splayed some honourable qualities in his
treatment of the fallen sovereign. He found a rival in Egypt in the
person of Ibn al-Modabbir, the finance minister, who occupied an
independent position, and who started the practice of surrounding
himself with an army of his own slaves or freedmen; of these Ibn Tulun
succeeded in depriving the finance minister, and they formed the nucleus
of an army by which he eventually secured his own independence.
Insurrections by adherents of the Alids gave him the opportunity to
display his military skill; and when in 870 his stepfather died, by a
stroke of luck the fief was given to his father-in-law, who retained
Ahmad in the lieutenancy, and indeed extended his authority to
Alexandria, which had till that time been outside it. The enterprise of
a usurper in Syria in the year 872 caused the caliph to require the
presence of Ahmad in that country at the head of an army to quell it;
and although this army was not actually employed for the purpose, it was
not disbanded by Ahmad, who on his return founded a fresh city called
Kata'i', "the fiefs," S.E. of modern Cairo, to house it. On the death of
Ahmad's father-in-law in the same year, when Egypt was given in fief to
the caliph's brother Mowaffaq (famous for his defeat of the Zanj), Ahmad
secured himself in his post by extensive bribery at headquarters; and in
the following year the administration of the Syrian frontier was
conferred on him as well. By 875 he found himself strong enough to
refuse to send tribute to Bagdad, preferring to spend the revenues of
Egypt on the maintenance of his army and the erection of great
buildings, such as his famous mosque; and though Mowaffaq advanced
against him with an army, the project of reducing Ahmad to submission
had to be abandoned for want of means. In 877 and 878 Ahmad advanced
into Syria and obtained the submission of the chief cities, and at
Tarsus entered into friendly relations with the representatives of the
Byzantine emperor. During his absence his son 'Abbas revolted in Egypt;
on the news of his father's return he fled to Barca, whence he
endeavoured to conquer the Aghlabite dominions in the Maghrib; he was,
however, defeated by the Aghlabite ruler, and returned to Barca, where
he was again defeated by his father's forces and taken prisoner.

In 882 relations between Ahmad and Mowaffaq again became strained, and
the former conceived the bold plan of getting the caliph Mo'tamid into
his pow