er, which, however, was frustrated by Mowaffaq's vigilance; but
an open rupture was the result, as Mowaffaq formally deprived Ahmad of
his lieutenancy, while Ahmad equally formally declared that Mowaffaq had
forfeited the succession. A revolt that broke out at Tarsus caused Ahmad
to traverse Syria once more in 883, but illness compelled him to return,
and on the 10th of May 884 he died at his residence in Kata'i'. He was
the first to establish the claim of Egypt to govern Syria, and from his
time Egypt grew more and more independent of the Eastern caliphate. He
appears to have invented the fiction which afterwards was repeatedly
employed, by which the money spent on mosque-building was supposed to
have been furnished by discoveries of buried treasure.

He was succeeded by his son Khomaruya, then twenty years of age, who
immediately after his accession had to deal with an attempt on the part
of the caliph to recover Syria; this attempt failed chiefly through
dissensions between the caliph's officers, but partly through the
ability of Khomaruya's general, who succeeded in winning a battle after
his master had run away from the field. By 886 Mowaffaq found it
expedient to grant Khomaruya the possession of Egypt, Syria, and the
frontier towns for a period of thirty years, and ere long, owing to the
disputes of the provincial governors, Khomaruya found it possible to
extend his domain to the Euphrates and even the Tigris. On the death of
Mowaffaq in 891 the Egyptian governor was able to renew peaceful
relations with the caliphs, and receive fresh confirmation in his
possessions for thirty years. The security which he thereby gained gave
him the opportunity to indulge his taste for costly buildings, parks and
other luxuries, of which the chroniclers give accounts bordering on the
fabulous. After the marriage of his daughter to the caliph, which was
celebrated at enormous expense, an arrangement was made giving the
Tulunid sovereign the viceroyalty of a region extending from Barca on
the west to Hit on the east; but tribute, ordinarily to the amount of
300,000 dinars, was to be sent to the metropolis. His realm enjoyed
peace till his death in 896, when he fell a victim to some palace
intrigue at Damascus.

His son and successor Abu'l-'Asakir Jaish was fourteen years old at his
accession, and being without adequate guidance soon revealed his
incompetence, which led to his being murdered after a reign of six
months by his troop