Salih ibn Wasif

[5] The killing of Wasif by rioting troops in Samarra around the end of October 867 initially left his family in a tenuous position; his official duties were given to his old ally Bugha, and a mob unsuccessfully attempted to plunder his and his sons' residences.

[11] By early 869, with the central government continually paralyzed by revenue shortfalls and disorders in Samarra, Salih decided to seize control of affairs in the capital.

[12] On 19 May 869, he came to al-Mu'tazz and began to make complaints about the vizier Ahmad ibn Isra'il, accusing him of bankrupting the state treasury and failing to pay the salaries of the troops.

[16] The new administration immediately ran into problems; the central government continued to suffer from revenue shortages and the Turkish soldiers were demanding their pay.

On 8 September, Ahmad and Abu Nuh were publicly flogged and paraded around Samarra, and both men died from their wounds that same day; Ibn Makhlad was spared but remained imprisoned.

Musa and his lieutenant Muflih had been conducting military operations against rebels in the Jibal and Tabaristan since 867, but upon learning of al-Mu'tazz's deposition and death, along with the state of affairs in Samarra, they decided to abandon their campaign and return to the capital to oppose Salih.

Salih, who remained in hiding, sent a letter in which he attempted to justify his actions over the course of the last year, and al-Muhtadi urged Musa and his followers (which now included Bayakbak and Muhammad ibn Bugha) to make peace.

This only caused Musa and his fellow officers to suspect that al-Muhtadi was secretly working with Salih to eliminate them, and they began to discuss the possibility about forcing the caliph to abdicate.

With no one having a clear advantage, the caliph and the various factions in the army began a series of negotiations, and on 13 January 870, a tentative agreement was reached, whereby Musa, Salih and Bayakbak would all be restored to their former positions and would share power with each other.

On 14 January, forces loyal to Salih assembled in the capital and began to act in a belligerent manner; Musa immediately responded by deploying his own troops and marched toward the palace of the caliph.

Upon his arrival, a proclamation was issued demanding that all of Salih's family, commanders, and supporters present themselves at the palace; anyone who failed to do so by the next day would have their names eliminated from the payrolls and their houses would be destroyed, and they would be subjected to flogging and imprisonment.

According to al-Mas'udi, he was either killed while fighting against the agents attempting to arrest him, after which his head was brought to Musa, or he was captured and subjected to the same punishment that he had inflicted on al-Mu'tazz, by being locked in a burning oven until he died.