AHMAD IBN TULUN

born September 835 died March 884, Egypt the founder of the Tulunid dynasty in Egypt, and the first Muslim governor of Egypt to annex Syria. As a child Ahmad was taken into slavery and placed in the private service of the 'Abbasid caliph (the titular leader of the Islamic community) at Baghdad. Later he studied theology in the city of Tarsus. He rose in the administrative structure of the 'Abbasid government and in 868 became a lieutenant in the service of the governor of Egypt. In Egypt he saw that the real centre of authority lay with the minister of finance, and during the next years he struggled to bring that department under his control. He was successful, and himself became vice governor. Using a rebellion in Palestine as a pretext, he purchased a large number of slaves to increase the strength of his army, which formed the basis of his personal authority. In 882, using the pretext of a holy war against the Byzantine Empire, he annexed Syria. Ahmad never went so far as to declare formal independence from the 'Abbasid caliph, but the autonomy of his rule was clearly a threat to the authority of the latter, and he ceased to send any tribute to the 'Abbasid government. The Caliph himself was preoccupied with other problems and was unable to spare the military forces necessary to bring Ahmad into submission.