Wasif al-Turki

During this period he and his ally Bugha al-Sharabi were often in effective control of affairs in the capital,[1] and were responsible for the downfall of several caliphs and rival officials.

[2] When al-Mu'tasim decided to move his capital to Samarra in 836, Wasif and his followers were settled in the new city, having received land allotments adjacent to al-Hayr.

[3] In 838 Wasif participated in al-Mu'tasim's Amorium campaign, and is mentioned as commanding the caliph's advance guard as they passed through the Gates of Tarsus.

During his short reign (861–862), Wasif and Bugha urged the caliph to cancel his father's succession arrangements and depose al-Muntasir's brothers al-Mu'tazz and al-Mu'ayyad from their position as his heirs.

The decision to select Wasif was allegedly the work of the vizier Ahmad ibn al-Khasib, a political rival who sought to remove the general from Samarra.

[13] While on campaign at the frontier, Wasif learned of the death of al-Muntasir in June 862, and that a cabal of Turkish officers, including Bugha, had selected al-Musta'in (r. 862–866) to succeed him.

Being unable to play any role in the selection process, Wasif decided to continue with the expedition for a time, but by the next year he had returned to Samarra.

The Turkish soldiers, seeing that the caliph had abandoned them, decided to depose al-Musta'in and swear allegiance to al-Mu'tazz instead, and an army was dispatched to attack Baghdad.

Wasif and Bugha stayed by the caliph and participated in battles to defend Baghdad, although overall command of al-Musta'in's war effort was in the hands of Muhammad ibn 'Abdallah.

[18] By the end of 865, however, hopes for an al-Musta'in victory had diminished, and Wasif, Bugha and Muhammad decided to force the caliph to surrender and abdicate, which he did in January 866.

When Wasif and Bugha discovered in April 866 that one of Muhammad's deputies had been contracted to kill them, they went on the defensive, gathering their troops, purchasing weapons and distributing funds in their neighborhoods.

Wasif bribed al-Mu'ayyad to speak positively to the caliph about him, while Abu Ahmad ibn al-Mutawakkil spoke on Bugha's behalf.