he was to be given an estate in the Hijaz, and allowed to travel between the cities of Mecca and Medina. On January 12, Muhammad brought a group of judges and jurists to witness that al-Musta'in had entrusted his affairs to him. Delegates carrying the terms of abdication were sent to Samarra, where al-Mu'tazz personally signed the document and agreed to the conditions. The delegates returned to Baghdad with the signed document on January 24, accompanied by a group of emissaries sent to secure al-Musta'in's allegiance to al-Mu'tazz. On Friday, January 25, al-Mu'tazz was acknowledged as caliph in the mosques throughout Baghdad. Aftermath The outcome of the war did nothing to solve the problems that had been responsible for it in the first place. The revenues of the state were still massively insufficient to pay the soldiers' salaries, causing violence to break out among the troops. The military continued to demand complete control over the affairs of the state, and met with hostility the attempts to the caliphs to reduce their authority. As a result, the government soon reverted to the state of instability it had been in before the war. The war was, at least economically speaking, extremely destructive for the empire. The costs of campaigning for both sides, including paying for soldiers' and officers' salaries and other wartime expenses, was enormous. The cutting of the canals around al-Anbar contributed to a long term economic decline in the region, and the numerous acts of plunder and forcing people from their fields disrupted the productivity of the empire's richest province, putting additional financial strain on the state. Baghdad was devastated, with the eastern side of the city never fully recovering from the damage it incurred during the war. Within the city, the populace had gone several months without adequate supplies, and price inflation and deprivation became common. The human cost of the war is difficult to determine, since no comprehensive casualty figures are mentioned, but at the very least it ranged in the thousands. In spite of the terms of abdication, al-Musta'in was not allowed to go into exile to the Hijaz, but was instead moved to Wasit. In October 866 he was ordered to travel to Samarra, but on October 17, when he had arrived in the vicinity of the city, he was intercepted by a group of men sent to kill him and was quickly executed. Al-Mu'tazz's caliphate