# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/al-mu-tasim
# Generated: 2026-09-01T03:00:56.673Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/al-mu-tasim"
name: "Al-Mu'tasim"
slug: "al-mu-tasim"
description: "The eighth Abbasid caliph who built a private army of Turkish slave-soldiers, then moved the entire caliphate to a new capital to keep them away from the angry citizens of Baghdad. His military machine crushed revolts and sacked Byzantine cities, but the system he created would eventually tear the empire apart."
tagline: "8th Abbasid Caliph. (r. 833–842)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Byzantine_emissaries_to_the_Caliph.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
birthDate: "796"
deathDate: "0842-01-05"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.24
  momentum:             0
  historical:           21.595136
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  40
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Politicians"
    slug: "politicians"
  - name: "Politician"
    slug: "politician"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu'tasim"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q284550"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Al-Mu'tasim"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%85_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87"
    title: "المعتصم بالله"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%85"
    title: "معتصم"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6t%C9%99sim"
    title: "Mötəsim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%AE%E0%A7%81%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AE"
    title: "আল-মুতাসিম"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu'tasim"
    title: "Al-Mu'tasim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A6%DB%95%D9%84%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%AA%DB%95%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%85"
    title: "ئەلموعتەسیم"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%E2%80%99tasim"
    title: "Al-Mu’tasim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%CA%BFtasim"
    title: "Al-Muʿtasim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%91%CE%BB-%CE%9C%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%BC"
    title: "Αλ-Μουτασίμ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu'tasim"
    title: "Al-Mu'tasim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mut%C3%A1sim"
    title: "Al-Mutásim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%85"
    title: "معتصم"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%E2%80%99tasim"
    title: "Al-Mu’tasim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu%CA%BFtas%CC%A9im_(Abbasside)"
    title: "Al-Muʿtas̩im (Abbasside)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%9C-%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%AA%D7%A6%D7%9D"
    title: "אל-מעתצם"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%B2_%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AE"
    title: "अल मुत्तसिम"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._al-Mutaszim_abb%C3%A1szida_kalifa"
    title: "I. al-Mutaszim abbászida kalifa"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu'tashim"
    title: "Al-Mu'tashim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mu'tasim"
    title: "Al-Mu'tasim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%A0%E3%82%A6%E3%82%BF%E3%82%B9%E3%82%A3%E3%83%A0"
    title: "ムウタスィム"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A-%E1%83%9B%E1%83%A3%E1%83%97%E1%83%90%E1%83%A1%E1%83%98%E1%83%9B%E1%83%98"
    title: "ალ-მუთასიმი"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://kk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D2%B1%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%B4_%D3%99%D0%BB-%D0%9C%D2%B1%D2%93%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%8B%D0%BC"
    title: "Мұхаммед әл-Мұғтасым"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-M%C3%BAtassim"
    title: "Al-Mútassim"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%85_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87"
    title: "المعتصم بالله"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in October 796, a younger son of Harun al-Rashid, he climbed to power by recruiting Turkic ghilmān into a personal guard that his half-brother al-Ma'mun used to check rival factions. When al-Ma'mun died on campaign in August 833, he took the caliphate with backing from the chief qādī Ahmad ibn Abi Duwad and pressed ahead with Mu'tazilism and the miḥna. In 836 he founded Samarra as a new capital, centralizing control around his Turkish generals—Ashinas, Wasif, Itakh, Bugha—while sidelining the Arab and Iranian elites who had built the early Abbasid state. His general al-Afshin broke the Khurramite uprising of Babak Khorramdin by 837, then fell to court intrigue and was killed in 840. Al-Mu'tasim himself led the 838 campaign into Byzantine territory, defeated Emperor Theophilos, and razed Amorium—a victory that became the jewel of his propaganda. He died on 5 January 842, leaving a caliphate remade in the image of its mercenary army, a structure that would splinter into the chaos of Samarra and the collapse of Abbasid power within a century.