19 - Intermezzo

The Anarchy continues to drag on after the Siege of Baghdad.  In the provinces, more and more power has fallen into the hands of the Emirs as the center has weakened.  Al-Mutazz briefly manages to restore the power of the Caliph for about a year, before he too is done in by the Turkish slave army.   A succession of puppet Caliphs follows him.  Out of the original leadership of the slave army, only Musa ibn Bugha manages to survive.  Together, Abu Ahmad and Musa manage to put down the revolts against the Caliph that have turned Iraq into a war zone and build a stable regime.  But though they reconsolidate control of the center over Iraq, in the 10 years of the Anarchy, the Caliphate has been fundamentally changed.   The spiritual and temporal powers of the Caliph have been sundered, and the Empire of Faith has been transformed into a patchwork of Emirates.