troops, resigned their titles to succeed, and were then, by way of protection, kept in confinement. After a second attempt to overturn the decision made by the Turks, al-Mu'tazz and his brother would have been put to death, but the vizier intervened and saved their lives, for which act of mercy, his property was seized by the Turkic soldiers, and himself banished to Crete. The Empire, in fact, both at home and abroad, had passed into the hands of Turks. In 863, the Muslim campaign against the Christians was going badly. Two whole corps in Armenia and Asia Minor, some 8,000 strong, with their leaders, were killed during the Battle of Lalakaon. The tidings created anger and riots in Baghdad. The ancient cry for a Holy War rang through the streets. People blamed the Turks that had brought disaster on the faith, murdered their Caliphs, and set up others at their pleasure. With such cries the city rose in uproar; the prisons were broken into and bridges burned. But Baghdad could no longer dictate to its rulers; it could only riot. The fighting spirit was, however, strong enough to draw men from the surrounding provinces, who flocked as free lances to fight against the infidel. But the Turks cared for none of these things, nor did the Caliph. In 864, his forces put down a rebellion by the Alid Yahya ibn Umar and a revolt in Hims. In 865, the end for al-Musta'in himself was now at hand. After some disagreements between the Turkish leaders that placed al-Musta'in in much danger, he, along with two other Turkic leaders, Bugha al-Sharabi (known as Bugha al-Saghir) and Wasif al-Turki, left Samarra on a boat to East Baghdad. The Turks sent after him a party of their captains, requesting him to return to Samarra. But the Caliph refused, and hard words followed between the two sides, in the heat of which one of the Turkic speakers received a blow. The insult rankled the Turkic officers, and on returning to Samarra, the Turkic troops rose together, and bringing forth al-Mu'tazz from his confinement, saluted him as Caliph. Within a few weeks, his brother Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq, with 50,000 Turks and 2,000 Berbers, besieged Baghdad, a siege that would last throughout the year 865. Abdication in favor of al-Mu'tazz As the siege of Baghdad wore on, it began to have its intended effect. Food and