Muhammad ibn Yaqut
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Yaqut (Arabic: أبو بكر محمد بن ياقوت) was an official who played a major role in the tumultuous political affairs of the Abbasid Caliphate in 930–935, particularly during the reign of al-Qahir (932–934) and the early months of the reign of ar-Radi, when he was the most powerful man in the state. His rivals secured his dismissal and imprisonment in April 935, and he died in prison soon after.
Muhammad's father Yaqut was serving as head chamberlain (hajib) of Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908–932) in 930, when Muhammad was appointed head of the security forces (sahib al-shurta) in the Abbasid capital, Baghdad, which at the time was plagued by armed clashes between rival factions in the military; during one such clash in February, Muhammad intervened on the side of the Hujariyya cavalry, forcing their opponents of the infantry to abandon the city, except for a contingent of black African troops who surrendered.[1] The latter mutinied because of pay arrears a few months later, and were also expelled from Baghdad, after which they were attacked and destroyed near Wasit by the Abbasid commander-in-chief, Mu'nis al-Muzaffar.[2]
Soon after, however, Muhammad and Mu'nis fell out, and in June/July 931 Muhammad was dismissed. Mu'nis pressed for his banishment, and despite initial reluctance, al-Muqtadir bowed to his pressure: in July 931, July was sent to the remote province of Sijistan.[2] When al-Muqtadir fell out with Mu'nis, Muhammad was recalled, arriving in Baghdad in January 932.[2] He was sent at the head of an army to Takrit, but when Mu'nis set out from Mosul towards Baghdad, Muhammad and his fellow commander Sa'id ibn Hamdan withdrew without giving battle with Mu'nis' forces.[2]