Samarra: Abbasid's New Capital

Unlike the Umayyad Caliphate, which was solely an Arab-led government, the Abbasid Caliphate provided an opportunity for the Iranians to participate in the government. The Iranians, under the leadership of Abu-Muslim, were key players in establishing the Abbasid government. Upon gaining power, the Abbasid caliphs involved the Iranians in their government. For instance, during Haroon’s government, the powerful Barmaki family, including Haroon’s famous minister, Yahya ibn Khalid Barmaki, were Iranians. Later, the Iranians helped Ma’mun gain power by defeating his brother, Amin. Ma’mun, whose mother was an Iranian slave, awarded the Iranians with esteemed governmental positions and selected Merv, in Khorasan, as his capital, instead of Baghdad. As a result of the Iranian presence in power, there was struggle and jealousy between the Arab and Iranian officials during the Abbasid government.
Soon after reaching power, Mu’tasim decided to reduce the influence of the Arab and Iranian officials in his government. Mu’tasim, whose mother was a Turk, brought thousands of Turks from Central Asia to Baghdad and formed a powerful army from them. He also gave sensitive government and military positions to Turks and chose them as his elite guards. Turks became influential in Mu’tasim’s government and gradually replaced the Arab and Iranian officials.
The Arab officials, who were worried about the increasing influence of the Turks in Mu’tasim’s government, decided to rise against him. They gathered around Abbas, Ma’mun’s son, who was a candidate for the Caliphate after his father. They encouraged Abbas to act against Mu’tasim. However, their plot was exposed and suppressed before any notable action. Mu’tasim imprisoned Abbas and banned water from reaching him, which led to his death by thirst.
The presence of thousands of Turk soldiers in Baghdad, the Capital of the Abbasids, was problematic for Mu’tasim. The Turk soldiers were treating the people of Baghdad harshly, and their presence had caused continuous clashes between the Turk soldiers and residents of Baghdad. The people of Baghdad complained to Mu’tasim about the behavior of the Turk soldiers and warned him that they would rise against him if he failed to resolve this issue. Thus, Mu’tasim decided to remove the Turk soldiers from Baghdad. He chose Samarra at the north of Baghdad as an army base for his Turk army. Samarra had better weather than Baghdad, and was conveniently connected to Baghdad through Tigris River. He then constructed a city in Samarra and made it the new Capital of the Abbasid Caliphate after Baghdad.