← Explore on the interactive map

Ahmad ibn Tulun

Type Figure Region Egypt Time c. 835–884 Also known as Ahmad bin Tulun、Founder of the Tulunid dynasty

Turkic Abbasid general (835–884) sent to Egypt in 868 who founded the Tulunid dynasty, ruled Egypt and Syria, and built the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.

Timeline

  1. c. 835–868Baghdad · BaghdadBorn into a family of Turkic slave soldiers, he grew up in the Abbasid army and won important posts through military merit and court connections, laying the groundwork for his later appointment to Egypt.
  2. 868–884al-Qata'i · EgyptAppointed to Egypt in September 868, he gradually freed himself from the control of Baghdad's fiscal officials, reformed taxation and the army, and from 878 also governed Syria. He built the new city of al-Qata'i and the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, making Egypt a de facto independent regional state. He died in al-Qata'i on 10 May 884.

Sources