, Abu ’l-Faḍl D̲j̲aʿfar b. Muḥammad , ʿAbbāsid caliph. He was born in S̲h̲awwāl 206/Feb.-March 822, son of the caliph al-Muʿtaṣim [ q.v.] and a K̲h̲wārazmī slave-girl called S̲h̲ud̲j̲āʿ. There is no sign that he had early political ambitions, and he seems to have lived in obscurity until the death of his brother, the caliph al-Wāt̲h̲iḳ [ q.v.] in D̲h̲u ’l-Ḥid̲j̲d̲j̲a 232/Aug. 847. Al-Wāt̲h̲iḳ left a young son but no designated adult successor. The succession was decided by a council consisting of the wazīr ibn al-Zayyāt and the chief ḳāḍī Aḥmad b. Abī Duwād [ q.vv.], two other bureaucrats…

, Abu ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. D̲j̲aʿfar, ʿAbbāsid caliph (256-79/870-92), son of al-Mutawakkil [ q.v.] and a slave-girl from Kūfa called Fityān. He seems to have had no political experience before being chosen as caliph in Rad̲j̲ab 256/June 870 on the ¶ death of his nephew al-Muhtadī [ q.v.] and he was never able to build up an independent power base. For most of his reign he remained a figurehead in Sāmarrāʾ while effective power was exercised by his brother Abū Aḥmad, who took the quasi-caliphal title of al-Muwaffaḳ [ q.v.]. Al-Muʿtamid was able to appoint his own wazīr , …

, Abu ’l-ʿAbbās Aḥmad b. Ṭalḥa , ʿAbbāsid caliph. The son of the ¶ regent al-Muwaffaḳ [ q.v.] and a Greek slave-girl called Ḍirār, the date of his birth is unknown but was probably around 245/860. His father gave him a military training and from 267/880-1 he is found leading operations against the Zand̲j̲ rebels [ q.v.]. In 271/885 he suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the troops of K̲h̲umārawayh b. Aḥmad b. Ṭūlūn [ q.v.]. Relations between him and his father were not always cordial, and one occasion in 275/888-9 Aḥmad actually ordered his arrest. The incident…