PETTY DYNASTIES
The first sign of internal decay in the Abbasid regime was
the rise of the Turkish bodyguard after the death of al-
Mamun in 833. Like the Janissaries in Ottoman history, this
corps became too powerful for the caliph and at times held
him in abject submission to its will. Except for short
intervals thereafter Abbasid power declined steadily. As it
disintegrated, petty dynasties, mostly of Arabian origin, were
parcelling out its domains in the west, while others, mostly
Turkish and Persian, were performing the same operation
in the east.
First among these to affect Syria was the short-lived Tulunid dynasty (868-905). It was founded by a deputy governor of Egypt, Ahmad ibn-Tulun, whose father was a Turk sent from Bukhara as a present to al-Mamun. No sooner had the ambitious young man arrived at his post than he planned to take advantage of the distance that separated him from the central government and practise independence. On authorization from the caliph he increased his troops, reportedly to a hundred thousand, and marched against a rebel in Syria — the land of rebels against Abbasid rule. At the death of its governor in 877 he deemed the time ripe for full occupation. The Egyptian army marched through al-Ramlah in the south to Damascus, Horns, Hamah and Aleppo in the north without opposition. Only Antioch closed its gates and was reduced after a short siege. In 879/880 Ahmad proclaimed himself ruler of both lands.
This was a turning-point in the history of Egypt. It then and there embarked upon its career as an independent state, a position which it maintained with one important
