s, who gave his place to his brother Harun, who was
of about the same age. In the eight years of his government the Tulunid
empire contracted, owing to the revolts of the deputies which Harun was
unable to quell, though in 898 he endeavoured to secure a new lease of
the sovereignty in Egypt and Syria by a fresh arrangement with the
caliph, involving an increase of tribute. The following years witnessed
serious troubles in Syria caused by the Carmathians, which called for
the intervention of the caliph, who at last succeeded in defeating these
fanatics; the officer Mahommed b. Solaiman, to whom the victory was due,
was then commissioned by the caliph to reconquer Egypt from the
Tulunids, and after securing the allegiance of the Syrian prefects he
invaded Egypt by sea and land at once. Before the arrival of these
troops Harun had met his death at the hands of an assassin, or else in
an affray, and his uncle Shaiban, who was placed on the throne, found
himself without the means to collect an army fit to grapple with the
invaders. Fostat was taken by Mahommed b. Solaiman after very slight
resistance, at the beginning of 905, and after the infliction of severe
punishment on the inhabitants Egypt was once more put under a deputy,
'Isa al-Naushari, appointed directly by the caliph.

The old regime was not restored without an attempt made by an adherent
of the Tulunids to reconquer Egypt ostensibly for their benefit, and for
a time the caliph's viceroy had to quit the capital. The vigorous
measures of the authorities at Bagdad speedily quelled this rebellion,
and the Tulunid palace at Kata'i' was then destroyed in order that there
might be nothing to remind the Egyptians of the dynasty. In the middle
of the year 914 Egypt was invaded for the first time by a Fatimite force
sent by the caliph al-Mahdi 'Obaidallah, now established at Kairawan.
The Mahdi's son succeeded in taking Alexandria, and advancing as far as
the Fayum; but once more the Abbasid caliph sent a powerful army to
assist his viceroy, and the invaders were driven out of the country and
pursued as far as Barca; the Fatimite caliph, however, continued to
maintain active propaganda in Egypt. In 919 Alexandria was again seized
by the Mahdi's son, afterwards the caliph al-Qa'im, and while his forces
advanced northward as far as Ushmunain (Eshmunain) he was reinforced by
a fleet which arrived at Alexandria. This fleet was destroyed by a far
smaller one sent by the Bagdad