Mu'nis al-Khadim
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Mu'nis al-Khadim (also called al-Muzaffar) (d. 933/934) was the commander of the Abbasid army during the reign of al-Muqtadir. His many successes on the field helped to check the decline of the Caliphate during his lifetime. The utter incompetence of the caliph, however, eventually caused Mu'nis to turn against him, an act that ultimately resulted in his death.
Mu'nis rose to prominence under al-Muwaffaq, the brother of al-Mu'tamid. During the reign of al-Muqtadir he stopped a coup in 909. He led an army into Fars in 910, which resulted in the capture of the Saffarid amir Laith and ultimately the reincorporation of Fars into the caliphate. He saved Egypt from a Fatimid invasion in 915, for which he earned the laqab of al-Muzaffar. In 918 and 919 Mu'nis was in Azerbaijan. He eventually defeated and imprisoned its rebellious amir, the Sajid Yusuf Ibn Abi'l-Saj, although Azerbaijan was not restored to direct caliphal rule. In 920 he defeated a second Fatimid army sent to take Egypt.
Relations between Mu'nis and al-Muqtadir were not always friendly; at one point al-Muqtadir even plotted to assassinate his general. In 932 Mu'nis, fed up with the mismanagement of al-Muqtadir, marched on Baghdad. Al-Muqtadir met his forces but was defeated and killed. His replacement, al-Qahir, unfortunately proved to be just as bad as his predecessor. He imprisoned Mu'nis and ultimately had him killed.
[edit] References
- Bianquis, Thierry. "Autonomous Egypt from Ibn Tulun to Kafur, 868-969." The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640-1517. Ed. Carl F. Petry. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- Bosworth, C.E. The History of the Saffarids of Sistan and the Maliks of Nimruz (247/861 to 949/1542-3). Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, 1994.
- Madelung, Wilferd. "Minor Dynasties of Northern Iran." The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: The Period From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Ed. R. N. Frye. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
