Beginning of the Anarchy at Samarra

Name: Beginning of the Anarchy at Samarra
Start: 861
End: 870

Type Event Region West Asia Time 861–870

In December 861 Caliph al-Mutawakkil was assassinated by Turkic guards at Samarra, opening nearly a decade of court chaos known as the Anarchy at Sam…

Timeline

861Samarra · SamarraIn December 861 the commander of the Turkic guards conspired with al-Mutawakkil's son to assassinate the caliph in the palace at Samarra. It was the first direct regicide by a military slave corps in Abbasid history, shocking the empire and opening the anarchy.
861–866Samarra · SamarraCaliphs al-Muntasir, al-Musta'in, al-Mu'tazz and others successively acceded and were deposed or killed within a few years, as Turkic, Saqalli and other military factions alternately controlled the succession. Coups were frequent, administration paralyzed, and provincial governors grew powerful; imperial unity existed in name only.
865–870Iraq · IraqCourt chaos spread across Iraq, armed conflict erupted between military slave corps, and Baghdad too suffered warfare. Local strongmen and governors carved out autonomous domains, tax collection ceased, and public order collapsed. Conditions gradually stabilized around 870, but Abbasid central authority was irreversibly weakened.

Sources

The Cambridge History of Islam, Vol. 1A: The Central Islamic Lands — P. M. Holt, Ann K. S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis (1970)