Mu'nis al-Muzaffar

Abū'l-Ḥasan Mu'nis al-Qushuri (Arabic: أبو الحسن مؤنس القشوري; 845/6–933), also commonly known by the surnames al-Muẓaffar (المظفر; lit. 'the Victorious') and al-Khadim (ﺍﻟﺨﺎﺩﻡ; 'the Eunuch'), was the commander-in-chief of the Abbasid army from 908 to his death in 933 CE, and virtual dictator and king-maker of the Caliphate from 928 on.

A Byzantine Greek eunuch slave, he entered military service under the future caliph al-Mu'tadid in the 880s. He rose to high rank before his abrupt disgrace, likely the result of his participation court intrigues, in 901. He spent the next seven years in virtual exile as governor of Mecca, before being recalled by Caliph al-Muqtadir in 908. He quickly distinguished himself by saving al-Muqtadir from a palace coup in December 908. With the support of the caliph and the powerful queen-mother, Shaghab, he became commander-in-chief of the caliphal army, in which role he served in several expeditions against the Byzantine Empire, saved Baghdad from the Qarmatians in 927 and defeated two Fatimid invasions of Egypt, in 915 and 920.

In 924 he helped secure the dismissal and execution of his long-time rival, the vizier Ibn al-Furat, after which his political influence grew enormously, to the point that he briefly deposed al-Muqtadir in 928. His rivalry with the caliph and with the civilian bureaucracy of the court finally resulted in an open confrontation in 931–932, that ended with Mu'nis's victory and al-Muqtadir's death in battle. Mu'nis installed a new caliph, al-Qahir, but in August 933 the latter had Mu'nis and his senior officers executed. Mu'nis's usurpation of power, just as his violent end, marked the beginning of a new period of turmoil for the declining Abbasid Caliphate, culminating in its takeover by the Buyids in 946.