Relations of Representatives of Transoxiana in Samarra During the Reigns of the Caliphs Al-Mutawakkil (847-861) and Al-Muntaṣir (861-862)

The article examines the relations of representatives of Transoxiana in Samarra during the reigns of the Abbasid caliphs al-Mutawakkil (847-861) and al-Muntaṣir (861-862). Particular attention is paid to the role of Turkic ghilman, the Faraghina, the Ushrusanians, and other people originating from the eastern regions of the caliphate in the political life of Samarra in the mid-ninth century. Drawing on the accounts of al-Ṭabarī, al-Yaʿqūbī, and al-Masʿūdī, the article analyzes the circumstances of the crisis of 861, the assassination of al-Mutawakkil, and the growing influence of military corps over the order of succession. It argues that the representatives of Transoxiana did not constitute a single political grouping, but acted within a complex system of patronage ties, military interests, and court rivalry. A separate place is given to the socio-spatial dimension of the problem: archaeological and topographical studies of Samarra, especially the works of A. Northedge and M. Gordon, allow the city to be viewed not only as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate but also as a space of settlement and competition among different military corps. The article concludes that the Samarran crisis marked an important stage in the weakening of Abbasid central authority and, at the same time, revealed the increased role of people from Transoxiana and neighboring regions in the military-political system of the caliphate.