inally put to death (a.h. 282),
according to some accounts by women, and according to others by his
eunuchs. The death of Khu-marawaih was the virtual downfall of the
Tulunid dynasty.

The officers of the army then at first made Gaish Abu'l-Asakir (one of
Khumarawaih's sons) emir; but, when this fourteen-year-old boy seemed
incapable of anything but stupid jokes, they put his brother Harun on
the throne. Every commanding officer, however, did as he liked. Rajib,
the commander of the army of defence, declared himself on the side of
the caliph, and the Syrian emirs gave themselves up to his general,
Muhammed ibn Suleiman, without any resistance. At the close of the year
he was before Fostat, and at the same time a fleet appeared at Damietta.
A quarrel arose amongst Harun's body-guard, in which the unlucky prince
was killed (904). His uncle Shaiban, a worthy son of Ahmed, made a last
stand, but was obliged to give in to the superior force.

Muhammed behaved with his Turks in the most outrageous way in Fostat:
the plundering was unrestrained, and that part of Fostat which Ahmed
had built was almost entirely destroyed. The adherents of the reigning
family were grossly maltreated, many of them killed, and others sent to
Baghdad. The governors changed in rapid succession; disorder, want, and
wretchedness existed throughout the entire country west of the caliph's
kingdom. At this period the provinces of the empire had already fallen
into the hands of the numerous minor princes, who, presuming on the
caliph's weakness, had declared themselves independent sovereigns.
Nothing remained to the Abbasids but Baghdad, a few neighbouring
provinces, and Egypt.

Under the Caliphs Muktadir, Kahir, and Rahdi, Egypt had an almost
constant change of governors. One of them, Abu Bekr Muhammed, ultimately
became the founder of a new dynasty,--the Ikshidite,--destined to rule
over Egypt and Syria. Abu Bekr Muhammed was the son of Takadj, then
governor of Damascus. His father had been chief emir at the court of the
Tulunid princes, and, after the fall of this dynasty, remained in Egypt,
where he occupied a post under the government. Intrigues, however, drove
him to Syria, whither his partisans followed him. He first entered the
army of the caliph, and, capturing the town of Ramleh, was given the
governorship of Damascus as reward. His son Abu Bekr Muhammed did not go
to Egypt to fulfil the duties with which he had been invested, and only
retain