ma'mun,
when the Islamic caliphate was once more united after the civil strife and
violence of the second decade of the ninth century A.D. Al-Mu'tas'im's reign is
notable for the transfer of the administrative capital of the caliphate from
Baghdad north to the military settlement of Samarra on the Tigris, where it was
to remain for some 60 years. This move meant a significant increase in the
caliphs' dependence on their Turkish slave guards. Al-Mu'tasi'm's reign was also
marked by periods of intense military activity along the northern fringes of the
Islamic lands: against the Byzantines in Anatolia; against the sectarian Babak
and his followers--the "wearers of red," the Khurramiyyah--in
northwestern Persia; and against the politically ambitious local prince Mazyar
in the Caspian provinces of Persia. These episodes take up the greater part of
al-T'abari's account of al-Mu'tas'im's reign, and he has provided graphic and
detailed narratives of the respective campaigns, including valuable details on
military organization and tactics during this period.
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