Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun

Khumarawayh ibn Ahmad ibn Tulun
Ruler of Egypt and Syria
Gold dinar of Khumarawayh, minted in 885/6 CE and bearing the names of Caliph al-Mu'tamid, al-Mufawwad, and al-Muwaffaq
Rule10 May 884 – 18 January 896
PredecessorAhmad ibn Tulun
SuccessorJaysh ibn Khumarawayh
Born864
Samarra
Died18 January 896
al-Qata'i
DynastyTulunid dynasty
FatherAhmad ibn Tulun
ReligionSunni Islam

Abu 'l-Jaysh Khumārawayh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ṭūlūn (Arabic: أبو الجيش خمارويه بن أحمد بن طولون; 864 – 18 January 896) was a son of the founder of the Tulunid dynasty, Ahmad ibn Tulun. His father, the autonomous ruler of Egypt and Syria, designated him as his successor. When Ibn Tulun died in May 884, Khumarawayh succeeded him. After defeating an attempt to depose him, in 886 he managed to gain recognition of his rule over Egypt and Syria as a hereditary governor from the Abbasid Caliphate. In 893 the agreement was renewed with the new Abbasid Caliph, al-Mu'tadid, and sealed with the marriage of his daughter Qatr al-Nada to the Caliph.

At the height of his power, Khumarawayh's authority expanded from the Byzantine frontier in Cilicia and the Jazira to Nubia. Domestically, his reign was marked by a prodigal squandering of funds on extravagant displays of wealth, construction of palaces, and the patronage of artists and poets. In combination with the need to maintain a sizeable professional army and guarantee its loyalty through rich gifts, this emptied the treasury by the end of his reign. Khumarawayh was murdered by a palace servant in 896, and was succeeded by his son Jaysh, who was deposed after a few months in favour of another son, Harun ibn Khumarawayh. The Tulunid state entered a period of turmoil and weakness, which culminated in its reconquest by the Abbasids in 904–905.


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