Increasingly, the Caliph at Baghdad was not the main story in the Muslim world. At his own court, he could be sidelined by his brother, as al-Mutamid was. He could be outshone by a Vizier, as al-Muktafi was. A few, such as al-Mutadid, led their own armies and were more like past Caliphs, but they didn’t live long. Whoever they were, they spent their time trying to bring back or negotiate with breakaway regions, like Egypt under Ibn Tulun, or much of Iran under the Saffarids.
Caliph al-Muqtadir is perhaps the most interesting. He ruled from 908 to 929, twice as long as most of the Caliphs of the period. His mother, a Greek concubine who was renamed Shaghab (it meant “turbulent,” intended to make her look bad so as to ward off other suitors or bad luck) after she became umm walad (that is, a free woman due to having borne the Caliph a son), became regent until her 13 year old son grew up. She stayed in the harem but wielded immense influence by way of her agents, women who were free to enter and leave the harem. These women were shadow rulers during Muqtadir’s life.
The other major actor under Muqtadir was a Greek eunuch, Munis. He had been the commander of the army until he was sent to govern Mecca, a sort of exile, in 901. Muqtadir (or probably his regent mother) recalled Munis to be the commander again. Munis was an extremely able soldier. During his years, the Byzantine empress requested a truce and alliance with Baghdad—and that’s no mean feat for a Muslim commander.
Munis’s power grew so that he was able to depose the Vizier, the only official who was able to challenge and balance his influence. By 928, he challenged even the Caliph. He deposed Muqtadir, installing his younger brother al-Qahir for a few days. When Munis brought back Muqtadir, it was clear who was really ruling.
All this time, a new Shi’ite movement had been active in Iran and Arabia. The Twelver Imamate had come to an end, but other movements were ongoing. The Qarmatians were Ismailis, followers of the branch that believed the sixth Imam’s successor had been grandson Ismail ibn Jafar, not son Musa. This branch is called Seveners, since the argument was over the 7th Imam. This particular group believed that Ismail’s son had been occulted (hidden in heaven rather than dying) and was the Mahdi to return. They preached an apocalyptic, messianic faith.
No one is sure why they were called Qarmatians. But under this historical label, they took advantage of the anarchy years and the Zanj Uprising to form an independent state in Eastern Arabia. It was a theocratic utopia, in an economy based on Ethiopian slaves. One of their beliefs was that the Hajj to Mecca was a superstition, so they attacked pilgrim traffic. In 906, they massacred 20,000 pilgrims! In the following years, they sacked Basra, the southernmost Iraqi city, then went as far as Kufa, the old Shi’ite stronghold, and also sacked it. The Baghdadi government had sunk low indeed.
The Qarmatian state in Bahrain invaded Iraq in 927. Holding Kufa, they advanced north toward Baghdad. The Caliph’s commander, Munis the eunuch, chose to use geography to push them back. He sent his men to destroy both bridges and canals along the Tigris, so that the land flooded. This worked on the Tigris and saved Baghdad—but the Qarmatians moved to the Euphrates and plundered all of its cities unopposed. They retreated in 928, strengthened by Iraqi sympathizers.
In 930, the Qarmatians did the most shocking thing of all. They invaded Mecca and among the damage they inflicted on it, they wrenched the Black Stone out of the Ka’abah. They rode back to Bahrain with it, then held it for ransom. They kept it in al-Hasa, their capital, until 952, when it was finally ransomed for a huge sum of silver.
The Qarmatians lost steam suddenly after 931 when their ruler Abu Tahir thought he had found the Mahdi returned to life. This young man, the would-be Mahdi, ruled for about three months, but he was a disaster. Personally, he was not a Muslim, but a Zoroastrian! He demanded fire worship, burned Islamic books, and executed Bahrani nobles, including members of Abu Tahir’s family. Abu Tahir’s brother killed the fake Mahdi. Qarmatian power continued in Oman and Bahrain (and they still held onto the Black Stone), but the movement’s appeal to the wider public was over.
All this Qarmatian chaos, especially the theft of the Black Stone from Mecca, destabilized the Caliph and his commander Munis. Perhaps the Caliph blamed Munis for his choice not to actually fight the Qarmatians. Muqtadir got soldiers to try to force Munis out, but Munis had his own loyalists. The two sides fought, and Muqtadir was killed in front of the city gates. Munis installed his brother, who ruled for six months.
Baghdad’s power was nominal from this time, and although the Caliphs continued in name, they cease to be the main story from this time. But before going into the other rising story lines, I want to take a moment and look at the prominent cultural developments during Muqtadir’s years.