Tabari's Biography of al-Mu'tasim The Literary Use of a Military Career

The reign of the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim (833-842) is usually recognized among historians for its military character with the recruitment of new Turkic troops, the foundation of Samarra' as a new capital, and the campaign against 'Ammuriyya. Chronicle accounts about al-Mu'tasim, however, also hold potential as a topic for narrative criticism. This article analyzes the little examined use of military history for literary and allusive purposes by medieval narrators. The overall accomplishments of al-Mu'tasim were dramatized in the classical texts within a matrix of tensions that permeated his reign, including: the caliph's backing of the Mihna while undertaking jihad against the Byzantines and the Khurramiyya, his sudden reversal for the fortunes of al-Afshin in spite of the latter's military skill, and the lingering mistrust between the 'Alids and the 'Abbasids, Persian officials and the Arab leadership. The article shows how the narratives of Tabari in particular display a careful construction which deployed these various dimensions as objects for readership reflection to varying degrees of criticism or support. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]