Chapter 3: Emir Ahmad – the man who enjoyed life the most – part 1/ the denial of the Ibadi faith, the decadent lifestyle and the envious Emirs’ Game of Thrones
Emir Ahmad- a mastermind strategist marshalling the armies of the Caliph but decadent to the core... and Cruel as usual
..maybe ordering the execution of one of his many wives was the reason for this nickname? According to harem intrigue, in a quest to become the first wife, she procured a poison to “remove” from the way the Emir’s lawful first wife. When caught in the act, Emir Ahmad, pursuing his idea of justice, forced her to drink the vial herself, and end her life on her own.
Emir Ahmad began his ascension to the throne of being Emir of Krete and Sheikh of Sur and Beirut. Back then, he was raised with the principles of the Ibadi faith, which had all but died out from the Muslim world. The bastion of the Ibadi, the Rustamid in Africa had fallen to the Sultan of Africa and the Umayyad Sultan respectively, rendering him the only existing independent Ibadi state.
For a time he believed in his cause. He had read most of the holy texts and actually believed that one day, he may even set up anew the Ibadi Caliphate.
But who would have recognized him? He was neither Sayyid nor Mirza. A son of his perhaps? Yes…but to make such an heir, he needed to marry a Princess. Of the Caliph? Of the Andalusian Sultan from which they ran off? Of the Shia Idrisid?
And to that answer, Emir Umar the II had foreseen: he betrothed him
before he turned Ibadi and with the law of betrothal there was no annulment and so the marriage was concluded….
….but not complete, as the bride refused to be even near the presence of the Ibadi Emir. She wore her veil as tight as she could and dodged the wroth tantrums the Emir threw at her. She knew that the Emir could not touch a hair of her, for her blood was Abbasid, and she carried sacred blood in her.
A later painting of one of the many wives of the Emir, but she was royalty!
“There is only one way you can see my face and I shall become your lawful wife…”
The Emir turned all his attention to her, for she was now his unobtainable goal.
“You will renounce being an Ibadi. You will arrive at the palace of the Caliph in front of the whole world, your eyes lowered and shall bow and hold lightly the lower fabric near the shoes of the Caliph, you shall bring it to your forehead and publicly denounce what your father had passed you down in faith…”
The Emir was struck by anger and was about to harm Shokouh. Before though he was ready to express his wroth, she quickly completed her phrase
“…and I shall comment your actions to the Caliph and vouch for your sincerity. You will be spared beheading and accepted back to his flock of believers, and shall ensure your protection from any foes that dare beharm you. For I am royalty and of his blood. A disgrace upon you, is a disgrace upon the Caliph himself through me. “
He saw the jewel that shone at that moment. Of course he would be humiliated…but he would also be safe. And his domain would be intact, with the security of the protection of the Caliphate no less.
“ I will think about it, woman. In the meantime… make yourself at home”
And so it was that on a holy day of Islam, the Emir of Krete did as his wife had told him and humbled himself before the Caliph, renouncing three times the Ibadi faith. But the Caliph did not immediately keep his end of the bargain, thinking that providing him the mercy of not executing him for his betrayal was enough of a gesture of philanthropy.
The Emir, twice being lowered in prestige, first from returning to the parent religion and secondly for not being immediately accepted into the protection of the Caliph, decided to find other ways to restore his fallen status.
Thus he attacked the independent Emir of Tripoli, who was also beset upon by the Doux of Antioch, a sovereign Doux not in the service of the Empire.
In a few years, he managed to conquer Tripoli and defeat the remnant of the rival Emir’s army.
The other sheikhdoms would soon follow, and Emir Ahmad became the Emir of Tripoli as well, adding face to his lost status.
These victories gave the Emir Ahmad a sense of security on his own and as the Head of his Dynasty, he was allowed to do as he wished…
…this of course gave rumors upon the populace, especially of the newly conquered Levantine Muslim ones who were more sensitive in their matters of faith.
In fact, one day as the Emir was strolling incognito the streets of Tripoli, he overheard the discussion of a few merchants:
“….And now our taxes go to Emir Ahmad, yet we have not seen even a road ditch being covered with dirt…they all go to the coffers in Crete….”
“…if they went there it would have been good, I have a feeling he uses our taxes to shower his favorite ones and his wives, also to feed his belly like his father the Ibadi before him…”
“..when was the last time he observed Ramadan..we cannot even remember!”
They laughed, but soon their laughter became cold when they saw the Emir, revealing his incognito identity and staring them with anger...
Peasant talk, is it bad to enjoy life when you can?
Despite the rumors of his decadent way of living, the Caliph a few years later accepted his oath of allegiance.
The Caliph bestowed the honor to Emir Ahmad to be the Marshal of the Caliphate. Of course he accepted, he would have all the opportunity to dwell in the exotic lifestyle of the capital!
Time passed by and the Emir grew his personal domain, at the expense of independent Sunni sheiks but also against the Sultan of Egypt, who was now an Abbasid and also Emir of Baghdad. Since he was just a boy and he already faced internal struggles, the Emir took the opportunity and seized lands belonging to him in the Syrian region.
The Caliph was so pleased with Emir Ahmad’s progress, that he bestowed to Ahmad’s son, Umar, a most precious gift: he was made Emir of Galilee at the age of 8!
But not all was a path of roses for the Emir Ahmad, who slowly regained his lost prestige by bringing lands into the Caliphate and also from his grandiose way of life.
In the darkest corners of the Caliphate, there were envious Emirs and Sheikhs who did not like that Andalusian upstart. They plotted and schemed to remove the title of Emir of Tripoli from it’s decadent holder. The spark of this flame was given when a vassal of his in the area of Tripoli refused to stop participating in this treachery and avoided his capture from the guards of Emir Ahmad.
With his wealth, the Emir hired mercenaries in addition to his forces to hold back this plan from fruition. The winds were favorable and he thought of a paralyzing stratagem: he would bring the fight to the mastermind of this plan, the Emir Zakariyah of Damietta himself
Emir Ahmad besieged the offender’s domain and in the process acquired much loot. The war was concluded with the Emir of Krete and Tripoli’s victory, and the returning ransom of the scheming rival Emir to his family.
Meanwhile, in the heart of the Caliphate, Shia practitioners in hiding rebelled and aimed to acquire the Sultanate of Mesopotamia:
Resistance was futile
What was worse, only a few years later, another plot took place to overthrow Ahmad as the Emir of Tripoli
This time, the new plot had even more participants, not in defense of Emir Ahmad, and so the Emir had to settle for a white peace…
…for he had other plans to fulfill than fight petty envious supposed “brothers” in faith. He had also to show the Muslim world that he was devout and following the true faith. And the timing could not have been better, when the Roman Emperor Leon the VI had in the meantime, declared a Christian Holy War to acquire the former Duchy of Aleppo and protect the Orthodox population.
Saracens and Romans fight near the Sheikdom of Asas
Emir Ahmad would launch a full scale holy war on his own against the Doux of Antioch!
Roman soldiers spoiling the lands of Aleppo, while the Emir Ahmad(on the left) laid war on the holy town of the Orthodox, Antioch
A few months later, Antioch was Muslim and in the grasp of the Emir of Krete and Tripoli.
“I have lived such interesting times! But now I am infirm and old, yet still I feel as I have so much to do… a few years back the Romans removed from the Caliph the Emirate of Aleppo, and with it my relative in law- the Emir. Should we let this go by lightly?”
“And what is worse, this stroke was blown
by a woman. A Roman Empress!! The Emperor Leon the VI perished to Pneumonia and the mighty Emperor Basileios was slain by my father in law Caliph Idris in an epic battle!”
The Emir pondered on his own, then shouted for the guards to summon his master of spies.
The master of spies, a silent and glooming man, bowed in the presence of the Emir then awaited his instructions.
“You are to go to Constantinople once again and gather information about what happens in the Roman court, now that the rumor of Leon the VI was grasped by death. You are to report directly to my person of your findings…you are dismissed!”