Overview
The Abbasid caliphs are seated on all three bookmarks, and the title changes size with the century. Al-Mu'tazz in 867 rules the Arabian Empire during the Anarchy at Samarra. Al-Qa'im in 1066 is caliph at Baghdad under Seljuk dominance. Al-Mustadi in 1178 holds Mesopotamia and rules from Baghdad with a wider temporal realm than his 1066 predecessor.
The dynasty row on each card is Abbasid. The culture row is Mashriqi. The faith row is Sunni. What changes is the title, the county count, and whether a sultan stands over the caliph.
Starts
867
Al-Mu'tazz rules during the Anarchy at Samarra. He was killed in 869. The bookmark card gives this seat no difficulty rating. The title on the card is the Arabian Empire.
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 867 |
| Title | Arabian Empire |
| Realm size | 127 counties |
| Status | Independent |
| Culture | Mashriqi |
| Faith | Sunni |
| Dynasty | Abbasid |
1066
Al-Qa'im is caliph at Baghdad. The title on the card is Baghdad, a small realm, and the character screen shows his liege. He died in 1075. Tughril Beg had entered Baghdad in 1055, and the Seljuk sultan is the temporal power.
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 1066 |
| Title | Baghdad |
| Realm size | 4 counties |
| Status | At Baghdad, in the Seljuk shadow. The character screen shows his liege. |
| Culture | Mashriqi |
| Faith | Sunni |
| Dynasty | Abbasid |
1178
Al-Mustadi holds Mesopotamia. He ruled in Baghdad from 1170 until his death in 1180. The card lists him as independent, a different condition from al-Qa'im's Seljuk shadow.
| Seat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Start | 1178 |
| Title | Mesopotamia |
| Realm size | 18 counties |
| Status | Independent |
| Culture | Mashriqi |
| Faith | Sunni |
| Dynasty | Abbasid |
Later impact
The road from al-Mu'tazz's empire to a caliph inside someone else's state runs through the rest of the Samarra anarchy, the Zanj revolt, and the Buyid capture of Baghdad in 945. Al-Qa'im's 1066 seat is that later condition: the caliph reigns, and the sultan rules.
The Seljuk grip on Iraq loosened across the twelfth century. Al-Mustadi's reign sits in that loosening, and his successor al-Nasir, from 1180, pushed the caliph's temporal power further. A 1178 campaign opens two years before that succession.
The Abbasid caliphate of Baghdad ends with the Mongol sack of the city in 1258. That date is inside the years a 1178 campaign can still be playing. The earlier bookmarks are the empire and the captivity that make the 1178 recovery readable.
Historical links
- al-Mu'tazz · 867 · Arabian Empire
- al-Qa'im · 1066 · Baghdad
- al-Mustadi · 1178 · Mesopotamia
All realms · empire · 867 · 1066 · 1178