Ahmad ibn Tulun was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt and Syria between 868 and 905. Originally a Turkic slave-soldier, in 868 Ibn Tulun was sent to Egypt as governor by the Abbasid caliph. Within four years Ibn Tulun had established himself as a virtually independent ruler by evicting the caliphal fiscal agent, Ibn al-Mudabbir, taking over control of Egypt's finances, and establishing a large military force personally loyal to himself. This process was facilitated by the volatile political situation in the Abbasid court and the preoccupation of the Abbasid regent, al-Muwaffaq, with the wars against the Saffarids and the Zanj Rebellion. Ibn Tulun also took care to establish an efficient administration in Egypt. After reforms to the tax system, repairs to the irrigation system, and other measures, the annual tax yield grew markedly. As a symbol of his new regime, he built a new capital, al-Qata'i, north of the old capital Fustat.
Spiral Minaret of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo
Gold dinar of Ahmad ibn Tulun minted in Fustat in 881/2 with names of Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tamid and his Heir, al-Mufawwad
The Tulunids, were a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic origin who were the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty. They were independent from 868, when they broke away from the central authority of the Abbasid Caliphate, to 905, when the Abbasids restored the Tulunid domains to their control.
Embroidered tiraz of Emir Khumarawayh b. Ahmad under Caliph al-Mu'tamid. Egypt, Tinnis, Tulunid period. 1932.17, Cleveland Museum of Art.
Minaret of Ibn-Tulun Mosque, the largest remaining building from the Tulunid period today.
Fragment of an ornamental border of a tunic. Egypt, late Abbasid or Tulunic period, 9th century. 1916.1678, Cleveland Museum of Art.
Gold dinar of Harun ibn Khumarawayh.